What Exactly Is Cultural Appropriation?

Art is a mixture of influences that contains many imitative elements. The problem with cultural appropriation lies in the distinction between this way of creating and the concept of copying, theft and plagiarism.

Today, copyright is diluted in the collective identities and paves the way for traditions that really have their origins in power relations where the most skilled exploit the weak. This concept is referred to by many as “unfair appropriation”.

There have been a large number of protests on this topic. For example, tattoos with Polynesian tribal motifs were very popular and led to some controversy. Similarly, the use of gypsy symbols by the singer Rosalía was heavily criticized not so long ago.

What exactly is cultural appropriation?

As we mentioned above, cultural appropriation is the use of instruments, images and symbols that belong to a culture that is different from one’s own.

Around this definition, it is a question of whether a person is really talking about wrongful allocation or whether in most cases it is just a tribute to other cultures.

If you further analyze the concept of cultural appropriation, you will see that the idea also includes the presence of power dynamics. That is, people blame the dominant culture for using the elements of the cultures they have systematically suppressed.

The concept of cultural appropriation is the subject of much debate, although it is not so new. Globalization and technological advances allow us to access a wealth of information with just one click. Although cultural appropriation is not a new concept, the global dimension is. However, what distinguishes cultural appropriation from a tribute to a culture rooted in admiration?

The two key points for answering this question are consent and distribution of benefits. This is because  there is a clear financial interest in certain forms of imitation, especially in the musical field.

In this way, you can use cultural appropriation to denote the exploitation of certain symbols from cultural industries. This exploitation often takes place without recognizing the original culture in a symbolic or economic way.

Cultural appropriation versus assimilation

This is a complicated case with origins in everyone’s history. You must thus understand how international power dynamics work to analyze the details.

First you need to refer to other points around the subject. Some claim, for example, that non-Western people wearing jeans or indigenous people who speak English are somehow acquiring dominant cultures.

The argument against this, however, is that marginalized groups do not have enough power to decide whether or not to adhere to their traditional customs. Thus assimilation occurs when people belonging to marginalized groups adopt the elements of the dominant cultures in order to survive.

Examples of cultural assimilation

The world of music shows some clear examples of cultural appropriation. The popularization of African American music through Elvis Presley, and twerking, which until recently was associated with lower-class non-white groups, are just a few examples.

There are also examples of this in Buddhism, a religion usually associated with peace, due to the stereotypes surrounding meditation.

Thus, cultural appropriation is  a way of commercializing things that were once outside the market and then introducing them to it.

Is cultural appropriation a real problem?

This is a problematic term that some deny. It may be due to several reasons:

• Many argue that cultural appropriation exists, but that it is not a problem.
• Their arguments focus on the idea that cultures are constantly changing and have no boundaries. They state that they flow and change continuously and go from one trend to the next.
• For there to be cultural appropriation , there must be cultural elements that only belong to one group.
• Violation occurs when a person cannot enjoy something they used to enjoy because of the actions of others. However, cultural appropriation occurs when something that was previously only used by a small group of people becomes fashionable.
• Non-racist racism? You must remember that no cultural element is 100% pure or inappropriate.

Activists are often obsessed with cultures, a purity that is not characteristic of the social environment in which every human being develops.