content warning: racism, cultural appropriation, white supremacy 

Cherry-picking culture

Cultural appropriation is like cherry-picking amongst cultures for the parts that interest you whilst overlooking the traditions or meanings behind them. It is when members of, usually, a dominant culture steal or take elements of another culture for aesthetic or economic purposes without any equitable exchange or even acknowledgement. However, cultural appropriation is different to cultural exchange, assimilation or appreciation. Eating pasta or using Korean skincare is not cultural appropriation as they have been fairly exchanged or appreciated and their meanings or origins have not been decontextualised.

The problem with cultural appropriation is that it further marginalises oppressed communities and cultures, taking away cultural origins and meanings, whilst reinforcing harmful stereotypes. Cultural appropriation is often used to make money and establish a ‘uniqueness’ that essentially furthers the othering of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour). In Australia, white businesses repeatedly steal Indigenous artwork and put it on merchandise like t-shirts for profit. Most times the original artists do not receive any payment or even credit. A classic example of white Australia capitalising off Indigenous oppression.

Changes in beauty standards also seem to encourage cultural appropriation. White women will pick and choose features typically seen on BIPOC, especially Black women, to make themselves appear exotic or racially ambiguous. This is colloquially known as ‘Black-fishing’. To achieve this, they will get extremely dark fake tans, lip filler and surgery to make their bodies curvier. These same women will also appropriate Black hairstyles like box braids or cornrows. The most famous example being the Kardashians, who have been credited with starting “edgy” hair and beauty trends when really, they are appropriating Black culture and bodies. Meanwhile, Black people especially Black women are constantly criticised and marginalised for our natural hair. For example, Zendaya was scrutinised for wearing locs at a red carpet.

“It’s just hair” non-Black people often say after a Black person has voiced their disapproval of the appropriation of Black hairstyles on non-Black people. But it’s not just hair for Black people, it’s another part of the Black struggle and an important part of Black culture. Black hair on Black people is considered ‘untidy’ or ‘unprofessional’ with workplaces sometimes even deeming Black hairstyles as unsuitable. In South Africa a few years ago, there was a scandal surrounding an integrated girls high school that deemed Black hair, specifically afros, against the school dress code which meant Black girls had to straighten or braid their hair.

At school in Australia, I used to get teased for having braids, so seeing non-Black people get praised and celebrated for wearing hairstyles not even meant for their hair texture is frustrating. It adds to the narrative where everything about Black people from their culture to appearances are ‘cool’ and ‘beautiful’ but only when not on or used in connection with actual Black people or bodies. The erasure of Black people is evident when fashion brands like Marc Jacobs purposefully make White models wear dreads on the runway even though they could easily hire Black models.

One of the goals of white supremacy is to continue to redefine what it means to be white so that whiteness always remains in the majority. There are power dynamics at play in cultural appropriation where white people are able to maintain and reinforce their power, control and ideals over BIPOC. The same people who culturally appropriate are not close with BIPOC or people of cultures they are appropriating. They also often don’t actually amplify BIPOC voices or struggles, instead they cherry-pick aspects of these cultures for their own gain.

There have been instances when people have argued that Black women culturally appropriate when they straighten their hair. However, straight hair does not belong to any culture—there are people with straight hair in many cultures—but Black women have been forced, or at a minimum, encouraged to straighten their hair due to white supremacy, Eurocentric beauty standards and colonialism. Personally, I used to constantly straighten my hair as a way of assimilating into the dominant white norm. I wanted to be like white girls because they are considered the ‘standard’. Straightening my hair also meant that I would receive less attention and hopefully encounter less racism. Whenever there was a formal event, people would regularly tell me that they wanted to see me with straightened hair because it would make me more beautiful in their eyes. This still happens.

By imitating and extracting Black culture, other races can pick and choose the cultural elements of interest and inherently assert their power and privilege. Such choice is not generally available to Black people who do not have racial privilege even in countries like South Africa where they are the dominant race. Claiming that cultural appropriation helps BIPOC is not true as it only further erases our visibility and undermines our cultural values. Whether the intentions are empathetic, cultural appropriation causes harm and it’s important to recognise this as fact. With continued white supremacy, cherry-picking aspects of marginalised cultures will continue to be cultural appropriation due to the unequal power dynamics at play. In this Race Against the Odds, it’s important to understand that cultural appropriation is harmful and only reinforces white supremacy.