Cultural Appropriation vs Cultural Appreciation
What is the difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation?
What is cultural appropriation?
Britannica defines the term as taking place when members of a majority group adopt cultural elements of a minority group in an exploitative, disrespectful, or stereotypical way.
Cultural appropriation unfortunately is so common in many parts of the world. Even you might have done something that fits the description of cultural appropriation without realizing. It is so commonly done because most people do not even realize how hurtful and disrespectful a simple act can be. Cultural appropriation is heavily connected with power dynamics. Most of the time, a group of privileged people take and use racial, religious, or social group's beliefs, material traits, and social forms without giving any credit.
A great example of cultural appropriation is Halloween costumes. Misusing a culture's clothing, when you know nothing about that culture, is extremely disrespectful. You don't respect the culture's materials while spreading stereotypes simultaneously. It diminishes the value of that culture because you don't know what you're wearing. It is also problematic when a person coming from a privileged background does it by stealing from a culture with a history of oppression. Most of these costumes are not accurate and sometimes sexualized. Using the clothing of culture on Halloween, known for traditionally terrifying costumes, gives a wrong message and normalizes the misusage of cultural items.
Another example of cultural appropriation is unfortunately widespread. Celebrities who do not belong to a culture and do not have any information about it use their cultural elements for aesthetic purposes or even gain money from it. It is important to remember that most of the people from these cultures were oppressed and ridiculed for their clothing and hairstyles in the past and even in the present. For example, some schools ban hairstyles of black people such as Schools that ban afros, braids, and cornrows.* Similar examples can be found as many cultural dresses are seen as unfitting to Western standards. That's why it is not right for a person from a privileged background to wear or have these without even knowing anything about it when people from these cultures try so hard to keep their cultural elements.
What is cultural appreciation?
Lara Estaris defines cultural appreciation as a genuine understanding, respect, and admiration for elements of another culture. There is an effort to learn about and honor the cultural significance and history of those elements, and this can promote understanding and tolerance among different cultural groups.
It can be a bit controversial, but I think Shakira's Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) is a great example of this. The song is by Colombian singer Shakira. However, it features the South African band Freshlyground and the song is heavily inspired by South African culture. However, she didn't use the cultural elements for her benefit without knowing anything. The music video had African dancers, clothes, and cultural elements represented by people from the culture itself along with Shakira.
Another example is this video of a K-pop idol called Alexa dancing to a Bollywood song called Bolle Chundiya. She wore traditional clothing, learned the lyrics and even the dance moves, and performed it without mocking it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNraIZOxvl0
The biggest differences between cultural appropriation and appreciation lie in the intention and education. One is harmful while the other one is thoughtful and uniting.
*A recent example: https://news.sky.com/story/birmingham-school-accused-of-racist-hair-policy-after-girl-banned-from-canteen-and-playground-12790826
References
https://www.bcheights.com/2019/10/08/my-culture-is-not-your-halloween-costume/
https://www.mefeater.com/beyonce-to-rihanna-6-celebs-whove-been-accused-of-cultural-appropriation/
https://www.amssasc.ca/blog/what-is-cultural-appropriation-and-what-can-we-do-about-it/
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/30/t-magazine/cultural-appropriation.html