What Is The Importance Of Cultural Appropriation

Cultural appropriation has been defined by many as the process of using something from a different culture and making it marketable without taking into consideration the religious and cultural aspects of the thing in question. Unfortunately, a multitude of organizations are guilty of this and it is clear that the perpetrators value money more than the cultures they are taking advantage of. It seems as if it would be difficult for people who work for these businesses to avoid cultural appropriation if it resulted in smaller profit margins . Yet, it is imperative for individuals to both learn about different cultures, and ultimately, to respect their values, traditions, and wear, among other things. Due to these beliefs, if I were to work for a company that that had recently moved to India and wanted to export items such as: statues of Lord Ganesha, tribal paintings of elephants, silver khol containers, large silver nose rings with a chain that runs from the nose the ear, and red and gold brocade sarees, I would do my best to help educate my superior about the importance of some of these thing in Hinduism, and …show more content…
Khol, also known as “Kajal”, is basically black makeup that is usually placed around children’s eyes to ward of evil spirits. Although this may seem to have a direct relationship with Hinduism, it is also something that is practiced by Muslims . By exporting these containers, one would simply be selling items that are related to a semi-religious practice, if you’d like to call it that. So, one wouldn’t be taking advantage of a very serious religious item or symbol in my opinion, and these containers might not even be used to place khol around baby’s eyes. I believe that there is not enough religious or cultural meaning behind this practice for the purchase of these things to be considered cultural