Definition
Generally, cultural appropriation is viewed as the use of a cultural tradition while simultaneously disregarding the cultural significances and specific purposes. To many this is viewed as problematic because it can capitalize a tradition and make it lose its significance among its own culture and especially outside the culture.
In the book Who Owns Culture? Appropriation and Authenticity in American Law, the author Susan Scafidi focuses on defining the ownership and appropriation of cultures. Scafidi outlines the appropriation of a culture in a step by step process. The first step that is highlighted states that people outside the culture “must… recognize [the] existence, source community, and value” of what they are appropriating …show more content…
. . . Sometimes I feel annoyed because we 're so used to seeing it in the proper context…. I also don 't know where it 's from, and the history, but we 've just seen it around us, or we know the context, where it stands, but people not from South Asia wouldn 't know where it stands” (Maira, 350). Shamita and other women who were interviewed all had similar statements explaining that the historic cultural significance is not common knowledge within India itself and Indians who practice mehndi. This works against the argument that to practice mehndi an understanding of its history must be present. The many interviews that Maira presents contradict this idea and in fact present a new argument, a major consensus from the interviews is that mehndi itself is polycultural. Many of the women interviewed described it as polycultural because it is historically practiced by many cultures outside of India and South Asia, therefore the histories can blend together and be forgotten altogether. All the women did agree that they do feel that they have an understanding of the cultural significance, and are bothered by the fact that it is sold in the United States. One woman felt especially uncomfortable with this, explaining “If you are going to reproduce trends from another country, then you need to work with them. I don 't …show more content…
Meenakshi Durham from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa focused her studies on South Asian femininity. Durham states that the consequences of using South Asian traditions as trends are that they are “discarded arbitrarily, without consideration of their origins or meanings beyond the fashion statement of the moment” (Durham 202). Durham centralized her paper in explaining the damage that is done by using Indian female customs in the west as a form of merchandise. For capitalist reasons, Durham argues that concepts of Orientalism are used for advertising. Any product that comes from the “Orient represent[s] a sinful, luxurious world that... [is] harnessed to consumerism in the pursuit of femininity” (Durham 206). In, short the cultural appropriation of these products for the purpose of capital gain create a contrast of the Western world against the Oriental part of the world, located in the east. This strengthens stereotypes within the West and can clump many cultures in South Asia and the Middle East as one singular
Generally, cultural appropriation is viewed as the use of a cultural tradition while simultaneously disregarding the cultural significances and specific purposes. To many this is viewed as problematic because it can capitalize a tradition and make it lose its significance among its own culture and especially outside the culture.
In the book Who Owns Culture? Appropriation and Authenticity in American Law, the author Susan Scafidi focuses on defining the ownership and appropriation of cultures. Scafidi outlines the appropriation of a culture in a step by step process. The first step that is highlighted states that people outside the culture “must… recognize [the] existence, source community, and value” of what they are appropriating …show more content…
. . . Sometimes I feel annoyed because we 're so used to seeing it in the proper context…. I also don 't know where it 's from, and the history, but we 've just seen it around us, or we know the context, where it stands, but people not from South Asia wouldn 't know where it stands” (Maira, 350). Shamita and other women who were interviewed all had similar statements explaining that the historic cultural significance is not common knowledge within India itself and Indians who practice mehndi. This works against the argument that to practice mehndi an understanding of its history must be present. The many interviews that Maira presents contradict this idea and in fact present a new argument, a major consensus from the interviews is that mehndi itself is polycultural. Many of the women interviewed described it as polycultural because it is historically practiced by many cultures outside of India and South Asia, therefore the histories can blend together and be forgotten altogether. All the women did agree that they do feel that they have an understanding of the cultural significance, and are bothered by the fact that it is sold in the United States. One woman felt especially uncomfortable with this, explaining “If you are going to reproduce trends from another country, then you need to work with them. I don 't …show more content…
Meenakshi Durham from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa focused her studies on South Asian femininity. Durham states that the consequences of using South Asian traditions as trends are that they are “discarded arbitrarily, without consideration of their origins or meanings beyond the fashion statement of the moment” (Durham 202). Durham centralized her paper in explaining the damage that is done by using Indian female customs in the west as a form of merchandise. For capitalist reasons, Durham argues that concepts of Orientalism are used for advertising. Any product that comes from the “Orient represent[s] a sinful, luxurious world that... [is] harnessed to consumerism in the pursuit of femininity” (Durham 206). In, short the cultural appropriation of these products for the purpose of capital gain create a contrast of the Western world against the Oriental part of the world, located in the east. This strengthens stereotypes within the West and can clump many cultures in South Asia and the Middle East as one singular