We need to talk about your kitsch problem... - General Tiki

P paranoid123 Tiki Socialite New York City Joined: Dec 13, 2002 Posts: 379	P paranoid123 Posted posted on Sat, May 27, 2017 11:59 AM I want to weigh in on this because it's a topic that's been on my mind for quite a while. I'd like to offer some perspective lest we reduce the term "cultural appropriation" into a straw man. Imagine when yourself as a child. You have a t-shirt that you love. It used to be your dad's. It has a logo of a restaurant that's long gone out of business. With age, it become a little threadbare, there's a grease spot that won't come out. But you love the shirt. You wear that t-shirt to school, where EVERYONE wears brand name clothes. The kids start to notice that you've been wearing that shirt everyday. The comments from Fred, the popular kid, start : "Don't you have anything else?" "Why is it so dirty?" Then across the schoolyard assumptions about you are made : "You must be poor" "Your family must be poor". You become ashamed of the shirt. You probably only wear it at home. Maybe you put it in storage. You do what it takes to get whatever brand name clothes everyone else is. Years later, you hear that Fred, the popular kid in your school, had started a line of t-shirts with the logo of a restaurant that's long gone out of business. It's got sewn in holes in in and even a fake grease stain. But it's now made with organic cotton. Everyone comments how cool these shirt are. It's all the rage on the hipster circles. Fashion magazine heap praises upon Fred. Fred makes a lot of money selling these t-shirts. You dig up your original t-shirt, and try to wear it out again. Somehow, no one notices. You can't rock that t-shirt. After all these years, you've never been able to shake off that reputation that you're just a poor kid from a poor family wearing a ratty t-shirt. Obviously my allegory isn't about t-shirts. It's about what we eat. It's what we believe in. It's what we practice. It's how we look. We were shamed and ridiculed for it. But someone else takes it, marginally changes it, and is lauded for it. That is cultural appropriation. If you still can't identify with this, my friend, you are in a privileged place, and I truly hope you never feel marginalized this way. [ Edited by: paranoid123 2017-05-28 06:51 ]

I want to weigh in on this because it's a topic that's been on my mind for quite a while. I'd like to offer some perspective lest we reduce the term "cultural appropriation" into a straw man.

Imagine when yourself as a child. You have a t-shirt that you love. It used to be your dad's. It has a logo of a restaurant that's long gone out of business. With age, it become a little threadbare, there's a grease spot that won't come out. But you love the shirt. You wear that t-shirt to school, where EVERYONE wears brand name clothes. The kids start to notice that you've been wearing that shirt everyday. The comments from Fred, the popular kid, start : "Don't you have anything else?" "Why is it so dirty?" Then across the schoolyard assumptions about you are made : "You must be poor" "Your family must be poor".

You become ashamed of the shirt. You probably only wear it at home. Maybe you put it in storage. You do what it takes to get whatever brand name clothes everyone else is.

Years later, you hear that Fred, the popular kid in your school, had started a line of t-shirts with the logo of a restaurant that's long gone out of business. It's got sewn in holes in in and even a fake grease stain. But it's now made with organic cotton. Everyone comments how cool these shirt are. It's all the rage on the hipster circles. Fashion magazine heap praises upon Fred. Fred makes a lot of money selling these t-shirts.

You dig up your original t-shirt, and try to wear it out again. Somehow, no one notices. You can't rock that t-shirt. After all these years, you've never been able to shake off that reputation that you're just a poor kid from a poor family wearing a ratty t-shirt.

Obviously my allegory isn't about t-shirts. It's about what we eat. It's what we believe in. It's what we practice. It's how we look. We were shamed and ridiculed for it. But someone else takes it, marginally changes it, and is lauded for it. That is cultural appropriation.

If you still can't identify with this, my friend, you are in a privileged place, and I truly hope you never feel marginalized this way.

[ Edited by: paranoid123 2017-05-28 06:51 ]

Post #776365 by paranoid123 on Sat, May 27, 2017 11:59 AM