Post #810851 by Fourth Wave on Sat, Sep 30, 2023 6:55 PM

I have read a few of these articles and seen a few video posts where the words cultural misappropriation were banded and also white sexist attitudes were expressed by very vocal and I am sure very earnest folk.

The problem is very polar and narrow entrenched viewpoints don't resolve issues. I remember being at Art School some 30 years ago if not earlier and there were some very strong opinions by folk my age being banded about , pretty much about anything. The main point is that some folk like to find scandal and shout about it no matter how how little they have researched.

Tiki is not misappropriation it is a respect and admiration for those places and perhaps times in the past. A fantastical whim at best and a commercial exploitation exercise at worst (Tacky Clown Tiki). From the time of Cook and before tales of palm fronded Islands gave the folk in Europe an escape from the drudgery of the every day of scraping a living.

Without the Souvenir trade and transportable Tiki's folk that would be a massive income that would be missing for a lot of locals in these far off Islands. So if anything that's exploiting the tourists.

And as for cultural misappropriation argument for most things. If Admiring peoples styles from other countries is a sin then Fashion and architecture would be a very boring place. I don't see folk demanding Doric columns be ripped off the frontages of well known buildings. It isn't going to happen because the folk aren't getting offended by that so why should they get offended if I or you what to collect Pacific or Polynesian idols and display those collections in what ever way I want to? Most of them were re-invented by Coco Joes so much so that they barely look like the originals anyway.

The Sexual Fantasy of Middle aged men (Hula Girls) arguments can also be debunked as a puritanical preaching of overly westernised people. My advice is read Love in the South Seas by Bengt Danielsson, of the Kon Tiki expedition fame. Despite the racey cover, in the first few chapters of this quite extensive ethnological research book. In it he describes the last throws of unwesternised Polynesian society in the late 1950s. Here he showed the problems caused by Western Missionary Puritanical Ideals being thrust on Island societies and where the 2 were completely opposed. In fact Sex was a preoccupation of the people in daily conversation. A scandal to White priests who saw it as evidence of the devil. So if early 20th century pop culture caught on to scantily clad island girls dancing its because we in the west started to catch on that we didn't need to be so buttoned down Victorian ideals, it wasn't because we are all perverted voyerists.

I think there is a fashion to get offended, publish your rant or put it on tiktok or some such popularist social media outlet. This is a fad an embarrassing fad at that which will die out.