Post by angela on Apr 27, 2014 19:27:50 GMT -6
I have no idea where to put this, so I'm just going to place this thread here.
Tumblr's made me realize a lot of things - LGBTQ, misogyny, etc. It's made me a lot more open-minded about these issues, and I'm so glad I've discovered it or I'd otherwise be pretty ignorant. Butbutbut Tumblr often gets a bit overboard, exaggerating and/or undermining (such irony) a lot of these problems. By "exaggerating", I mean that many of those on Tumblr claim that anyone who isn't a cis white person is extremely oppressed and have absolutely no rights, which is not true because we have gone so so so far as a society, and while we have many things to improve on, we cannot forget that we have made considerable progress. On the other hand, by "undermining," I mean that - for instance - gender dysphoria, which has become more well known on the site, is being seen as a "trend," and that people are downplaying the issue when there are those who feel trapped and hurt and extremely terrible by being in a body that they do not feel they belong in.
TL;DR - I have a better understanding of people vs. society
However, one thing I don't quite get is cultural appropriation and why it's so bad. I was reading through the Your Favorite is Problematic Tumblr (I personally don't like it, but that's for a different thread) and they often harp on celebrities and their cultural appropriation What I've gotten is that cultural appropriation downplays the deep roots within what is being taken. I totally understand why some people don't want parts of their culture to be seen as the latest trend when there are significant meanings within them. But I've been getting that all cultural appropriation is supposedly bad - that it destroys rather than creates. Yet, as someone growing up in the United States' "melting pot," I don't see why taking and merging someone else's culture with our own is such a terrible idea. What makes America what it is is how we're able to celebrate and take a little bit of every culture into our own, and I think that's wonderful. I feel like as long as people understand the sanctity of the culture they're taking and respect it, cultural appropriation is okay, even as a sort of trend.
So, am I super ignorant still? Is all cultural appropriation bad?
Tumblr's made me realize a lot of things - LGBTQ, misogyny, etc. It's made me a lot more open-minded about these issues, and I'm so glad I've discovered it or I'd otherwise be pretty ignorant. Butbutbut Tumblr often gets a bit overboard, exaggerating and/or undermining (such irony) a lot of these problems. By "exaggerating", I mean that many of those on Tumblr claim that anyone who isn't a cis white person is extremely oppressed and have absolutely no rights, which is not true because we have gone so so so far as a society, and while we have many things to improve on, we cannot forget that we have made considerable progress. On the other hand, by "undermining," I mean that - for instance - gender dysphoria, which has become more well known on the site, is being seen as a "trend," and that people are downplaying the issue when there are those who feel trapped and hurt and extremely terrible by being in a body that they do not feel they belong in.
TL;DR - I have a better understanding of people vs. society
However, one thing I don't quite get is cultural appropriation and why it's so bad. I was reading through the Your Favorite is Problematic Tumblr (I personally don't like it, but that's for a different thread) and they often harp on celebrities and their cultural appropriation What I've gotten is that cultural appropriation downplays the deep roots within what is being taken. I totally understand why some people don't want parts of their culture to be seen as the latest trend when there are significant meanings within them. But I've been getting that all cultural appropriation is supposedly bad - that it destroys rather than creates. Yet, as someone growing up in the United States' "melting pot," I don't see why taking and merging someone else's culture with our own is such a terrible idea. What makes America what it is is how we're able to celebrate and take a little bit of every culture into our own, and I think that's wonderful. I feel like as long as people understand the sanctity of the culture they're taking and respect it, cultural appropriation is okay, even as a sort of trend.
So, am I super ignorant still? Is all cultural appropriation bad?
