Cultural appropriation

 

Here I am going to talk about Cultural Appropriation and why one should never get up set about, especially if you’re not from that cultural, which is ones who usually get upset about it. Most cultures enjoy and embrace others wanting to learn about their culture and wear the clothing of the culture. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t have travellers going to that culture and their wouldn’t be clothing stores in those cultures that cater to the tourist by selling their cultural clothing. 

Take the Japanese People, they love it when a “foreigner” wants to wear traditional Japanese Clothing such as the Kimono or Yukata. They embrace and encourage it, because it gives that culture recognition and exposure on a global level. It also means that a bit of culture will not fade away as so many have in the past.

Another good example is the Celtic Culture specifically the kilt. Some people associate the kilt with being Scottish, but it’s not just Scottish it’s Celtic. There are Irish, Welsh, Scottish, Cornish and even Spanish.  Many counties around the world have a registered tartan/kilt within the College of Tartans.

My grandmother on mu mum’s side was a pride Irish woman, she would cuss in Irish when she was mad, and when it came to cooking, she made some of the best Italian food I have ever tasted. Yes, that’s right she cooked Italian food, and usually only cooked Irish food every so often, except for St. Patricks Day when she did make Corn Beef and Cabbage. It didn’t offend anyone where I was growing up in Toms River, New Jersey. We embraced each other’s culture as if it was our own and enjoyed it.

It seems that the ones who are offended, don’t even have any connection the culture and it seems it’s usually the young “Millennial” people that continue to say that they are offended by someone experiencing a different culture.  People embrace other people’s cultures, because they like the culture and learn from it. People need to stop complaining about a child wearing a Pocahontas outfit, because they don’t know if that child has Native American Heritage in them or that Pocahontas is their hero, so if the child want to wear that outfit for Halloween let them. Celebrate cultures and embrace them instead of denying someone who wants to learn that culture.

I know my heritage, grew up being proud of my heritage of Scottish, Irish, English and Spanish which makes me of Anglo-Celt Heritage. I wear kilts be it the traditional or the more modern Utility Kilt, but as I love to learn other cultures and do have a Male Kimono that I do wear occasionally. I also have a Chinese Jacket )The kind you see Jackie Chan wear in Rush Hour), I have always loved those Jackets, and when a friend was on a learning Holiday in China, I asked if she could get me one, and she did. I don’t see anything wrong with wearing any of those outfits even though I am not of that culture.

I even own a traditional Kaftan from the Middle East. I have only worn that a few times since I got it.  The only time I get told that it’s inappropriate for me to wear those types of clothes, even my kilt is from certain millennials or ignorant Americans and then I usually just ignore them. Other people from those cultures have always praised me and told me that I look good in those outfits.

Understanding a person’s culture is understanding their traditional clothing and enjoy wearing them when ever. People need to know if you deny people of this knowledge, it may fade away and be lost in history. Hell, I even volunteer at a Nordic Museum, and am a member of the Sons of Norway, and I am not even Scandinavian Culture, and every love that I want to know about their culture and want to keep it alive.

People also need to know that Western as in American Clothing was not the standard around the world, but it seems that everyone wears Western World clothes now. Many countries having real nice and comfortable clothing that anyone can wear and then who knows you wearing other cultures clothes you may want to learn more about that culture and keep it from disappearing from the annals of society.

Remember the word Anglophile is not for people of Britain, its people who love the British culture and want to embrace it. We all need to Embrace the differences that we all have in our cultures and share those differences. There is no logical reason for someone that has no connection to a certain culture to be angry over someone else wanting to learn and be part of a culture. Those type of people need to re-evaluate what makes them think they have a right to be angry over something that they are not part of at all. Now if a person from that culture approaches me or someone else and ask why I am wearing that, I will tell the that I like the clothing and the history behind why the clothes are special for the culture, which has never happened to me yet.

Most Americans have multiple heritages and cultures, but we are the most vocal over people learning other cultures. As I said I am Anglo-Celt since I know my cultures heritage and customs, my sister and I have been given the pale skin of the Irish, and I had red hair until I was six or seven when it went black and I have tons of freckles, but then when you look at my brother he has gotten the Spanish side of our culture, yes we are all blood related, but the genes went Irish for me and my sister and Spanish for my brother, no problem.

No American should ever get upset over someone who wants to learn a culture, even that person knows exactly what culture that person is from. These people just need to actually shut up and stop using cultural appropriation as a word to get angry over, unless your from that culture and the person doesn’t know about your culture and you must by your logic get mad by every non-American wearing American style clothes.