A drunk American hipster girl wearing a loud costume, the colors accentuated by glittering bangles and a red bindi, getting ready for a selfie with her friends – not quite the picture I would like to approve of. It was at the Voodoo festival last year and I still can’t decide whether it was the act or her ignorance that was off-putting. I have seen my American friends and colleagues wearing desi kurtas and sarees on Diwali nights but this was a bit different. Maybe, her stance was to romanticize Indian culture by rocking those bangles and bindis, or maybe not. It did hurt a little to see something culturally significant for us trivialized or worn as a dispensable fashion accessory.
It’s a multi-connected world nowadays and globalization has no doubt accelerated the spread and adoption of many elements of cultural identities – be it food, attire, music, cinema, or literature. And you see social media hashtags with cultural references spreading far and wide almost instantaneously aggregating millions of these references making it difficult to make out what they reflect. Today’s world is as easy to navigate as it is difficult, as fluid as it is supervised. Your eyes see more but there are also eyes keeping an eye on you.
People start appreciating certain aspects of a culture when they find it pretty or interesting. Since modern fashion is based on a take-and-use, take-and-abuse philosophy, cultural nuances that go far beyond what you see on the surface, are often ignored. It’s unfortunate that sometimes financial lure attracts predatory behavior by dominant cultures towards marginalized ones. How difficult is it to understand that it’s not ok to earn credit, praise or income by making your own version of something which holds cultural significance of its own, while the people from that culture struggle for the same recognition and success?
There is often a counterargument by naysayers about people from other cultures also adopting western fashion, food, and lifestyle. That is utter nonsense as it does not take into account the fact that exploited communities always have had to assimilate aspects of the dominant culture to either escape from being subjected to violence and threats, be considered for a job or a promotion, or just to be treated as someone of the same kind and stature. The difference between appropriation, appreciation, and assimilation is not actually that difficult to grasp but as often seen, is not very commonly known or acknowledged.
Not too long ago, I had some American friends over and I made dumplings(learned it from my Nepali roommate) with minced meat and cheese. I prepared a coconut-pepper-tomato-peanuts chutney, poured it over the dumplings, and served it to my American friends, calling it my own creation and giving it a made-up name. Something which it was not. Why did I not call it what it was – momos? What if my Nepali friend was there? Was my behavior justified since he wasn’t there? It was a mistake. I feel making recipe modifications to a dish from another culture to fit certain taste buds (in this case, the zero spice tolerance of my friends) is also a way to appreciate that culture, as long as the cultural context to the dish is understood and due credit is given to the culture which originated it.
Cultures are going to keep on mingling though. A don’t-touch-my-culture reaction will generally not work in this era of globalization as it will make people reluctant to appreciate and embrace your culture. But there is a line. If you belong to a dominant group(which most often is very clear) or are white, that line is for you. It’s always the people from marginalized cultures who get affected whether it’s their representation being denied or stolen or their opinion and voices, silenced or devalued.
There was a time when I found it extremely difficult to fathom where the line between appropriation and appreciation lies. I was mingling with people from other non-white cultures and I was called out a couple of times for crossing the boundary. It is tricky, but what I learned over the years is listening, learning, and changing my behavior when that happens. If someone says your behavior was culturally appropriative, take the criticism at face value, apologize and go back to learn about why your actions might have passed the point of appreciation. And please do not expect the person you have offended to provide you a lecture on why the person felt so. The person might offer you an explanation but also might not. It’s on you to go back to the drawing board and educate yourself. And for that girl at Voodoo who was expressing herself or just having some fun, I hope at City Park next year, she keeps the bindi off in her Instagram selfie. One extra like from my side for that.