Cultural Appropriation

Cultural Appropriation has become a serious issue. According to the always reliable Wikipedia:

 Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from minority cultures.

According to critics of the practice, cultural appropriation differs from acculturation, assimilation, or equal cultural exchange in that this appropriation is a form of colonialism. When cultural elements are copied from a minority culture by members of a dominant culture, and these elements are used outside of their original cultural context ─ sometimes even against the expressly stated wishes of members of the originating culture – the practice is often received negatively.

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What would be a good example of cultural appropriation? Would the wearing of a fez by the members of the Shrine fraternal organization be such a thing? A company that makes moccasin-style footwear has apologized to native Americans for stealing their designs. The typical business suit and tie costume that originated in Britain in the 19th century but now is normal haberdashery all over the world, how about that? Is Xi Jinping unethically wearing Anglo clothing? Same goes for V. Putin. Shouldn't he be wearing the typical garb of a Russian boyar?

 

Russian boyars                 drawnground.co.uk