So what exactly is "cultural appropriation" ?

[V's patron]

I've heard the term thrown around a lot and i have a vague grasp on what it is so im hoping someone else can help explain it to me.

 

[Lain]

The adoption or use of elements of one culture by another.

Put simply, you know how some American sports teams use Native American symbols and fashion without any concern for the meanings behind them. That's one example.

 

[berto]

Appropriation is when you take something that had a specific meaning and adapt it to something else giving it new meaning.

The example that my teacher in college uses was steel toe boots. Steel toe are safety boots for construction work but the punk movement took them and turn them into a fashion piece that would become synonymous with the movement, like the denim jacket with no sleeves.

So to appropriate means to take something that has a use and converting it to have a new personal meaning, like how the Romans used the cross to crucify people and it became the symbol of Christina faith.

 

[Meg]

As berto and Blackquill said, cultural appropriation is taking something from a culture that isn't yours and adopting it for your own needs or personal statement. Ironically, there is a word that literally means just that: acculturation. While "cultural appropriation" caught on instead of the word that literally means appropriating culture, I have no idea.

 

[berto]

As berto and Blackquill said, cultural appropriation is taking something from a culture that isn't yours and adopting it for your own needs or personal statement. Ironically, there is a word that literally means just that: acculturation. While "cultural appropriation" caught on instead of the word that literally means appropriating culture, I have no idea.

It's provably another case of appropriation.