Cultural appropriation has been quietly plaguing society for centuries and it is only recently that society as a whole has become more aware of the repercussions and the importance of individual responsibilities in preventing cultural appropriation. There is an ambiguous line between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. Progress in society would be hindered if we did not inter-exchange ideas, fashion, and culture; but it is how it is exchanged, and presented, and the profits involved made during this cultural exchange that is essential in understanding the difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. But what is cultural appropriation? In our tutorials, we learned that it is cultural appropriation is when members of a dominant group take without acknowledgment of the cultural elements of a minority group in an exploitative, disrespectful, or stereotypical manner. Thus, the action of culturally appropriating a culture reinforces the power imbalance between the different cultures in question. As humans, according to Bauman, a Polish sociologist, and philosopher, once those who have identified as producers create objects for consumption, there is then a motivation developed to possess as many objects as they can in their lifetime (Bauman, 2008). By this want to make a profit and to acquire as many processions as we can can, we will find the good, bad, and ugly behaviors to achieve this desire, even if it means reinforcing the concept of cultural appropriation instead of the ethical ways of culturally appreciating and giving credit to the oppressed minority group. East Asian countries have been both the appropriators and the appropriated cultures but for the sake of this essay, the focus will be on the appropriation of different East Asian cultures such as the Japanese, Chinese, and South Korean cultures in the Western fashion industry. And what the producer's and the consumer's responsibilities will be questioned and answered in this piece.
In the United States, Asians from all different backgrounds have historically been discriminated against. Asian Americans have experienced verbal and physical violence motivated by racism and xenophobia from the time they first arrived in America to the present day, as seen by the rise of hate crimes against Asians around the world. (Gover, Harper, Langton, 2020); Though the crimes against Asians are breaking new records year by year in part due to the ongoing pandemic that originated in China, the Asian influences in beauty and fashion have been rising in America's culture. The influence on Western women's dress from Asian cultures can be traced back to the early BC times when the Silk Road routes provided important roadways for cultural exchanges that linked producers and consumers from China, India, Persia, and the Mediterranean countries to the European countries. (Boulnois, 2004). The most frequented and popular culturally appropriated clothing from different East Asian countries includes the qipao or cheongsam from China, the kimono from Japan, and the hanbok from South Korea is an example of when a dominant culture group like the United States creates a hierarchy of where the wealthy countries like themselves get to determine what has value to them (the design of clothing from the appropriated country) and what does not (the cultural meanings behind these clothes to the country of origin.) (Bourdieu, 1984).
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Orientalism is a word that has been deeply tied to the cultural appropriation of Asian cultures. This word was used in the past to describe East-Asian Countries and the fundamental ideology behind the word orientalism had and still is causing harmful inaccuracies of the cultural representations of the Western thought and perception of the Eastern World. The first known use of the word 'Oriental' is believed to have occurred sometime during the 14th century and is referred to any area east or southeast of Europe. Orientalism is the imitation of Eastern cultures that is usually done by writers, designers, and artists who only have Western heritage. Edward Said in his book Orientalism argues that the word Orientalism is deeply tied to the imperialism and colonialism of the societies that produced it, which makes much of Orientalist work inherently political and servile to the imbalance of power. (Bullock, Trombley, Lawrie, 1999, p.617) (Said,1978) Orientalism flourished during the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century when imperialism and colonialism were at their height. The Oriental influence increased during this period and was swept across Europe. Objects that were made in the Orient style were often inaccurate, having been designed from the imagination of its designers of what Eastern cultures were like rather than the observation of authentic artifacts from these said cultures, thus, the objects were deeply appropriated but were seen as being authentic.
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