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diff --git a/content/entry/on-cultural-appropriation.md b/content/entry/on-cultural-appropriation.md index dc1ab04..cd6c0c6 100644 --- a/content/entry/on-cultural-appropriation.md +++ b/content/entry/on-cultural-appropriation.md @@ -2,15 +2,14 @@ title: "On Cultural Appropriation" date: 2022-05-21T00:00:00 draft: false -makerefs: false --- There seems to be moral confusion about why cultural appropriation is bad. I'd like to use this entry to clear that up. We'll start with the Wikipedia definition of cultural appropriation: -> "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" - Wikipedia[1], CC BY-SA 3.0[2] +> "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" - [Wikipedia](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_appropriation), [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) -Let's spend some time on that definition. First of all, it uses the weasel word "inappropriate"[3]. This is not a straw man picking on a particular definition either. I've seen several online articles accusing people of cultural appropriation that use words like "inappropriate", "offensive", "distasteful", and "disrespectful". These words tell us absolutely nothing about why cultural appropriation is morally wrong. +Let's spend some time on that definition. First of all, it uses the weasel word "[inappropriate](/glossary/)". This is not a straw man picking on a particular definition either. I've seen several online articles accusing people of cultural appropriation that use words like "inappropriate", "offensive", "distasteful", and "disrespectful". These words tell us absolutely nothing about why cultural appropriation is morally wrong. -Take the word "offensive" as an example. Non-indigenous people wearing a headdress may offend indigenous Americans, but is something morally wrong just because it offends someone? Antihomosexualists[4] are offended by same-sex marriage. Does that make same-sex marriage wrong? Does any amount of offense taken by any number of people make same-sex marriage morally wrong? If not, then why is it morally relevant that indigenous people are offended? +Take the word "offensive" as an example. Non-indigenous people wearing a headdress may offend indigenous Americans, but is something morally wrong just because it offends someone? [Antihomosexualists](/glossary/) are offended by same-sex marriage. Does that make same-sex marriage wrong? Does any amount of offense taken by any number of people make same-sex marriage morally wrong? If not, then why is it morally relevant that indigenous people are offended? Let's talk about the word "unacknowledged" from the Wikipedia definition. If I take credit for someone else's idea, that's wrong because it's deceit and I'm robbing them of potential rewards and recognition. But unacknowledged imitation in many contexts isn't deceitful. We don't expect people to acknowledge everything they do that comes from a culture they didn't invent. None of us would ever make it through the day if that were the case. @@ -29,10 +28,3 @@ Third, let's lower the temperature on the discussion. We all have different idea We have to recognize that intelligent people can disagree about which contexts imply pure cultural imitation which is morally neutral and which contexts imply portrayal of a group of people. Sometimes it's a gray area. There's room for intelligent people to disagree about which representations of groups are harmful and which aren't. We don't need to resort to shouting matches or demand public apologies from those who have different intuitions than us. Let's all be thoughtful instead of ideological and remember that not everybody who disagrees with us is automatically a bad person. - - -Link(s): -[1: Cultural Appropriation](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_appropriation) -[2: CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) -[3: Inappropriate](/glossary/) -[4: Antihomosexualists](/glossary/) |