When an idol is 'cultural appropriative', who's fault is it? Opinions?

  • Say, an idol has a 'cultural appropriative' hairstyle?

    Or they wear a certain cultures clothes?

    What about when they wear crosses as jewelry? Or other religious objects as decorations?


    This isn't just about cornrows or dreads or black culture, I mean every culture.

    Is it the idol or the stylist to blame? Or is it the fault of the output overseers? The people who are in charge of the concepts and the MVs and all the content that goes out?

    Who is to blame, or should anyone be blamed at all?

    • Official Post

    It's often a difference in perspective and a difference in societal norms. Cultural appropriation is seen as taboo out here in the West. For the rest of the world, it's seen as appreciation and cultural exchange.


    Even here in the West, it was considered "normal" to wear Native American headdresses in celebration of Thanksgiving. I feel like that happened a lot in many elementary schools. A lot of us Americans didn't see how it could be offensive until more recently.


    Think about all the sports teams with names such as "Redskins" or "Chiefs." For the longest time, we thought that was okay and we tolerated it until more recently, when there have been callings for name changes. The Washington Redskins changed their name to "Washington Football Team" in response.


    Many times, I don't think anyone in particular should be blamed. Sometimes people do things without realizing it's offensive. It's what they do to address the situation that matters. With idols, it can be a complicated situation because we don't know if their companies allow them to issue an apology. We don't even know if the word has gotten around to them that it's perceived offensive for them to wear elements of another culture.

    • Official Post

    I think it's a good thing that we're starting to change, because the thing is for poc it was never okay. It was okay to the white majority that didn't see anything wrong with what they were doing, but it was always uncomfortable to poc. I'm speaking as a person of color myself when I used to see people wear my culture for halloween it always felt off, but people always told me to suck it up. I'm happy we don't have to suck it up anymore.

    The spread of awareness is something to be happy about. By the same token, spreading awareness takes time and not everyone will get the hang of it right away, especially not those in other countries whose popular culture is just starting to gain prominence globally.


    There are some ideas that they don't understand yet, especially when it was so normalized for white Americans to publicly profit off the concepts of other cultures for the longest time. We already know how much of an impact American media has over the world.


    It's unfortunate, but these insensitivities didn't start in these other countries. These issues started in the United States. We've only begun to fix them within the past decade; it's only fair that we give other countries time to adjust to our societal/cultural adjustments instead of expecting them to be on par with us. These were our issues to begin with.


    I'm a person of color in the United States myself. I've seen elements of my culture being used by others and it never really struck me as an issue because it always just seemed like appreciation and tribute, maybe because it was so normalized, until I began to see how others could view it differently.

    • Official Post

    I see your point and I agree completely when it comes to giving time for other countries time to adjust to societal changes. However I must disagree with you on giving white Americans time. White Americans had all the time in the world, they are the root of this issue, and I don't believe that they deserve my sympathy or patience. I am tired of being treated like shit, quite frankly.


    If a white American can't see the issue with dressing up as other ethnicities and mocking them, especially now, then it's not because of society. It's because they simply refuse to see other people's points of views and refuse to acknowledge their own faults, and for that I won't give them sympathy. Let them be the outcasts, let them feel the pain of social rejection. I am tired of cars full of white college kids honking at me and calling me derogatory names, I am sick of white girls victimizing themselves on social media when they are called out for racism.


    I understand that every person of color has a different experience, but I promise you that things are not progressing fast enough even here. There needs to be a social pressure for them to change, we can't stay patient forever. It's literally been long enough, there needs to be outrage.

    Oh, absolutely. Don't get me wrong. Because they make up the majority in the United States, white Americans bear a heavier burden when it comes to all this. Many of them are doing their part by acknowledging societal issues that affect minorities and that's commendable by all means, but many are also making things much harder than they have to be.


    However, I'm not so fond of blaming today's white people for the sins of their ancestors. I don't think they should be judged or categorized as "oppressors" or "colonizers." That's divisive rhetoric that should never be tolerated.


    Neither side of American politics really cares about my issues as a minority. I've seen liberals who are just as racist, if not more racist, despite preaching so much about love, peace, and tolerance. A lot of it is just performative activism, and we're pretty much silenced when it comes to voicing our concerns. Way too many lives have been lost, and it shouldn't take deaths for mainstream media and corporations to start caring.

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