Why Soyeon And Jennie's Bindi CA Is Not Cultural Appropriation In My Opinion.

    I have recently come to realize not many people know a lot about Indian culture and assume everything is CA because of some people spreading misinformation. Also, this is my opinion. In the end, it is up to you whether you think this is CA or not.


    So today I want to tell some people what I know about Bindis(I am not sure if it is spelled bindhi or bindi). Throughout this "essay" I will be calling bindi, Potte(I think this is how you spell it.)


    The main reason I will be calling potte is that is what you call bindi in Malayalam(my mother tongue). I am Indian btw.


    Ok so here are the pics of Soyeon and Jennie that caused these accusations.

    Ethnic Dot: A Discussion on Bindis in K-pop – Seoulbeats

    Ethnic Dot: A Discussion on Bindis in K-pop – Seoulbeats

    Ok, lets start with the different types of pottes/bindhis.

    The red potte/bindhi

    The Red Round Indian Bindi | Social Issues,Gender discrimination,Confessions | Blog Post by Silpi Patnaik | Momspresso


    So this is the large version, there are small versions too! I prefer the smaller versions over the big ones, looks nicer

    Small size plain black velvet bindis available at Bindigalaxy | Music bag, Dance bag, Plain black

    This is the smaller version(I feel like they look a little big here but they are much smaller than they look in this pic). It is the color black(lol why am I saying this I am pretty sure yall know your colors).


    I am actually wearing this type of potte right now! Feels nice and for some reason I feel 100% prettier lol, I kind of stopped wearing it because of some rude people back in 3rd grade.


    And here are the ones that Jennie and Soyeon wore(or at least similar)

    5 Pack 1 mm silver Bindi Diamond Crystal Bindi Bollywood Sticker Nose Stud Stone | eBay

    2 pack Silver Clear Crystals Stick On Jewels, Fake Nose Stud, stone bindi 2mm | eBay

    I couldn't find the exact ones Soyeon and Jennie wore but they have the same meaning and are close enough.


    Now let's talk about the meanings of these pottes.


    The red potte is something married women wear, and technically only married women should wear them but I have worn them before(at home, I didn't wear it in public) and I mainly did that to see how it looked.


    The black potte is what unmarried women or children like me wear. I am not exactly sure about other parts of India but in Kerala(the state I used to live in, I moved to the U.S a few years ago) married women can also wear black potte.


    Also the ones that I showed above are the sticker versions of pottes, there are liquid bindis that come in different colors. Purple, blue, yellow, pink, white etc. Purple is my fav(my fav color is purple).


    Now lets looks talk about the ones Soyeon and Jennie wore. I call them crystal pottes, cause that is what they look like. Long story short they don't have any cultural value. They are literally just fashion statements. As you can see in the picture I provided.


    2 pack Silver Clear Crystals Stick On Jewels, Fake Nose Stud, stone bindi 2mm | eBay

    It is literally advertised as Lady FASHION. You won't find a long paragraph on the religious meaning of the crystal potte because there is no meaning.


    It is fashion, it doesn't have any cultural meaning from my part of India and if a non-Indian wears it I have no problem with it. So this is pretty much the reason why in my opinion Jennie and Soyeon's CA isn't CA. Basically, it is an accessory.



    P.S

    So I just came upon this on Reddit. Apparently, there is a debate going on whether the sticker red and black pottes should be considered fashion or a cultural symbol because the original traditional pottes were actually was made on liquid(it is kind of hard to explain).


    I am not sure if this is true because I have not heard about this before but then again I haven't been to India for a while. And the explanations of the meanings of the black and red bindis are the simple/most basic version.


    There are more meanings to them and if you are interested you can search them up and learn more about bindi. I suggest you search up black/red bindi and not potte because for some reason it doesn't show up when you search up potte.



    Thank you for listening to my ted talk.


    Also, babies are soooo cute with bindis. They are so adorable. Ok, I will stop blabbering.

    CA is just alt-left propaganda 14 year old wannabe activists on Twitter spout out at anything that looks even remotely stereotypical to another ethnicity. So I don’t take it seriously like I did when Kim K tried to trademark Kimono for her brand

    and not only India but-


    A bindi is a bright dot of some color applied in the center of the forehead close to the eyebrows or in the middle of the forehead, worn in the Indian subcontinent (particularly amongst Hindus in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka)[1] and Southeast Asia among Balinese, Javanese, Malaysian, Singaporean, Vietnamese and Burmese Hindus. A similar marking is also worn by babies and children in China and, as in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, represents the opening of the third eye.[3] Bindi in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism is associated with ajna chakra, and Bindu[4] is known as the third eye chakra. Bindu is the point or dot around which the mandala is created, representing the universe.[2][5] The bindi has a historical and cultural presence in the region of Greater India.[6][7]



    Obviously I copied from Wikipedia. ;(


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    30pc/set Women Fake Temporary Forehead Tattoos Sticker Face Actress Chinese India Jewels Forehead Stage Decor Sticker Children|Stickers| - AliExpress



    So I guess bindi is a multi-cultural aspect.

    It is! But I think most people think that only Indians wear it. Kind of sad.

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