Before jumping into discussion of cultural appropriation of beauty, I think it’s important to define cultural appropriation, and distinguish it from cultural appreciation.
Cultural appropriation is the adoption or use of elements of one culture by members of a different culture. Elements are copied from a minority culture by members of the dominant culture, and these elements are used outside of their original cultural context—sometimes even against the expressed, stated wishes of representatives of the originating culture. Often, the original meaning of these cultural elements is lost or distorted, which means that these uses may be viewed as disrespectful by members of the originating culture, or even as a form of desecration. Cultural elements which may have deep meaning to the original culture can be reduced to “exotic” fashion by those from the dominant culture. The imitator, who does not experience that oppression, is able to temporarily “play” an “exotic” other, without experiencing any of the daily discriminations faced by other cultures.
Cultural appreciation is learning about another culture with respect and courtesy. It is appreciating a certain culture enough to take time to learn about it, interact with people among the culture, and actually understand the culture.
For example, of the following photos, which is cultural appropriation and which is cultural appreciation?
On the left, actress Angelina Jolie sports a hijab while visiting refugees in the Middle East. On the right, singer Katy Perry wears her take on Egyptian hair and makeup, along with what looks like grills or some type of other mouth jewelry, in one of her music videos. Angelina Jolie is displaying cultural appreciation, as she is wearing a traditional hijab in order to show respect for the culture of the various Middle Eastern countries she is visiting. The photo of Katy Perry is a classic example of cultural appropriation. As a white woman, she exploited Egyptian culture in a stereotypical way via her eye makeup and hairstyle. On top of that, she is also wearing mouth jewelry, which she appropriated from black culture.
Still need some clarification? Check out actress Amandla Stenberg‘s YouTube video “Don’t Cash Crop My Cornrows“.
Cultural appropriation can seem like a relatively new phenomenon, but the truth is that it’s been happening for hundreds of years — we’ve just recently started to talk about it more. An iconic example comes from 1963, when the film Cleopatra debuted with Elizabeth Taylor starring as Cleopatra.
Elizabeth Taylor, a white woman, assumed the role of Cleopatra VII, the Queen of Egypt. The film is full of the glitz and glam stereotypical of 1960s films, but Elizabeth Taylor’s portrayal of Cleopatra is deeply problematic. Not only is she playing an Egyptian woman, she does so in a way that contributes to harmful Orientalism stereotypes, such as Middle Eastern women being hyper-sexual, exotic “creatures”.
More contemporary examples of cultural appropriation of beauty in pop culture can be seen below.
You really don’t have to look very hard to find a plethora of white people doing things they shouldn’t be doing. Several of the above examples have to do with hair — dreadlocks, cornrows, box braids, et cetera. “But it’s just hair!” Sure, but manipulating your hair to mimic styles from black culture to be “trendy” is problematic on so many levels. Not only is it textbook cultural appropriation, you are essentially flexing your white privilege to be “edgy”. Hairstyles like dreadlocks can prevent black people from getting jobs due to the racist association of it being “dirty”, but white people with dreads are praised. Case in point:
Not only that, but white people’s hair is not meant to be dreaded! The fact that white people have to add products and work vigorously to make it dread should be evidence enough. Black people’s hair dreads naturally as a form of maintenance due to the natural texture of the hair.
Still not convinced about cultural appropriation of beauty? Check out this video of Sanam’s experiences with it. http://www.refinery29.com/beauty-cultural-appropriation-video