It’s summer, which undoubtedly meansit’s music festival season. It’s the place to be if you want good music, good vibes, and good company. Nowadays, attire has become just as important as the music itself. Look up Coachella on google. I bet “outfits” will automatically show up as one of the search options—even before the lineup.
I get it. Clothes and accessories are a way to express your style. Trends come and go just as much as music evolves. Fads and fashion are synonymous. Some things last beyond decades while others make guest appearances every once in a while—cue leg warmers, denim and chokers.
It’s generally not hard to understand trends. They are part of the exterior that reflect your personal style and allow you to explore your creativity. It allows you to experiment—to find what suits you and to make it your own. Simple enough.
What I don’t understand, however, is the trend of exploiting certain aspects of cultures into fashion statements. It’s more than the music festivals. It’s the inability to understand the significance of certain practices and traditions by victimizing someone’s culture by perpetrating it as an accessory to flaunt at one’s leisure.
The appropriators will defend themselves as appreciators, so let’s just define it as “a way of using another culture in a way that delights our imagination, while stripping that group of their identity.”
Appreciation comes over time. It comes through learning and curiosity, personal experiences and awareness. You can’t just adopt things—you have to know, to understand and to practice.
During the season of music festivals, I’ve seen countless individuals sport colorful bindis and Om accessories. It’s easy to stick them on as face décor, but it’s much harder to grasp the wisdom it symbolizes and the sacredness it entails. In my daily life, I’ve even seen my fair share of Ganapati tapestries. The irony is individuals will spend $30 on wall décor for the “Elephant God,” yet they fail to pay respect to him as a deity within Hinduism.
My ode to wisdom is not meant for your costume. My belief in the essence of the universe goes beyond tattooing Om on your wrist. My faith in The Remover of Obstacles can’t be seen by hanging a colorful tapestry on a non-believing wall.
Myculture cannot be accessorized.
Earlier I said that you’re allowed to find what suits you and make it your own—I still attest by that. What I’m saying, however, is that you can’t pick and choose what you want from certain religions and cultures and treat them as fashion accessoriesthat you can put on or take off at your convenience.
Fashion fades, so degrading a culture to a temporary statement of fashion is more than appropriation. It’s saying that a culture is a mere pawn in the fashion world—that it needs to be accessorized in order to be appreciated. Monet’s “Water Lilies” and Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”aren’t adorned as clothing—because they’re meant to last.
My culture will always be “in style” because I hope you realize that appropriation has always been “out.” Appreciate = Appropriate. Appropriation ≠ Appreciation. Simple.
