Hlootoo's Art

baby-shes-okay:

rudejerkface:

So I made a really popular post about cultural appropriation and I am happy about the feedback I got. I’m not quite happy with it due to the poor wording, but most people got the point and I’m happy about that. I still have a few questions about this whole theory of cultural appropriation though.

Where is the line when it is good versus when it is bad?

Is it okay for Mexico and the Philippines to take so much influence from Spain despite both being now independent from Spain?

Is it okay for many black cultures to take dreadlocks from ancient Greece in their hairstyles?

Is it okay for Japan to take influence from China in well…. everything?

Is it okay for all of us to be taking influence from Hindu-Arabs in our counting system?

Is it okay for us to be taking influence from Babylonia in our clocks?

Is it okay for black people to compose classical music?

Is it okay for Asians to perform rap music?

Was it okay for Araki Hirohiko, a Japanese man, to write Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure which, as of the 8 parts, only features 3 Japanese protagonists and only takes place in Japan twice?

Is it okay for many African countries to take so much influence from Europe despite being independent from Europe now?

Is it okay for Tosin Abasi, a black man, to be performing progressive metal which are both genres made by white people?

Is it okay for anyone besides white people to use the electric guitar which was made by
Adolph Rickenbacker, a white man?

Is it okay for Nintendo, a Japanese company, to make video games which were made by Ralph Baer, a white man?

Is it okay for a black people to wear hoodies since hoodies have their history in Europe with
hōds? 

If we go so far as to say language can be appropriated, is it okay for anyone besides white people to speak English?

Is it okay for us all to use the number 0 which, once again, came from the Babylonians?

Is it okay for black people to bleach their skin and straighten their hair?

Is it okay for Chinese people to write paper books when their original book form was bamboo?

Is it okay for black people to brush their teeth instead of using chew sticks which was their original way of brushing their teeth?

Is it okay for any of us to brush our teeth if we’re not Chinese since the first toothbrush was made by the Chinese?

If a person purposefully bastardizes their culture for the purpose of business, is it wrong for us to partake in it?

Is it wrong to sing Karaoke if you’re not Japanese?

Keep in mind, these are not meant to be sarcastic or snarky, these are legitimate questions I have when taking a look at the rhetoric of anti-appropriation people. They say you may not partake in a culture unless you are part of that culture, so the only logical conclusion is to ask if these are okay. If so, why are they exceptions? If not, then I guess these is no double standard, but so far I have seen one.

I fucking love this. Thank you for taking the time to spell it out for people like that.