Heres a question that I think helps -- when the people of the culture wear x outfit, does it put them at increased societal risk (social, physical, economic, etc)? If you wear the same outfit, are you running the same risk? If not (and the answer is generally not), then youre benefiting from your privilege by wearing the outfit. Even if you dont mean it maliciously, it may rub salt in the wound of someone who would like to wear the outfit of their home culture, but doesnt do so (or rarely does so) because of how much it would cost them. Its not the only thing to consider re: cultural appropriation, but I think its an important factor. Wearing a fancy sari to a formal event isnt likely to cost me anything today. (And if, say, a friend invited you to a South Asian wedding, and you wanted to wear a sari, I would just check with them whether theyd be comfortable with that, and if theyre okay with it, then I think youre fine. They may well be flattered and pleased in that context.) But if I wore a more casual sari to work every day? I think that might well hurt me professionally, even in academia. In many jobs, it would be flat out unacceptable. And if some blonde girl starting doing it occasionally, and got away with it -- I could imagine resenting that.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 09:17:33 +0000
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