The conversation surrounding cultural appropriation has been so severely mutilated by white “allies” that the original intention behind that conversation has become almost unrecognizable in most social contexts.
To explain what I mean, the conversation around cultural appropriation was started by black and native people to discuss the frustrations we feel at being punished socially and financially for partaking in our cultural heritage while white people could take, I.e. appropriate, aspects of our culture that we are actively shamed for and be heralded as innovators. It was about the frustrations we feel when the same white people who shamed us would take our culture and wear it as if they were the ones who created it while still actively shaming us for doing the same.
The original push behind naming cultural appropriation and having these conversations were so that we as a society could evaluate why we were punished for our heritage while white People were not. It was supposed to be about seeking solutions. The idea was to create a society where we could celebrate our cultures with impunity. It was never about telling white people that they “weren’t allowed” to do certain things. We did ask that white People stop doing certain things because they weren’t doing them respectfully and were not invited to do them, but the primary reason we asked them to desist was to reclaim the things they had stolen and to reassign them culturally back where they belonged.
White “allies” saw these conversations happening and instead of trying to aplify our own voices or even try to learn about the complexities behind why we were saying what we were saying, they instead began screaming over us and creating a narrative that was hardly even the bones of what we originally set out to say. It was like they took the conversation we were trying to have, completely decontextualized it, and stripped it of all it’s nuance in order to gain social currency by seeming progressive.
So the conversation around cultural appropriation went from “This aspect of our heritage belongs to us and we find it egregious that we are shamed for it. What steps can we take to address the racism that’s creating this situation as well as rehome the things that have been stolen” to “you’re not allowed to do that because if you do that you’re racist, we don’t really understand why that’s racist but you’re not allowed to do that and if you do that you’re a klansman no exceptions. So you’re not allowed because because”
At the end of the day, did I like the fact that sally was wearing dreads? No. But my primary concern was not that sally was wearing dreads but rather that sally could wear dreads and I couldn’t. THAT was the intended focus of those conversations. It was about addressing the inequality. It was about us. Now the conversation is just about sally and were completely forgotten.
White People are always asking me what they can do to help. You want to know? Stop talking. Aplify our voices and shut the fuck up because you all have pretty much derailed this conversation and many more like it to the point that we no longer are trying to make steps to understand and dismantle the racism around cultural appropriation and instead are just using it as social shaming tactics.
TL;DR: read my post. Most things worth learning about can’t be summarized in the bullet points of a buzfeed article. Don’t come into academic circles and complain because everything hasn’t been conviently summarized for you. Stop pretending that things aren’t accessible to you because you refuse to do the intellectual labor that is learning.
sho-thyme reblogged
A Day In October by Alexandra Wesche
sho-thyme reblogged
The Beach, Sally West, oil on canvas, 2015
sho-thyme reblogged
The Beauty Of Bavaria by Johannes Heuckeroth (pfn photos)
do you ever want to check up on someone but it’s just not ur place anymore
sho-thyme reblogged
rnackenzie-deactivated20130805
its hard being hilarious when everyone ignores you
sho-thyme reblogged
Source: martacorss
Source: vanish
Night and day at Treasure Town from Tekkonkinkreet
sho-thyme reblogged
Source: weheartit.com
Source: coltre
sho-thyme reblogged
The two types of the rising signs
This is just a theory I have, I’d love to know if others agree! I think people can land anywhere in between the two types depending on the rest of their chart (especially mercury placements), although some can distinctly be one or the other. I labeled which one I have found to be more common :)
Aries, type 1: extrovert - daring and adventurous, comes on strong
Aries, type 2 (more common): introvert - fast, private, and independent
Taurus, type 1 (more common): extrovert - vocally adamant/stubborn about their opinions, silly
Taurus, type 2: introvert - prefers to enjoy the easy things in life, traditional
Gemini, type 1 (more common): extrovert - does not stop talking and sharing information
Gemini, type 2: introvert - cool-headed intellectual, yet still very social
Cancer, type 1 (more common): extrovert - treats everyone like a family, very talkative and open but retreats into his/herself when threatened
Cancer, type 2: introvert - reserved and withdrawn most of the time yet still very sweet
Leo, type 1 (more common): extrovert - loves being the center of attention, friendly and loud
Leo, type 2: introvert - has a lot of inward anger, proud and stubborn
Virgo, type 1: extrovert - enjoys people’s company but is the reserved/practical one of the group, a nervous talker
Virgo, type 2 (more common): introvert - constantly analyzing the world, yet keeps their thoughts to themselves
Libra, type 1 (more common): extrovert - social and outgoing if a bit flirtatious/charming, yet tries so hard to be nice to absolutely everyone
Libra, type 2: introvert - very concerned about keeping the peace, the quiet mediator
Scorpio, type 1 (more common): extrovert - loud, confident, and mature, but a bit intimidating and controlling at the same time
Scorpio, type 2: introvert - extremely private and quiet, has a distinct dark side
Sagittarius, type 1: extrovert - optimistic, freedom-loving, upbeat, seems to be constantly smiling and having fun
Sagittarius, type 2 (more common): introvert - prefers to keep to themselves, runs away from their problems, yet always finds humor in life
Capricorn, type 1 (more common): extrovert - mature and sensible, knows what he/she wants and goes for it, utilizes many connections with others
Capricorn, type 2: introvert - cautious, reserved, quietly reaches his/her goals without needing help from others
Aquarius, type 1 (more common): extrovert - not afraid to be themselves, seems to know so many people without even trying
Aquarius, type 2: introvert - a bit out of touch with other people yet very concerned with humanity as a whole, spacey
Pisces, type 1: extrovert - dreamy and sensitive but so caring for others that he/she can’t help but make connections
Pisces, type 2 (more common): introvert - would rather not face reality, prefers to be in his/her own space alone, very sweet and shy