Recently, it was brought to my attention that I might not be acting culturally appropriate. This is because of my desire to get an Ankh permanently inked upon my body for my 18th birthday. I was told to look into the issue of Cultural Appropriation, and that I do not have to emulate a people to represent them. This prompted a series of discussions and thoughts on the subject. First of all, what exactly IS culturally appropriate? Using another culture's religious symbols are not. So what about converting to another culture's religion? How about wearing a piece of clothing that was designed for a different culture? A Sari, perhaps? What about jewelry? How about language? Spanish is not my native language, so why should I learn it and speak it? Interracial dating. Ramah is from Haiti and Vanna here, should they not be mingling? Or even friendships for that matter.
Another thing we have to take into account is how cultures are created. In the course of learning World History, you will find that cultures are created by absorbing other cultures. Should we not be accepting other cultures into our own? Also, as Americans, what the hell IS our culture? We exist as a huge melting pot of people and places, and our culture reflects that. So what is ours?
It seems to me as though cultural appropriation is some bullshit, meant to keep people in their specific places. I don't buy it. The Ankh has been in my life for years now, and I know just as well as anybody else that uses it what it means and how it affects things. Isis is one of my chief Goddesses. I don't believe that getting this symbol applied to my body is inappropriate in any sort of way. Also, I don't believe that I am either emulating a people or trying to represent them. The Ankh has special meaning to me, which is why I have chosen it. (Or rather, why it has chosen me.)
Of course, there is a difference between wearing and using things that you have no idea about. If I were ignorant about the Ankh, this would be an entirely different situation. However, I am not. If anybody has a problem with me wearing the Ankh because they feel it is not "my" symbol to use, that is their issue. The Ankh is mine just like it can be anybody else's, just like anything else on this earth.
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I'm unsure about whether wearing an ankh is cultural appropriation or not, but in general, cultural appropriation is a real, and harmful issue. i'm not sure whether you're white or not, but often white people take cultures and turn them into caricatures, for example white girls wearing indian headdresses to look sexy, thus further promoting the stereotyped image of the "sexy, exotic native girl", which in turn goes hand in hand with the extremely high rape statistics of native women. I don't know whether wearing the symbols of ancient egypt is appropriative or not, as it is a culture of the past, but i really, really dislike the way you brush off any responsibility for possible appropriative actions as "some bullshit, meant to keep people in their specific places". This "bullshit" is people trying to protect their heritage from being torn to shreds, stomped on and shat on by the people who tried to take it away from them in the first place.
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