Appropriation? Assimilation? Appreciation? What is all this?
Why can they do it but we can’t? Isn’t the same thing? Isn’t this just double standards?
All these questions float around when the topic of cultural appropriation comes about usually in the comments. However are three main terms that many people often get confused with when discussing cultural appropriation. One may start commenting on cultural appropriation when actually what it really is is appreciation or assimilation. So here we are to help clear everything up and help you understand where your argument stands!
First off cultural appropriation what is it?
When elements of a minority culture are taken by members of a more dominant culture for their own use. This results in the original context to become distorted and it’s meaning reduced. Those taking elements of the culture do not experience the same cultural significance.
and what about cultural assimilation?
This is the process by which elements of a dominant culture are take by members of a minority culture this often occurs when a minority enters into a dominate culture and assimilates in order to survive.
The difference between the two terms answers the commonly repeated questions about cultural appropriation of ‘Well if they do it why can’t I?” or “Isn’t this double standards?”
Unfortunately in this society not all cultures are perceived as equal. That’s the truth. Minorities take on aspects of dominate cultures to survive or be accepted (or even to hopefully perceived as equals). Where as cultural appropriation sees dominate cultures taking on elements of a minority often for the sake of being ‘trendy’, ‘fashionable’ etc
And then recently we’ve been seeing cultural appreciation
What is this? Well from what we gathered it is when people take the time to learn, educated and understand a culture before taking an educated decision to express the culture in way that does not offend ands till respect it.
However to speak for a whole culture is incredibly hard and there will be inevitable be people who will be offended. So when attempting to do cultural appreciation tread lightly and be aware.
We hope this has helped you out in learning more about cultural appropriation!
R.C.W – Stopping Cultural Appropriation
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Definition by Young, J 2010, Cultural Appropriation and the Arts.
Definitions by Encyclopaedia Britannia (x)
Stopping Cultural Appropriation 
Wow! This post was definitely an eye-opener! I had no idea there were such varying terminology for these types of situations. I’ve always felt that cultural appropriation and cultural assimilation had always existed and that there exists an unspeakable hierarchy of cultures, notably, people with “White” appearance being one the most influential cultures. I think cultural appreciation will see a convergence and meeting point to balance out the effects of the two extreme ends of the spectrum.
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Glad we could help to give you some information about cultural appropriation! And its true unfortunately there is a hierarchy of sort amongst cultures. We hope that by educating people about cultural appropriation that we go see a convergence amongst this hierarchy and even if its a little that minority cultures gain the respect that they deserve. Thanks!
R.C.W
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You have definitely cleared up some terminology for me! When i hear these terms,assimilation and appropriation, I assume they mean the same thing, how wrong i was! I’m glad the term cultural appreciation has been popping up, it proves we are learning from our mistakes!
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Glad to have helped you out! Many people are just like you and don’t really know the difference. Got to admit it is quite confusing considering they all start with A’s!
R.C.W
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Hi!
This is a great explanation of the differences. There’s a lot of grammatical errors that make it seem less than professional, though. I’d love to help y’all out as a volunteer copy editor. Please feel free to email me if you’d be interested!
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Ethically is there a difference between appropriation and assimilation?
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Yes. Appropriation is usually done with the intent to be trendy, provocative, edgy, exotic, or to gain a perception of credibility with the culture being appropriated from. Especially problematic when accompanied by disdain or contempt of the people responsible for the culture. For example, you have no problem rocking a sombrero on cinco de mayo while supporting Mexicans being deported.
Assimilation is usually done as a means of survival because white culture is considered the social normative standard. For example, minorities quite often have to code-switch or anglicize their names when applying for a job or housing -since discriminatory hiring practices is still prevalent.
Like the article said: there is a hierarchy of cultures and that imbalance is directly responsible for the problematic nature of appropriation.
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Why does population and power dynamics matter, or is the root of the issue of morality come from the intent. For example, what if a minority culture takes something from a dominant culture for the reason of being ‘trendy’ or ‘fashionable’? Would this not be appropriation even though they are taking from a dominant culture? If not, then what is it called? It isn’t assimilation unless is was done to survive or fit in. If they just thought it was fun or cool and decided to try it without learning about the rest of the cultural context of it then what would this be called? How is this not the same thing ethically? Also, why is it wrong or right but principles of ‘do no harm’? Do population differences or power differences matter for why this example situation would be wrong or right? I don’t see why it would matter. I can only see it being ethically wrong if the action included an intent to steal or coerce a culture. So when an action is simply done out of appreciation then where is the ‘harm’? Why is the author’s definition of ‘appreciation’ require learning first another culture’s perspective before being able to appreciate something in a similar or different way? It’s great to learn about other cultures, but it’s not clear to me why it is an ethical requirement?
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This was a good read, but a bit of a difficult read on account of all the grammatical/spelling errors. If you’d like people to take your future articles seriously, maybe take a minute to peer review or spell check 🙂 Thank you for clarifying an important difference! ❤
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Wow!! more than expected. I’m totally thankful to you all guys for this article, but it would be more effective if you added examples in each contex.
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Cultural appropriation:
A white person who listens to hip hop music and adopts a chariciture of hip hop culture, without meeting many black people.
Cultural appreciation:. That white person studying about African American history.
Cultural assimilation:. White person brought up around black people.
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