Asking whether cultural appropriation matters or not is like asking if a fat kid loves cake… Of course!
But it’s such a taboo subject to talk about that people usually keep quiet about it.
Let’s start with a definition of cultural appropriation.
Cultural appropriation is the exploitation or oppressive cooption of elements of one culture by members of another culture without permission.
Now that we got a working definition, let’s ask this question again: does cultural appropriation matter?
Yes, and especially in America.
This question sparked an interesting debate with my sorority sisters and me.
Some of them actually believed that cultural appropriation shouldn’t matter since everyone takes from everyone to make their culture unique.
However, the rest us believed it to be a bad characteristic of society that needs to be addressed.
We live in a country that was built on the backs of the oppressed.
Because of this, the melting pot that we are said to live in comes with double standards.
Many of these ‘new’ trends that appear in mainstream come from someone else’s culture.
Let’s talk hair.
Braids have been a part of the African American culture as a protective style to protect our natural hair from harsh weather conditions.
When worn by us, we are negatively stereotyped and ostracized by society.
Photo Credit: Alvaro Sasaki/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
Yet if someone like Kim Kardashian wears it, then it is accepted by those same people that called it ugly and ghetto.
For anything to be magically accepted by mainstream America, you have to be of a fair complexion.
Let’s talk dances.
Breaking out of her Disney barrier, Miley Cyrus decided to twerk as part of her on stage performances.
Before then, this was only heard of in the black community as a form of dancing.
She often kept black women in her videos and performances as pieces.
Usually having some sing and some dance but objectifying the dancers to those equivalent to a sex toy.
But she isn’t the only one.
Shall we go on?
Let’s talk appearance.
Society is a monster.
From a young age, we are taught to hate ourselves, especially young minority girls.
As a black girl, I was often teased for my full lips, milk chocolate complexion, and my naturally curvy body.
Now that I’m older, the same things that I was being teased for are the same things that are being praised on others.
Let’s use the lovely Kardashians as the example.
Kim altered her body to have curves and an ass which she didn’t have naturally; Khloe got ass injections that are not proportionate to her body; and Kylie got lip injections that she swore wore not lip injections.
It seems like the features that many minorities have are favored on other women who are not in the minority.
Not convinced yet?
Let’s give it one more shot.
Cultural appropriation matters because it is a form of oppression.
Typically, the ones that are being oppressed are usually the ones that have a problem with this.
This is just another example of how white privilege works.
White people take something, give no credit for it, and claim it as their own and repeat the process.
White privilege and accountability don’t go together at all hence why we have cultural appropriation issues.
Minorities have given the false hope of ‘all man is created equal’, forgetting the fact this quote wasn’t meant to include everyone at the time it was first said.
So in turn, the foundation of this country has been built on the unequal stature of those who take from those who are defenseless.
And in the end, cultural appropriation does matter and needs to be recognized.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Alannah Giannino/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
What Do You Think?
-
It’s Time To Let Gay Men Give Blood Again
This past Sunday a horrible act of terrorism occurred at Pulse Night Club, a gay club located in Orlando, Florida.
An armed gunman entered the club and opened fire killing 49 people and leaving over 50 other injured.
Local hospitals were in desperate need of blood and encouraged people to come out and donate to help save the lives of the victims of the shooting.
But because of the restrictions set out by the FDA, gay men, the group of people that was targeted during this attack, were not allowed to donate.
These “deferrals,” as the FDA calls them, were first put in place in 1983, during the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States.
They were put into place back when there still wasn’t much information out there about HIV/AIDS and a false stigma existed that made people think only gay people could contract the disease, which we now know to be far from the truth.
It is true that back then HIV/AIDS were more common within the LGBT+ community, but that is because at the time the use of protection during sex wasn’t thought to be necessary and was rarely ever used.
Like this? You can write for us too!
The FDA had initially banned any man who had sexual contact with another man and any women who has had sexual contact with a man who had sexual contact with another man.
In 2015 the rules were loosened up slightly and now only restricts men who have had sexual contact with another man within the last twelve months. This prevents any sexually active gay man to be a donor.
These rules are outdated and this week prevented some members of the LGBT+ community from being able to give blood to help support and potentially save lives of the victims of their own community who were attacked.
In recent years precautions been taken within the LGBT+ community to raise awareness about contracting HIV/AIDS as well as the importance of using protection and getting regularly tested.
There have also been many scientific advancements since the restriction was first put into place and now all donated blood is screened for many different types of blood-borne, diseases including HIV/AIDS.
The ban on gay men donating blood needs to be lifted.
It was written decades ago based fear and false stigmas.
We have progressed far enough to know now that any person can contract HIV/AIDS, not just gay men.
We need to stop excusing these negative stereotypes and make a change to these rules.
Every healthy and able person should be able to help their communities and donate in trying times such as these, and we need to no longer let ignorance stop them from doing so.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
What Do You Think?
-
Kylie Jenner Is A Role Model Whether She Likes It Or Not
Back in 2012 when I graduated high school our class song was Young, Wild, and Free by Snoop Dog and Wiz Khalifa.
For those of you who live under a rock, the song talks about smoking weed, drinking and living freely.
The artists in the song don’t really care what others say about their actions or lifestyle.
Recently Kylie Jenner posted a picture on Instagram of her smoking weed.
She is definitely living the carefree easy going life.
I really do not care if you post a picture of you drinking but drugs are another story.
“Come one it is one picture” you may say but if I posted one picture of me smoking weed my career as a nurse would be over before it even started.
Weed is still considered illegal and classified as a scheduled I drug by the DEA.
Let me go ahead and put this out there, I fully support cannabis in a medical setting to help people who really need it.
For example, that video on YouTube where the older gentleman has Parkinson’s disease but his tremors go away once he takes cannabis.
On other circumstances I am not totally against it but if you are going to blaze it up maybe don’t post it on Instagram.
My main concern with her post is young girls look up to her as a role model and as a kid we are taught not to do drugs…see where I am going on this?
I wish she would post images of her creating something new for Kylie cosmetics, videos of her cooking (I’ve heard she is a good cook), or her showing girls how to be successful.
I am sure Kylie Jenner is aware of the damage is done when you smoke weed but just in case she doesn’t, let me explain.
Have you ever heard of lung cancer?
Brain cells dying?
Infertility?
Also it can predispose people to schizophrenia.
I don’t know about you but I’ll pass.
Lastly, I will close with this final statement.
It is her life and she may do whatever she pleases but she is a role model to millions whether she likes it or not.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Kylie Jenner/ Instagram
What Do You Think?
-
NC State Elects Its First Latina Student Body President
The sound of shattering glass was all that you could hear on North Carolina State University’s campus on March 2, as the results from Student Government elections were announced.
Jackie Gonzalez and Mia Connell were elected to be the next Student Body President and Vice President.
Gonzalez and Connell went through two separate elections, winning the general election with 28.6% of the votes cast, advancing to the run-off election that took place two days later, securing the win with 64.4% of the votes cast in the run-off.
This win was historic, and that night, four glass ceilings were shattered to pieces.
Mia Connell (L) and Jackie Gonzalez (R). Photo Credit: Mia Connell/ Facebook
Gonzalez was the first Latinx identified individual elected to the office of Student Body President, and Connell was both the first female, and female of color elected to become Vice President.
Together, they made history by becoming the first all female ticket to win the dual-ticket race.
I was able to sit down with both Gonzalez and Connell to discuss their want to be President and Vice President, their historic win, and their goals for the next year.
RISE NEWS: Why did you want to become the Student Body President?
Gonzalez: I’ve always been drawn to NC State. It was the first college I ever really stepped foot on and I did that at orientation. I’m a first generation college student, so I didn’t really know about the college application process. I didn’t know you were supposed to tour schools before applying. I came NC State immediately and I loved it so there was no other option. Then I started getting involved in Student Government and loved it. The reason that I ran was because NC State has shown their acceptance of me and has helped me grow as a person so I want to make sure other students have those experiences as well.
RN: Why did you want to become the Student Body Vice President?
Connell: I want to run because I have been involved in Student Government my entire time here at State, and I’m really passionate about Student Government. I have been able to see many of the great initiatives that other individuals have been able to accomplish through Student Government and I think that can be expanded upon and improved. Even though we’re already doing great things, it can always be strenghtened.
RN: How do you feel about winning the election?
Gonzalez: I was absolutely taken back by our lead in the end. I think both of our leads were interesting. We knew it was going to be a difficult campaign season because all of the candidates were really great, but winning with 7 votes in the general and then winning with over 1000 in the run-off was just ridiculous. It was absolutely insane and we’re really grateful that what we did actually worked. What it really went down to was speaking with students and getting out there and getting to students that didn’t know to vote.
Connell: I feel grateful. It was a really tough process. Every campaign season is different. I was expecting it to be like last year’s and it was very different, so it was hard to adjust, so I’m very grateful for how quickly we adjusted to changes in the election. We were able to capitalize off the strengths and weaknesses of the team throughout the election season, so I’m grateful that we ran at the time that we did, that we had the support that we did, and that we ended up coming out on top.
RN: What does it mean to become the first all-female ticket to win?
Gonzalez: When I went into the decision process of whether to apply or not, I knew that I wanted to do it with another woman of color. I knew it was time to prove to NC State that two women of color are qualified and capable of standing up for others and representing others in a higher institution. So it feels GREAT. People actually listen to us and people actually care and that’s something we appreciate. Knowing that our team was as diverse as it was, we made sure to stick with our guts and to do what was right for the campaign.
Connell: People like to vote for people that look like themselves, and I don’t always look like every student on our campus, which can be considered a strength, but can also be considered a weakness. Jackie and I were both very nervous to run together. That was one of the first conversations we had together – that we would be viewed differently because we were an all female ticket. And it’s not something that people consciously do, but you are viewed differently when you’re an all female ticket, and it worked in our favor this year, but it other years it hasn’t. I look at it as the fact that less people are starting to look at gender or sex as a qualification for a role.
RN: What are you looking forward to accomplishing in the next year?
Gonzalez: I think the thing I am most passionate about is sexual assault education. It was very big for me. It’s something I want to make sure that other students have their resources and know what their resources are and are educated on this topic. I think what I campaigned on was something similar to that, where my biggest goal was to make sure that students know their resources, and to know that they don’t have to go through Student Government to talk to administrators – that they can go directly to them because they are students here and administrators are willing to listen to them. To take down that barrier between administrators and students is another big goal.
Connell: When I think of the upcoming year I’m very excited because we have a very cohesive team of Student Body Officers. I’m here to create a cohesive Student Government that can serve the student body in a useful way. As Vice President, I am internally focused. I am focused on running the Executive departments, and making sure that Student Government as a whole is working cohesively. I really want to improve our Retreat experience. Our Retreat experience is something that can be more engaging for our student leaders, and more useful. I think we can bring more tools to that setting, more training, more initiative and idea building, and connecting them to more University resources so they know who to go to. If we start off on the right foot and the proper training and guidance, it make the whole year run more smoothly.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: NC State University/ Facebook
What Do You Think?