CULTURAL APPROPRIATION IN HOP-HOP MUSIC
THE YEAR OF
MILEY CYRUS
It seems that 2013 is the year of Miley Cyrus. Constantly in the headlines this year, the former Disney star continues to show the world that she is no longer a little girl. Not unlike many celebrities, Miley has managed to stir some controversy this year particularly over her VMA performance with Robin Thicke, raising questions of audience perpetuated slut-shaming, “the sexual regulation of other girls” , and cultural appropriation of black music. While both issues are important I think it is easier to understand why making someone feel ashamed of their sexuality is viewed poorly so let’s try to understand why people are so angry about this thing called cultural appropriation and how Miley’s performance was an act of cultural appropriation.
What is Cultural Appropriation?
In its simplest form cultural appropriation is basically what it sounds like, taking or borrowing parts/symbols/markers of another cultural identity, however, even within this definition we can see that it will get complicated quickly. Some might ask, well why is this a problem? Isn’t imitation the greatest form of flattery? Well, yes and no, like many things in life this isn’t black and white. James Lull defines cultural appropriation as a concept of “how people take something that is given to them by culture and use it for their own purposes, sometimes in direct contradiction of the creator of the original idea”. Cultural appropriators give the object or idea in question a new or meaning which can be taken as offensive by the creator or members of the culture of origin. Marian Bredin offers a more critical explanation of cultural appropriation saying that it:
“describes the use and exploitation by a majority or dominant group, of cultural knowledge or expressions originally produced by a minority or dominated group. It is applied to media and popular communication when ideas, images, sounds, and narratives produced by one group are appropriated for personal, professional, or commercial gain by members of a more powerful social group. Linked to colonial histories, racist discourses, and disparate access to power and resources, cultural appropriation can occur within and across specific national communities and within a range of popular communication practices…”
It’s visible in many parts of our lives and in our surrounding society. Mascots and Halloween costumes take on the form of cultural icons or representations of stereotyped figures, people get tribal tattoos without knowledge of what those symbols mean or which tribes they originated in, and musicians brand and rebrand themselves to fit popular images in order to make bigger profits. Another layer to add to the issue of cultural appropriation are the consequences (intentional or unintentional) of turning cultural anchors or icons into commodities and things that are made appropriate for wider use once it has been made popular by more dominant or influential groups of our society.
But really what’s the problem?
While some may argue that cultural appropriation helps bring people of different cultures together by promoting the sharing of culture we need to recognize that there are appropriate and inappropriate ways of sharing or exchanging culture. Explaining cultural appropriation as a way of sharing culture would be wrong because it ignores power relations between dominant and non-dominant (minorities) groups. This is especially important to note because as much as people argue for a post-racial and color-blind society, racism and oppression are still very real problems in the U.S. Having these two opposing groups of dominants and non-dominants allows for those belonging to the non-dominant group to be oppressed, exploited, and excluded...
Ariana Martinez
Graduate student of Communication
what's she doing anyway?