I have a go-to answer when someone asks how I speak English so well, despite it not being my mother tongue: “I consume a lot of Western media.” Despite the benefits of this habit, that short phrase also encompasses the constant struggle of disentangling my self-worth from the harmful messages[Read More…]
Tag: cultural appropriation
The price of popularity
In late September, my mom and I were chatting during one of our routine Facetime calls. An avid TV-watcher, she excitedly asked me if I had heard of Squid Game. The show had just come out, and my mom binged the series in a matter of days. As the semester[Read More…]
A conversation on the repercussions of cultural appropriation
“Understanding Cultural Appropriation” tackles issues of representation
Discussing racism beyond Queen’s
Last week, photos surfaced online of a costume party at Queen’s University in which students dressed as various stereotypes of other nationalities and cultures. White students were photographed dressed as incarcerated Mexicans, Buddhist monks, Viet Cong guerillas, and other stereotypical outfits at the event. Queen’s Principal Daniel Woolf and other[Read More…]
Opera McGill’s “Alcina”: A dubious experiment in orientalism
From the cultural stereotypes in Madame Butterfly to the racism in Otello, the intersection of race and culture with opera has a dark and problematic history. Given this legacy, the East Asian setting and the specific Chinese cultural influences of Opera McGill’s production of Alcina is confusing, especially given the[Read More…]
Yoga is not cultural appropriation
The discussion around the recent cancellation of a yoga class at the University of Ottawa has been focused on whether or not practicing yoga is cultural appropriation. Claiming that practicing a form of exercise that originated in a different culture is cultural appropriation is far fetched; one could just as[Read More…]
AUS forum on cultural appropriation discusses insensitive Halloween costumes
On Friday, Oct. 29, the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) held a forum in the Arts Lounge on the topic of cultural appropriation in Halloween costumes. Led by AUS Vice-President (VP) External Becky Goldberg, as well as Equity Commissioners Kelsa Ferguson and Nicole Kim, the forum aimed to shed light on[Read More…]
Off the board: Drawing the line between inspiration and appropriation
Following the release of Taylor Swift’s new music video for “Wildest Dreams”—the 5th single from her 2014 album, 1989—the singer and the video’s director, Joseph Kahn, came under fire for accusations of racism and glorifying colonialism. It is very easy to call out something as being racist or culturally appropriative—especially[Read More…]
Pop Rhetoric: Got Blues?
“I am the worst thing since Elvis Presley/ To do black music so selfishly/ And use it to get myself wealthy” — Eminem
