As someone from a city undoubtedly more diverse than Bowdoin, what first stood out to me above all else about our school was the homogeneity. The worship of the Patagonia fleece and stories of the summer homes that I could never relate to were a bit off-putting at first, to put it kindly. Eventually, as the things I loved about Bowdoin began to outnumber the things that annoyed or bewildered me, I got over it.
Past the uniformity and WASP culture that is scarily present here, there is something potentially more concerning—the idea of cultural appropriation.
My running joke about Bowdoin is that every other time you walk into a dorm room, you’ll find prayer flags hanging on the wall. Don’t get me wrong—I think prayer flags are beautiful and understand their aesthetic appeal. However, I also doubt that most people have them in their room for spiritual reasons, or even understand those reasons. To me, that is what’s questionable—the idea of using something, disregarding all of its history, because it’s too foreign to even care about.
A similar example is the usage of keffiyehs. Keffiyehs have been used as scarves and headdresses for practical reasons for centuries, and in recent history, they have been worn as a symbol of Palestinian solidarity. However, keffiyehs have recently become a trendy item, being sold in shops such as Urban Outfitters in recent years. So the question becomes: how acceptable is it to wear something from another culture and cleanse it of all its cultural and political meaning? Are these examples of cultural appropriation, or just well-intentioned appreciation?
To clarify what cultural appropriation is in the first place, it involves the adoption of an element from a different culture. From elementary school on, we are taught that America is a “melting pot,” so cultural appropriation is almost inevitable in our society.
However, what is not inevitable is the idea that people will appreciate and educate themselves about the elements that they are adopting. And because we live in a society where Western norms and values are taken as gospel, and other cultures are assumed to be ignorant or irrational, there are people who often co-opt elements from other cultures as a joke.
With Halloween this week, the prospect up people dressing up as gypsies, putting on their Native American headdresses, or wearing a kimono to a party is ever-present. The idea that these “costumes” are on the market and are socially acceptable is the most offensive form of cultural appropriation, because it treats other cultures as laughable. Turning culture into costume should never be tolerated because it is ostracizing and demeaning to other people.
But when someone adopts an aspect of another culture for simply aesthetic purposes, is this potentially demeaning as well?
I would argue that someone who fully appreciates an element from another culture makes the effort to educate themselves about it, instead of just purchasing items like keffiyehs and prayer flags as if they were just another fashionable commodity.
Maya Reyes is a member of the Class of 2016.