Privilege By Jean Halley: A Cultural Appropriation Of Culture

Cultural appropriation defines as someone taking or borrowing aspects of another culture that is not their own. Cultural appropriation allows privileged races to take cultural aspects from subordinate groups while simultaneously reinforcing racial stereotypes. Many may hear the term “privilege” and wonder exactly who falls into this category when it comes to practicing certain elements of a culture. Author Jean Halley argues, “…privilege became ensconced [into the media] through the socioeconomic class structure...” (Halley). The connotation of privilege initially originated around the concepts of both gender and race. Since then, the term has expanded to include elements such as ability level, sexuality, and social class, along with other
Workneh states, Appropriation [of a culture] occurs when a style leads to racist [assumptions and] generalizations…from where it originated but is deemed as high fashion, cool, or funny when the privileged take it for themselves (Workneh). The problem of appropriating other cultures is displayed far too often, and commonly glorified when shown in the media. There is a continuous cycle of appropriation of people who identify as Native-Americans, Blacks or African-Americans, as well as those of Latino or Hispanic descent amongst celebrities. Cultural appropriation is often seen during runway shows, in music videos, celebrity Halloween parties, music festivals, or popular movies throughout history. The appropriation of various cultures has unfortunately been the norm for corporations controlling the media who understand the economic power within certain
The most recent instance that caused an uproar throughout social media was when Kardashian has posted photos wearing cornrows. This led to many ignorant bloggers and editorial campaigns falsely declaring it as a new trendy hairstyle by the name of “boxer braids.” This outraged not only people of the African-American community but people of other ethnic groups as well. Hairstyles typically worn by African-Americans have historically been a central component of black culture for centuries for the sole purpose of keeping their hair texture neat. The ajority of the frustration stems from the fact that this is not the first time an instance like this has occurred on the influential platforms that celebrities have. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar further explains was it is viewed as problematic when stating, “While high-priced cornrows on a white celebrity…is chic, those same cornrows on a little black girl…are a symbol of her ghetto lifestyle