In fashion, culture is the source of inspiration for universal compatibility, and its only inability and intolerance is the appropriation of lack of understanding and respect. The controversy over the abuse of appearance symbols is raging, let us decode the true meaning of "cultural appropriation", seek a new relationship between "appreciation" and "appropriation" in the era of cultural awakening, and believe that every step of exploration and reflection can bring enlightenment about the true knowledge of beauty.
Fashion hotkeys,
Or the Sword of the Overhang?
The alarm clock sounds on time, you put on the same nightgown of Downton Abbey, use the powder scraping roller to help reduce the swelling of the face, apply organic cola argan oil to the ends of your hair, click on the party invitation from friends, and the theme of "Tropical Carnival" makes you decide to order the Amazon rainforest color eyeshadow disk... This is your, mine, and our daily portrayal, and in just a few minutes, we have been suspected of "cultural appropriation."
Yes, cultural appropriation, one of forbes magazine's list of "fashion industry focal issues," has sparked a buzz beyond the circle in every case associated with it. Take a look at the recent past: Corn braided wigs for white models on the Comme des Gar ons shows, Indian feather crowns for photo shoots at the Kochilla Festival, India's "eyebrow red dot-nose ring" styling that floods the IG platform, and dark skin, African-American lips and fox eye makeup for viral marketing by the Kardashians.
The Comme des Gar ons show is a corn-braided wig worn only by white models
These acts of "copying or copying things that do not belong to one's own culture, without understanding and respecting them, and even intending to conceal their connotations", are in line with the oxford English Dictionary's interpretation, are obvious cultural appropriation, and there is no objection to condemning us.
The Must-Have Indian Feather Battle Crown for photo photos at the Kochilla Music Festival
However, the essence of fashion is to satisfy curiosity, embrace fantasy, seek and create new things, and cultural elements that cross regional, ethnic and civilizational boundaries can expand the aesthetics and thinking of fashion leaders, and inspire designers, craftsmen, visual artists and style makers to have deep creative inspiration.
As writer Thomas Wolfe puts it, "Culture elevates artistic creation to the height of faith." Looking at the definition of hundreds of characters in the Oxford Dictionary, it draws a forbidden area for cultural appropriation, but the corresponding understanding and respect for cultural providers are unclear. Such uncertainty can easily hurt sincere cultural appreciators, and the sword of "misappropriation suspicion" hanging in the fashion circle has destroyed the diversified and inclusive creative environment, resulting in the stagnation and development of the entire fashion industry.
Writer Thomas Wolfe
In June 2017, James Anaya, a United Nations human rights expert and dean of the University of Colorado School of Law, as a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), called on states to pass a bill that "any violation of cultural misappropriation is unlawful." The law has a long way to go, the incident is still happening, we do not need to cut and copy the text, and it is our duty to recognize and correct the behavior of "cultural appropriation".
The Age of Cultural Appropriation Awakening
Borrowing from other cultures is never new. The early maritime trade opened the door to cultural exchanges between the East and the West, and at the same time opened the way for cultural sampling and borrowing, and took the lead in the clothing and makeup that highlighted the status of wealth. For example, the 17th century fashion of suits brought up by European aristocrats was inspired by the three-piece formal dress of men in Islamic countries. Queen Marie Antoinette's silk dress and Kashmiri shawl not only come from Asia, but the painted design is also themed around Asia.
Queen Marie Antoinette's silk dress and Kashmiri shawl
On the rise of the modern beauty industry, "exotic elements" dominate product design: from Guerlain's "Madame Butterfly", which created the fragrance classic, Coty's first bronzed honey powder "Latin Beauty", to Elizabeth Arden's Interpretation of Middle Eastern Culture's Sheik Lipstick Series, exotic advertisements appeared in magazines and department stores, and the "cross-cultural" aesthetic image entered the public life.
Left: Coty's first bronzed honey powder "Latin Beauty"
Right: Elizabeth Arden interprets the Sheik lipstick collection of Middle Eastern culture
"Before the mid-20th century, the fashion world was dominated by Western elitism, and designers were always looking for new things, things that were not available in their own backyards." Pamela Golbin, chief curator of fashion and textiles at the Musée décor in Paris, said: "People marvel at the inspiration from afar, trying to show extraordinary beauty, and the question of 'humiliation' and 'misappropriation' has never been heard." ”
Chief curator Pamela Golbin
Behind the intoxication of one party is the awakening of the other. Entering the freedom-first 1970s, the concept of "cultural appropriation" appeared in the field of sociology as an academic critique of colonialism, mainly pointing to the theft or unfair treatment of Western colonizers on the material culture and handicrafts of other countries, and commentators such as Edward Said proposed the famous "Orientalism", which for the first time revealed the stereotype of Western creators who used Asian culture without concealing their bets.
Edward Said and his book Orientalism
With the proliferation of academic research on western appropriation of indigenous cultures, the American historian George Lipsitz added a method of cultural appropriation in the 1990s, that is, "when a culture from a marginalized group is adopted by the mainstream group, its performance and connotation are not respected, or only serve the commercial or social interests of the mainstream group, cultural appreciation becomes cultural appropriation", which is still regarded as the theoretical basis for distinguishing cultural appropriation.
Writings of the American historian George Lipsitz
As humanity entered the 21st century, the increase in intercontinental travel, the popularity of the Internet, and the emerging consumption of media promoted awareness of other cultures, and people began to re-examine the original cultural significance of certain "exotic" and "aesthetic features".
In 2014, comedians Desus and Mero coined the new word "Caucacity" in their podcast show "Bodega Boys," combining the dual meanings of "Caucasian" and "Audacity" to satirize white people's sense of superiority as "as inexplicable as a pumpkin spice" and their blatant ignorance of minority cultures.
Comedians Desus and Mero
The term "Caucacity" spread rapidly through the Internet and refers to acts that include various forms of cultural appropriation, racist "jokes" and "microaggressions" that are vaguely expressed but marginalize minority individuals. "Caucacity" uses a joke to describe the racist and cultural predatory atrocities committed by white people. ”
Flow-through
"Reward" proposal
There is no possibility of black and white in culture, and either raising your hands in anger or covering your ears with your fingers means not participating, it is unwise, and it goes against the way culture or creativity works. Professor Susan Scafidi, head of the Fordham Law School, the world's first fashion law school, wrote in his book Who Owns Culture? Who Owns Culture?: Appropriation and Authenticity in American Law writes that culture is not a three-dimensional model of a museum, it evolves with the social environment, and the criteria for defining cultural appropriation also flow.
Professor Susan Scafidi
In contrast to his book Who Owns Culture? : Appropriation and Originality in U.S. Law
In recent years, the "zeitgeist" beauty trend has become more and more popular, corresponding to the characteristics of the era of "decentralization", "value diversity" and "deconstruction and innovation", many "cross-cultural" and "subcultural" elements have been adopted by brand developers or trend leaders, and mixed, reorganized and re-created. If we talk about beauty fashion with "subjective change = appropriation", it is obviously inappropriate, and even the cultural police who are in charge of the network feel outrageous; then, how can we transcend accusations and create a coexistence that is both open and creative and culturally sensitive? There is no standard answer, but there is a "reward and use" point, let's get involved in strain.
Point 1. Genetic modification is never cool
Skin color, hair, facial features and other physical features are the most obvious racial manifestations, dressed up as a natural appearance that does not belong to oneself, which is equivalent to declaring identification with stereotyped racial impressions, regardless of the centuries AD, is a very offensive act of cultural appropriation. Take the Internet term "Blackfishing", which is popular in Europe and the United States, as an example, which means that non-black people adopt black shapes, including using foundation to deepen their skin tone, braiding hair derived from black culture, and even undergoing plastic surgery to bring black characteristics to their bodies and lips.
The move doesn't seem to be demeaning other people's cultures, but behind it is the intention of profiting from plagiarism: Rachel Dolezal, a white woman, pretends to be West African for 20 years and climbs all the way to the top of the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); Kylie Jenner has been created with extremely black lips, starting from the sale of lipstick to build a $1 billion beauty empire; Kim Kardashian's lingerie brand SKIMS, which sells skin color and body, A few minutes after opening, it hit a $2 million order, while lingerie ace Spanx opened for the full year at $4 million.
Rachel Dolezal, a white woman, pretended to be West African for 20 years
In contrast, in the true black community, skin color is still an obstacle to his/her rights and career development, and the natural curly or traditional braids of black women are considered "unprofessional and unclean" (so many black women wear wigs and it is quite impolite to touch black women's hair). At the 87th Academy Awards, Zendaya combed her reggae head (dreadlocks), and "Fashion Police" host Giuliana Rancic mocked the former's "hair is likely to smell like patchouli oil, or weeds" and praised the white actress's hairstyle as "cool and stylish", a cultural appropriation that is like throwing salt on a discriminatory wound.
Zendaya combs her reggae head (dreadlocks) to the Oscars
The same is true of the "yellow face" issue for Asians. This phrase, which originated from the Hollywood film industry in the last century, means "performing white people disguised as yellow people", because Asians have little chance to show their faces, or can only play roles such as servants. Joe, a white actor dressed as An Asian, deliberately vilifies the aesthetic curiosity and bad tastes of Western audiences (see: Catherine Hepburn's sallow face and tape-pulled eyelids in 1944's Dragon Species, and Mickey Rooney's ridiculous fanged landlord appearance in 1961's Breakfast at Tiffany's). "Hanging eyebrows, squinting yellow peril faces" is a humiliating memory that is worse than cultural appropriation and should never become a trend in any form.
Katharine Hepburn's appearance in 1944's Dragon Race
Point 2. The tribute goes beyond the aesthetic level
Chiuri, as Dior's creative director, will be inspired by Africa when preparing the brand's Early Spring 2020 collection, and lead the design team to visit local artists and workshops, in-depth study of African cultural history, all fabrics and patterns have been jointly discussed, and the names of the collaborators, workshop names and brands are listed side by side on the product labels, so that collaborators can get the opportunity to be seen by the world.
Designer Maria Grazia Chiuri
Chiuri, who chose to travel to Marrakesh, Morocco, North Africa, for the early spring show, wanted the models to feel at home (yes, the proportion of African-American models increased dramatically); more than half of the makeup and hair styling team recruited locally, with makeup director Peter Philips and hair stylist Guido Palau, led by local makeup artists, and a variety of bulk paints, homemade eyeliner and folk hair accessories were as "exhilarating" as the two masters put it.
Dior's Pre-Spring '20 collection
Regardless of the design, in terms of vision and pattern alone, Maria Grazia Chiuri and her representative Dior delivered the cultural subject and the world's magnesium lamp to Africa in the most sincere way, transcending the aesthetic level and elevating cultural tribute to a new realm, which is worth learning from all fashion leaders.
Point 3. Reject marketing-style performances
The recent Freud murder spawned a new phrase, "Performative Activism," in which the satire of formal statements is just a show, and there is no shortage of "cross-cultural" beauty brands.
Dutch beauty Products Has launched a wave of advertisements for spa and body care products, showing the cultural scenes of different Asian countries, and the models wearing Asian national costumes are all white.
Rituals has launched advertisements
Philippine fashion blogger Bryanboy saw the ad and posted: "Dear @RitualsCosmetics, can you tell your marketing department and the executives at the Dutch headquarters what 'cultural appropriation' means?" Bryanboy went on to say that it is no accident to place blue-eyed and white-skinned girls in Asian style paintings, rituals is well aware of how much the selling points of oriental spas, the visual elements of different cultures and the emotional resonance of the asian market with high spending power will bring, but everything is for marketing services, and the core Caucasian aesthetic pride cannot be shaken." Saying 'appropriation' is too light, it's culture theft. Bryanboy wrote.
Philippine fashion blogger Bryanboy posted on Instagram
The ideal relationship between fashion and culture is that cultural differences are fully praised and shared, not imitated by sensationalism, and are by no means a tool for belittling or discriminating; designers with a spirit of cultural inquiry accurately reflect cultural elements in their works and respond to the spirit of the times with their respective roles, giving fashion fun and novelty.
2022 has arrived, may the ideal come true.
Written by - Mavis
Editor - Shen Yi
WeChat Editor - Bennie Lee
Image from the web