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lilystarlace:

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and communicating with people from different cultures and I’ve come to a new conclusion about cultural appropriation. Now, I’m sure this isn’t new, but I’ve reached this conclusion for myself without any outside influences on my opinion, so don’t berate me for it.

There’s always going to be a difference in perspective when it comes to cultural appropriation within the cultures being appropriated. That difference is rooted in the difference between the diaspora experience vs the native experience. Those of us who live in countries outside of where our families come from(like Japanese people living in the US) will always have a different lived experience from those who have always lived in the origin country. So while those living in the origin country might not be offended and see it as appropriation, it is because they haven’t experienced the same racism and appropriation first hand as it presents itself when living abroad. 

So in America, White girls who wear a bindi as a “fashion statement” are appropriating. However, when a friend of mine visited India, she was permitted to wear one(a traditional one, not the bejeweled ones they used to sell at claire’s) and traditional clothing. I still argue that the difference wherever you go is invitation, but many people living in their origin countries would disagree. Many are okay with it, and see it as sharing in stead of appropriation. 

However, using my experience as an example, it is more acceptable to be a weaboo than it is to be a brown person who is mixed with Japanese. Weebs get free run of Japanese culture while they wave us off claiming they’re “appreciating” us. They’ll use broken Japanese in situations that don’t even call for Japanese to be spoken, shout “itadakemasu!” when eating Panda Express(holy shit that annoys me to no end), wear a kimono wrong/inappropriately, etc etc etc. And yet, I have been yelled at(albeit virtually) by a person in Japan for being annoyed about these things. I’ve been called slurs for not wanting to share my culture with weebs. And while I /do/ understand that in Japan exposing tourists to many elements of our culture is approved and even insisted upon, we are in America. And in America we face a racism that doesn’t have an equal in Japan. It’s because of these vastly different lived experiences that we have such differing opinions on what is/isn’t appropriation. 

My grandma is the only person in my family /from/ Japan. When living here, weeaboos annoyed her. My sisters got into fights, literal fist fights, with weebs in school for disrespecting them(and insisting that they were honoring them). My aunt moved /to/ Japan so she wouldn’t have to deal with the things she dealt with here any more. I have been told by the same weebs that I’m not /actually/ part Japanese, that I’m only enthusiastic about Japanese culture and I should stop pretending. So like, it’s massive, massive differences between us.

So I think…invitation. If you are invited to explore a culture, go for it. However, in America, members of the diaspora or mixed race people will rarely invite you. Americans don’t know how /not/ to ruin stuff and like to think they know better than those who are teaching them, so it becomes something many of us shut ourselves off to. It’s absolutely infuriating and invalidating on both sides to think about, but it’s just a reality. The difference just boils down to experience, and both perspectives should be taken into consideration in these discussions, not just the one that seems to support appropriation. 

This perfectly describes how I feel!!!