Cultural Appropriation Research Paper

Cultural Appropriation and Resulting Problems in Social Media and the Music Industry
Recently, cultural appropriation has been a greatly discussed topic, especially in social media. The main reason for the popularity of the topic recently is because of the many celebrities accused of cultural appropriation, and the very few praised for appreciating rather than appropriating. Many argue that there is no such thing as cultural appropriation, and that the term is being misused for what is actually cultural appreciation. Additionally, many argue that cultures were all meant to blend as a learning experience. It is my belief that both cultural appropriation and appreciation exist. I also believe that there is a difference between the two, which

Not only is cultural appropriation offensive, it gives way to stereotypes, enables racism and oppression and, perpetuates large businesses to make a profit from a culture that they neither understand nor appreciate. Additionally, it encourages the idea that certain aspects of a culture are socially unacceptable when used by those in the culture being appropriated (Johnson, 2015).
Cultural appropriation is offensive in that the culture of another is essentially stolen. No credit is given to the victims of appropriation. How is it fair that others benefit from a culture that does not belong to them, but those from the culture are not benefited? In any academic platform plagiarism is a major offence. How is cultural appropriation any different? Aspects of certain cultures are used and wrongly made to belong to the appropriator. Taking someone’s culture is undoubtedly as wrong as plagiarism; however there is no punishment for the

For example, many black people are criticized, ostracized, and marginalized for certain hairstyles such as dreadlocks. They are denied jobs for hairstyles viewed as unkempt and, they are often targeted by police based on their appearance. When others wear these styles however, they are praised. An example of this would be television personality Giuliana Rancic suggesting that dreadlocks worn by singer Zendaya (who is of mixed ethnicity) smelled like patchouli oil and weed however, when Kylie Jenner sported a similar style, Rancic called her edgy. More examples of this type of behavior can be seen both in social media and the music industry. This is problematic because not only does it encourage borrowing aspects of culture from others, but it encourages the outright theft of these aspects, in that those who own the culture are no longer socially permitted to use it.
Both cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation are major topics in today’s society. However, cultural appropriation is a large problem that is widely ignored as a problem. Its general presence, as well as its prevalence in social media perpetuates harmful stereotypes and can cause several other problems. Acts of appropriation carried out by influential people are problematic because they are widely seen and