Essay On Cultural Appropriation In The Fashion Industry

878 Words4 Pages

Within the fashion industry is African culture appropriated or appreciated? In this essay I am going to be focusing on the appropriation of cultures in the fashion industry, specifically black culture. The Cultural Dictionary defines cultural appropriation as "the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture". This topic generates a range of contrasting opinions and expectations from the fashion industry and society. With the increased use of social media, personal opinions are spread worldwide and debates on this topic create confliction. This has increased interest and awareness which has resulted both positively and negatively. Despite the advancement of knowledge within this area, cultural appropriation is still evident in todays modern world. Typically the dominant group within society are guilty of appropriating the traditions of the subordinant social groups, whilst seemingly not considering it necessary to understand the context of the established practice or its heritage. To begin to understand what would be categorised as appropriating, we must …show more content…

Society appears to be designed to favour those considered "normal", in this way left handers may struggle to play the guitar without purchasing one special. Throughout history it has been shown that anything contrasting to the majority of people is considered abnormal, this is particularly evident in the disapproval of homosexuality. Being different or "deviant", these groups may be victimised, discriminated against or excluded from the rest of society, resulting in marginalisation, compartmentalisation and negative stereotyping. Due to this, the subordinate group would be disempowered, leaving the dominant group as