It’s that time of year again.
Time to talk about cultural appreciation versus cultural appropriation, i.e. racism. Halloween is especially bad for this, but this stuff applies all year round:
It is not appropriation if you own a Tibetan singing bowl because you love the sound, the craftmanship, or even use it outright for meditation, and you think they’re beautiful.
It IS appropriation if you bought a Tibetan “Singing Bowl” because you thought it looked pretty on a shelf in your house. The difference is that you don’t know what the frell it is that you’ve actually bought, as opposed to the appreciation featured above.
You can dress in Indian clothes–Native American clothes. Sure. That can be cultural appreciation. But: you had better know whose tribal clothes you’re wearing and what every single bit of it means.
If you wear something that you are not entitled to wear because you never earned it? That’s appropriation because you couldn’t be arsed to do some research; you just thought it “looked cool.” No. Do not do this.
Double-down NO on the war bonnets. Unless you are a military veteran who has actualy been gifted one of those by a tribe, the answer is an absolute and firm HELL NO, you are being a dick, do not wear the thing. Those cheap “war bonnets” in the Halloween store need to be set on fire and danced around in celebration. I can’t legally prove my native blood because my family was racist and wiped it off the records, but a big part of my heritage is Cherokee, so fuck your couch. Do not wear the thing that you do not understand.
Do not carry around fake plastic weapons that belong to other cultures. It’s insulting. Ditto on cheap “samurai” swords. No. You didn’t earn it; knock it off. Also the police frown on you running around with real weapons at night.
The other part of my heritage is Irish. If I catch you in a leprechaun outfit–or anything green and ridiculously “Irish,” burbling along in a shite fake Irish accent, I will happen to you and it will not be pleasant. You wanna dress up as an Irish American? You look at what Irish farmers were wearing in isolated farming communities in the 1940s and previous, or what they came off the boat wearing in the mid-1800s. There ya go. Appreciate that we were dirt-fucking-poor and/or starving. Not so fun, is it?
Artificially darkening your skin for the sake of an outfit or a costume, no matter what shade you’re going for, is also an absolute NO. That skips over appropriation and goes right into racism. Do not be a racist dickbag. Your skin is the color that it is, and you can enjoy another culture without attempting to brown-face or black-face yourself to “fit.” You don’t fit when you do this. You just look like an asshole.
Wearing makeup that fits the costume you’re wearing because you understand why it’s supposed to be worn? That’s okay. That’s appreciation.
You can dress your kid up as Moana in the awesome costume that Disney created for her. That’s appreciation. If you darken her skin? That’s appropriation and brown-face and also, yeah, again–racist as hell. Stop that.
The brown-skin suit for the boy costume? Just don’t. Just…there are so many levels of NOPE there tha I cant even begin to go into them all. If your child wants to be that character, draw on the tattoos yourself (AFTER you find out what they mean and why he’s wearing them, and yes, teach your kid that, too) and make your own version of his outfit. Also, I hope it’s warm where you’re celebrating because the dude ain’t wearin’ much.
You can dress up as a Japanese Geisha, no matter your gender–if you do it correctly, with an understanding of what a Geisha actually is and does. If you think a Geisha is a fancy whore, get the fuck out off my Tumblr and go do yourself some reading. Makeup is, again, fine in this instance; it fits the nature of the HONORED JOB that you are respectfully presenting because you understand what every part of your clothing means. This is NOT an outfit you can cheap out on, by the way. You buy the real deal and all the layers involved, not something off the rack that looks similar. That off-the-rack purchase? That’s appropriation.
If you are white, dress in all the Medieval Prince and Princess stuff you want from Western Europe. However, if you’re going as a specific person? Double check on if they were historically white or not. A lot more of them than you’ve been taught were not white, so pay attention.
Pirates came in all shapes, sizes, and colors. It’s only appropriation if you dress up in a specifically cultural outfit a pirate wore, so you’d better know where it came from and why it’s done that way and why they became pirates in the first place. Also, still no brown-face. You wanna be a pirate, just go put on your outfit and roll around in the dirt for a while. There; now you’re representing a bit more accurately. (Though a lot of pirates were actually very clean. They lived on the ocean, after all. Free bathwater!)
You can recreate a full Diwali outfit…but there is symbology involved. Unless you understand what each bit of it means? Don’t do the thing, even though they’re beautiful.
If you dress up as a Muslim because you want to be a “terrorist” for Halloween, please do consider leaving the planet on the express train. If you put on “Arabian” clothes off the rack and laugh it up, you’re appropriating–and being racist, since they sell “Arabic” clothes that aren’t Arabian at all. They’re from other cultures entirely.
You want to be Jasmine or Aladdin? Okay. Do that–that’s appreciation of the characters and their fictional universe. But don’t you dare brown-face it. Go as you are. Their outfits are obvious and we’ll know who you are, especially if you get a stuffed (or real?? crazy bastard) monkey to go with the Aladdin outfit. Abhu is awesome and should be represented, too.
Do not alter the color of your skin for a fucking costume.
Don’t wear “costumes” from other cultures that are just generic outfits. Y’know, because those clothes are not actually costumes. You really want to dress up as something from a culture that isn’t yours, you study it and then you buy the real deal and wear it properly, with respect.
Do buy *costumes* from other fictional cultural stories as long as they are a) recognizably those characters and b) you don’t brown- or black-face to look more “authentic.” We know who those characters are already; you’re fine.
If you’re really not sure about a costume, and you don’t want to be an accidental prick, dress up as a profession. Those are universal.
Misogyny bonus note: Please try to avoid dressing up as “Sexy” anything. You’re not doing yourself or the rest of us any fucking favors at all. Thanks to people buying that shit, we now have to deal with SEXY COOKIE MONSTER. LOOK UPON YOUR WORK AND DESPAIR.
