Angel

Natalia Angel
ENC 1101
Yolanda Franklin
2 August 2015
What Causes Events?
Life is about experiencing moments and being able to learn or observe something from
them. From when dinosaurs were around to the present day modern world, many events have
taken place, some more influencing than others were. What do I mean by influencing? Well,
many events are noted to have a cause that ends up having an effect. For example, if someone
that is passionate about something stands up for it, it could cause a reaction. Up until around the
1970s, racism and segregation were at an all-time high. Black people and white people could not
have the same rights because it was unacceptable in the majority of societys eyes. It became so
severe that black people had to attend different schools. It even got to the point that they had to
use different bathrooms. How could the skin color that one possessed influence where one can go
pee? In addition, when white people took the bus, the black people had to give up their seat to
them even if they were there first.
On December 1, 1995, something crazy occurred. Rosa Parks was a black woman who
was calmly taking the bus home from work as she always did. She was able to get on the bus
early enough so that she could sit down and relax for a little from her long day at work. When
white men boarded the bus, she was directed to give up her seat to them. To everyones disbelief,
she refused. She refused because that is not fair. She was able to get there before them and now,
just because they were white and she was black, she had to give her seat up to them. Right then

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and there, the police got involved and Rosa Parks was arrested for violating the Jim Crow Laws
also known as segregation laws.
When people found out about this, they gained more courage to stand up for what they
believed in. Because of this brave woman, blacks all over the country began a boycott towards
the bus systems to trying to send out a message. The message was that they would not ride a bus
having such few rights. One of the rights that they were standing up for in particular was being
able to keep their seats on the bus no matter who wants it. The bus systems were negatively
affected by this boycott because most of the people that rode the buses were of the black race.
Eventually, the buses began to suffer economically. That is one way that some events take place,
by having a cause and creating an effect. Another way, however, is by the appropriation of
different cultures. These actions tend to bother people that are of the culture that is being
appropriated but effects, like protests and such, do not usually take place. In other words, there
usually is not any backfire from them. The appropriations of different cultures cause attention to
the media based on whom is performing the actions. Cultural appropriation is in all aspects of
life. It ranges from current events, celebrities, and even fashion all over the world.

Appropriation Towards Different Cultures

As Amandla Stenberg, the girl who played the character Rue in the Hunger Games, once
said, Appropriation occurs when a style leads to racist generalizations but is deemed cool or
funny when the privileged take it for themselves. The privileged in this case would be the white
people. White people are considered to have more privileges than other races because of a term
known as White Privilege. White Privilege is a list of things that the white race benefits over
the other races. For example, the fact that the shampoos hotels offer are all for the white people

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type of hair and the fact that the normal band aid is made to be a nude color so that it doesnt
stand out. Band-aids do not stand out on a white persons skin but they definitely do on any other
races skin. The list goes on and on but those are just some aspects of the benefits that the white
race has living in this country.
The black culture, for instance, has many aspects to it that are diverse and unique when
compared to the white culture and that is why people are interested in part-taking in it. Many
times, white people want to participate in this different culture because they want to be edgy and
stand out to their audience. Sometimes this appropriation, however, is seen as offensive to people
the come from the black culture because white people seem to be taking it and implementing it
as their own. There have been many occasions where celebrities have participated in activities
that are not considered typical in their culture. They tend to do this to call attention to themselves
from their audiences and the media. I do not see anything edgy about taking other cultures and
acting upon it to stand out. It is not your culture and it probably does not have a significance to
you as it does to the people that actually follow it. With that being said, I understand why people
of, in this case, black culture would be offended.
The people of black decent have been raised being exposed to these customs so they are
seen as normal in their eyes. A person that comes from the black culture would not think that
having cornrows in your hair is artsy or edgy. On the other hand, it is seen like that through a
white persons perspective because they are not used to constantly being around customs that
arose from the black culture. I see where the white race is coming from in the sense that they are
open to new ideas and ways of life but it is not okay to use these ways to be unique or create
fashion statements.

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Fashion Statements
Fashion statements should be made in other forms rather than through appropriation. For
example, they can arise from designs that are not common in any culture in particular. Designs
that are able to be deemed edgy no matter what culture is looking at them. That, in my opinion, is
what a true fashion statement should be. Not everyone would agree that wearing something from
another culture is a fashion statement because of the point of view it is being seen from. For
example, when a Chinese woman sees people wearing Cheongsams (long dresses) she would not
consider that as being exotic. On the contrary, Americans would definitely consider that as
exotic and bring attention to it.
There are certain music festivals that are known to have the appropriate attire be
clothes and traditions that come from other cultures. For example, the music festival that takes
place in Indo, California known as Coachella. Coachella is not like the typical music festivals
that encourage people to dress half-naked like Ultra does. In my opinion, it encourages people to
dress somewhat classier. The typical Coachella outfit usually consists of edgy clothes that
typically come from different cultures and a bindi or other forms of jewelry that are seen as
exotic to the typical white person that was born and raised in the United States. A bindi is a
forehead decoration that most women wear in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is seen more
often in the Indian culture rather than all of the other cultures that are in Asia. Bindis have had
meaning to their colors since the beginning of time for the people that are from that culture. The
red one, for example, signifies that a woman is married in a loving and passionate relationship.
Most people would not know that, they just know that it is from another country and that it looks
cool. The appropriation that is taking place here is directed more towards the cultures that
come from other countries rather than race but it is the same concept. It tends to bother the

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people that are from these cultures because it

is

indirectly saying that their customs are weird.

The people from Asia that wear these
accessories see it as an ordinary addition to
their daily outfits. However, people attending
these festivals are wearing them to be seen as
exotic. Many people all over the world part
take in these customs that are not of their

culture. It is strange to me, though, that when black people or Asian people execute customs that
come from their culture, they are not seen as being unique but when white people do the same,
they are considered unique and call attention to themselves.

Celebrities
With fame comes the loss of privacy. Some famous people might see this as a good thing,
though. Some artists try their best to avoid being talked about by the paparazzi. On the other
hand though, there are some artists that crave the attention and being on the headlines for their
most recent stunt. One example of a celebrity who calls attention towards herself by
appropriating black culture would be Miley Cyrus.
We all remember the Disney Channel pop star sensation also known as Hannah Montana
that we grew up loving and looking up to. Hannah Montana was a teenage girl who lived a
double life that everyone had always dreamed of living. In the daytime, she was a normal girl
who lived an average life. She went to school, hung out with her friends and played sports; well
attempted to. Her name was Miley Stewart. At night, however, she would become a rock star that

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would go and perform in concerts all over the country. She was definitely a role model figure to
many girls, and even boys, all over the United States. This pop star identity she had was known
as Hannah Montana. She lived a life that, even though it was not true, filled me up with
excitement and made me want to be like her. She
was honestly one of my role models too because
she held an image that everyone wished they were
able to have. She seemed like she was well
rounded, talented, and most importantly, a very
kind and genuine human being. Since she was an
exquisite actress, she made it seem that this was
her normal way of being and was able to captivate everyone with her charming character from
the Disney Channel hit series.
It seems to me, however, that this was somewhat of a disguise that she was using to hide
her true identity and real interests. After Miley and her soon to be fianc, Liam Hemsworth,
broke it off, she went into what seemed to be a mental breakdown. Actually, I would not
necessarily say that it was a mental break down. It was more as if she took a 180-degree turn in
the way that she held her image. She began dressing in very provocative clothes and doing many
actions that were not ones that the Miley Cyrus/ Hannah Montana everyone grew up knowing
would expect her to do. One action she began doing in particular was the act known as
twerking.
Twerking is known as dancing to music in a sexually provocative manner involving
thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance. Most people that participate in this type of
dancing are ones who have big butts. The black race is genetically known to have larger butts

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than other races and that is why most people that twerk are black. One could consider twerking
as being something that comes from African American culture. When Miley began twerking in
her concerts and music videos, she used black women as her back up dancers. That is not a
coincidence to me. She did that to cause attention to herself because she stands out in a group of
black women who have large butts. By doing that, she is giving off some sort of message that is
showing off the black culture as if it was a culture that she could consider her own.
In the 2013, Video Music Awards, Miley Cyrus twerked her little butt away on stage for
the whole world to see. By doing this stunt, she was the main talk all over the media. One could
say that she accomplished her goal of being the center of attention. She was being so widely
talked about because this was not something her
audience would expect her to do. After
the Video Music Awards, Miley Cyrus
twerking on stage was the main topic of
conversation for many talk shows and she
was on several front covers in magazines.
Even though the action she did got both
negative and positive feedback, she did not seem to care. The main goal here was to be talked
about by the public and nothing more.

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Music
Her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, is a well-known country musician. Country music is a genre
of

music that was created by origins that came from the

African American culture centuries ago. In the 17th
century, slaves created the instrument known as the
banjo to try to imitate the banjar, an instrument that
originally comes from Africa. During the times of

slavery, many black people would compose music using these banjos, fiddles, and harmonicas.
Many people were raised to believe that black culture gave birth to the music known as jazz and
blues but that is not the case. The genre that black culture can take the most credit for is
definitely country music. I find this to be ironic because when anyone thinks of country music
and country artists, the first things that come to mind are the southern white people that are
sometimes referred to as hillbillies. When I hear a country song, I picture myself riding around in
a truck along the outskirts of Tennessee going to a cook out and wearing my plaid shirt with
boots. I picture myself arriving to this cook out that is full of stacks of hay and surrounded by
barns. I do not think anything in regards to Africa and the black culture because of how society
has portrayed this type of music.
It is interesting to me and my audience of young adults how white people cannot use their
culture and modify it so that they can be seen as edgy. Instead, they take the common
traditions of other cultures and use them for their own ways of getting attention. I know for a fact
that many of the traditions that are being appropriated have special value to the people that are
from that culture. When it comes down to it, appropriation is about perspective and how it is
being represented. The appropriation of different cultures can be seen through all aspects of daily

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life and it is very interesting to see how it changes depending on through what perspective it is
being seen though.