Is this what happens when you aren't part of a campus anymore and aren't watching MTV? You don't realize that the latest hipster trend is to wear aboriginal headdresses?
Ohhhhh maaaaan. When I returned to university in 2003 only the Engineering students were pulling dumb shit like this. (Or was it my first degree in the 90's??) Were they ahead of their time? Will those dreadlock wigs be the fashion in 2012?
Of course, you know who I blame:
That was 2004. Andre 3000's never apologized, doubtless because he's "part Native American"... just like 90% of North Americans seems to claim.
So here we are, 2011, and it's in the music videos...
...in the ads...
... on the celebrities...
Jared Leto
Kesha
...in the magazines...
...in the stores...
...and on every white person at the Coachella music festival. (Sorry I didn't credit these pics above and below, but they're all from the Hipster Appropriations tumblr. They've got zillions of them.)
If you don't think wearing a hipster headdress is Inappropriate then go here. And if you still don't, then you can join some of the naysayers in the comments. What really struck me was how many of them put forward a new sort of argument that I assume is coming from a younger age group, that goes like this: There's no culture anymore, everyone's exploited, don't waste your time trying to stop it.
It kind of disturbs me.
If this view were truly representative of Today's Youth I would go to bed and stay there like Brian Wilson. However I know it's not, thank the Lord of Appropriate Head Gear. Here's a taste:
* it's 2010. there is no culture anymore. you should just be happy people still think of natives when they see a head-dress.
* nobody "owns" their culture - there's too much variations and too many similarities of the human kind in various cultures around the world for anyone to claim anything. I hope that Ms. Baldwin actually got the point here as well. And again, Indian tribes/nations have no cultures, just like Irish immigrants in America have no culture. The one culture that unites us is the USA culture, and that culture is the only relevant one in this conversation.
* It is idealist to think that YOUR culture and YOUR cultural item won't be exploited for fashion or social comment, when all other culture is exploited to. This generation (in the west anyway) and all others to come to have freedoms, socially, economically and morally that no angry blog is going to curb or undo. Save your breath.
* I think this point of view is painfully old-fashioned. The Internet has created a melting pot of Ancient, Present, Past, and Future cultures from all around the world. And at this point, everyone is fully aware of what stereotypes are and what "PC" is, and going on about them is only going to perpetuate them.... Everyone is connected and everyone is mixed, this is a new tribe of people. A handmade headdress (and not the dime store "cowboys and indians" plastic version) is sacred to anyone who wears it and certainly to anyone who makes it.
Save us all. :-o
Cheer us up Graham Greene!
4 comments:
Oh my. I think it's disrespectful and makes the individuals wearing the headdresses look inappropriate at best and, at worst, like inebriated morons.
Plus, most of these people are outdoors in summer and, pardon my pragmatism, but when your head got sweaty wouldn't those feathers ITCH?
Culture is a living, changing "thing." And stuff like this is tasteless, but inevitable. These same people will wear a country's flag as a piece of clothing - similar disrespect? We hardly notice any more. What was scandalous in the sixties is now just fashion.
And the questions about what's "appropriate" also come from within communities themselves I think. For example, there's a local native artist who does the "west coast" style animal paintings, but he uses non-traditional colors (i.e. he goes beyond the basic red and black we usually see)... very eye catching. He gets criticised by some of his peers for doing so, but he says it's meant as a cultural and artistic exploration of the style, stories, etc ... so - two viewpoints of when, how and if it's appropriate to experiment with cultural symbols, styles etc., or not.
It's much more authentic when these tweaks are being done by the "owners" of the culture rather than "outsiders," methinks.
So the people who think this is okay are advocating exploitation? Cultures are being exploited so they're jumping on the exploitation bandwagon for the sake of pop fashion?
Whatever.
@ lol I like your practical touch. Also, you'd get some version of helmet head?
@ daddio - But it's the "it's inevitable" attitude that disturbs me. I don't think it's inevitable if enough people shame it. Blackface was *in* in the 1920s and it's not anymore. Also, I don't think the comparison with the flag is quite precise because the people rebelling against it "owned" it--that is to say, they were mostly white people, rejecting their own symbol. It was a problem within the power group--in fact, the less powerful people (kids) rebelling against those with power (their parents, authority figures etc) But this is the power group (white people) disrespecting a symbol belonging to the group whose power they've already taken. Plus, it's not footwear, like boots, or something. Headdresses are worn only be specific people, in specific tribes, for specific ceremonies etc.
As for how people within those groups want to use/re-use/play with the symbols, I agree it's normal/right for those conversations to happen within the culture. That, I would agree, is an example of the culture being a living changing thing. As opposed to MY frikking culture continuing to being a living STEALING THIEVING thing!! *@^%%$^#&!!
@J,J,J - Umm yep. This seems to be about the depth of their intellect alright. John Lennon said imagine there's no countries, and I thought he said there ARE no countries and therefore I can do what I want! Woo! :-)
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