Halloween is a spooky holiday celebrated by all ages. Going trick-or-treating in costumes has been a tradition for about 2,000 years and continues to be one of the most popular holidays today. Although it's a beloved holiday by many, it stirs up a lot of controversy regarding the cultural appropriation of costumes.
Teen Vogue uploaded the video "My Culture is NOT a costume" on their Youtube channel. The video revealed how certain costumes are highly offensive and inappropriate, essentially mocking the culture they are trying to represent. Teen Vogue asked six women of different cultural backgrounds to do an interview discussing their thoughts on the clothing. The women were brave enough to individually share their ethnic stories and explain why these costumes shouldn't be worn by anyone.
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One victim is Valerie Reynolds, a 20 year-old multiracial descendant of the Taino Arawak, the indigenous people of the Caribbean. She discussed how the costumes are not accurate, and made it seem like they were TV characters. Most importantly, they diminish the symbolism behind the bodypaint by using paint found in the dollar store. Valerie believes by wearing these costumes, they are making fun of the First Nations culture and utilize it for comedic purposes.
The costumes shown in the video were poorly made, resulting in all the women being very upset. A lot of practice and effort goes into creating the authentic versions of these cultural clothing and it should be well respected by all. There is a great amount of cultural meaning behind the costumes and majority people who wear them, aren't even aware of what they actually represent. This video is a great way to alert the public about cultural discrimination and hopefully encourages people to think about costumes they decide to wear for halloween.
Although I understand why these women are upset, I can't personally blame the people who wear the clothing. Majority of the people who wear these costumes are not aware that these costumes are offensive and don't have the intentions of harming anyone. Many children wear these costumes and I highly doubt they are attempting to mock a certain culture. It could be possible that the person is actually just trying to either embrace or support the culture during Halloween.
Nonetheless, I believe that these costumes shouldn't be worn by anyone. If someone wore a costume that mocked my culture I would be very upset as well. If we just educate people on the symbolism behind these costumes, then people will respect the culture and wear something appropriate. There are so many other Halloween costumes to choose from, let's just try to stay away from clothing that poorly depicts traditional clothing.
I agree, cultural appropriation is a big problem in today's society. I can respect cultural appreciation, but mocking one's culture is overstepping the line by a mile. Cultural appropriation is problematic, it makes a mockery of someone's culture by enforcing stereotypes. Cultural appreciation on the other hand is honouring and respecting another's culture and its practices, as a way to gain knowledge and understanding. People who appreciates culture don't just dress up stereotypically, they learn about the culture and respect it, we need more of those people in our world. I know many people that dress up stereotypically because they don't know that they are being offensive, which is understandable, but they also need to be aware of their actions. People dress up as 'Mexicans' with huge sombreros, wearing ponchos and mimics them using a Spanish accent. People also dress up as aboriginal people, painting tribal symbols on their faces, and wearing overly exaggerated headdresses. There are many more examples of cultural appropriation and not enough people realize how offensive they truly are.
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