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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 6705033" data-attributes="member: 177">Which is why so often in such discussions, I use the word &quot;if&quot; <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> You might not, if it was done poorly, such that it trivialized the actual meaning of the original element, or cast your people in a highly sterotyped light or perpetuated incorrect information about your people.Let me try for an example, that steps away from the Bento Box to somethign a bit deeper...Online, have you ever seen a &quot;find your totem animal&quot; quiz?&nbsp; You click through a few simple questions, and it spits out, &quot;Your totem animal is Sloth, because you're lazy!&quot;&nbsp; or the like.These things make a Native American friend of mine cringe, because they are an utter trivialization of Native American Animism.&nbsp; He likened it to a devout Catholic seeing someone come to a costume party in a &quot;Naughty Virgin Mary&quot; costume.&nbsp; Moreover, it isn't in any way really like Native American Animism, so blatantly oversimplified that it shows a great deal of disrespect.&nbsp; And, while you might say, &quot;Well, nobody would mistake that for their religion,&quot; you'd be largely *wrong*.&nbsp; In the real world, people get impressions, and if the example they see is trivial, they think the real thing is kind of trivial.&nbsp; Depends on your definition.&nbsp; To many, &quot;cultural appropriation&quot; *requires* there to be a power imbalance, and that it is the powerful taking cultural aspects of the less powerful.Well, some would argue that.&nbsp; Others would argue that there's a major problem with that view (As I believe got mentioned earlier, I think around the time I mentioned my bento box.)Some would say that if I (as a white male American), take an element of Japanese culture (like my bento box), I am engaging in cultural appropriation.&nbsp; This same person may argue that any time a Japanese person takes an element of American culture, it is because I am exporting it (committing &quot;cultural imperialism&quot;, forcing my culture upon others).&nbsp; Like you said above.The problem is that this assumes that those in the less powerful culture *completely* lack agency.&nbsp; They cannot borrow from more powerful cultures by their own decision, it is always coerced.&nbsp; The person in the less powerful culture is *always* a victim.&nbsp; Which is nonsense.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 6705033, member: 177"] Which is why so often in such discussions, I use the word "if" :) You might not, if it was done poorly, such that it trivialized the actual meaning of the original element, or cast your people in a highly sterotyped light or perpetuated incorrect information about your people. Let me try for an example, that steps away from the Bento Box to somethign a bit deeper... Online, have you ever seen a "find your totem animal" quiz? You click through a few simple questions, and it spits out, "Your totem animal is Sloth, because you're lazy!" or the like. These things make a Native American friend of mine cringe, because they are an utter trivialization of Native American Animism. He likened it to a devout Catholic seeing someone come to a costume party in a "Naughty Virgin Mary" costume. Moreover, it isn't in any way really like Native American Animism, so blatantly oversimplified that it shows a great deal of disrespect. And, while you might say, "Well, nobody would mistake that for their religion," you'd be largely *wrong*. In the real world, people get impressions, and if the example they see is trivial, they think the real thing is kind of trivial. Depends on your definition. To many, "cultural appropriation" *requires* there to be a power imbalance, and that it is the powerful taking cultural aspects of the less powerful. Well, some would argue that. Others would argue that there's a major problem with that view (As I believe got mentioned earlier, I think around the time I mentioned my bento box.) Some would say that if I (as a white male American), take an element of Japanese culture (like my bento box), I am engaging in cultural appropriation. This same person may argue that any time a Japanese person takes an element of American culture, it is because I am exporting it (committing "cultural imperialism", forcing my culture upon others). Like you said above. The problem is that this assumes that those in the less powerful culture *completely* lack agency. They cannot borrow from more powerful cultures by their own decision, it is always coerced. The person in the less powerful culture is *always* a victim. Which is nonsense. [/QUOTE]

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