Why Cultural Appropriation Is An Issue in Fashion And Beauty Industry?
The beauty industry is a big business set with never-ending precedent of what mainstream hair, make-up, and body standards are supposed to look like as well as what generates the most money.
Black women have not always fit into drastically Europeanized standards but have had to endure centuries of mainstream designers, celebrities, make-up artist and hairstylist replicating their "swag" without receiving a hint of cultural edit. The appropriation of black culture has always been a controversial topic amongst beauty enthusiasts, wondering when the adaptation of African American culture will no longer be an in-and out fad, but a collaborative celebration.
Thanks to social media, commercial designers and celebrities are being exposed more than ever for borrowing traditional beauty attributes from the African American community and labelling them "fad" or "trends".
Black women have not always fit into drastically Europeanized standards but have had to endure centuries of mainstream designers, celebrities, make-up artist and hairstylist replicating their "swag" without receiving a hint of cultural edit. The appropriation of black culture has always been a controversial topic amongst beauty enthusiasts, wondering when the adaptation of African American culture will no longer be an in-and out fad, but a collaborative celebration.
Thanks to social media, commercial designers and celebrities are being exposed more than ever for borrowing traditional beauty attributes from the African American community and labelling them "fad" or "trends".
If we are into fashion and beauty, we have probably heard the term cultural appropriation being used in the news, particularly in relation to certain 'trends' in the industry. But what exactly is cultural appropriation and why is it something that causes offense to so many communities? According to MTV Fashion, they have interviewed a model by the name of Leomie Anderson to get her thoughts and find out how it affected her.
In my concluding note, culture is meant to be shared and everyone should strive to be constantly learning their whole lives. With that in mind, I don't think it is wise or ethically enforceable to draw lines of what people should or should not wear or experience. It leads to constant struggle with lots of emotions, both somewhat understandable.
Bibliography:
1. Foley, L.(2016) What Is Cultural Appropriation And Why Is It An Issue In Fashion And Beauty? [Online]. Available at: http://www.mtv.co.uk/fashion/news/what-is-cultural-appropriation (Accessed on 12 June 2017)
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLPuOQPCAks
3. Webb, A. (2016) 5 Times The Mainstream Tried To Steal Our Black Girl Magic And Failed In 2016. [Online]. Available at: http://www.essence.com/hair/biggest-cultural-appropriation-fails-2016 (Accessed on 12 June 2017)
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLPuOQPCAks
3. Webb, A. (2016) 5 Times The Mainstream Tried To Steal Our Black Girl Magic And Failed In 2016. [Online]. Available at: http://www.essence.com/hair/biggest-cultural-appropriation-fails-2016 (Accessed on 12 June 2017)
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