Cultural (Mis) Appropriation

Recently we’ve been reading a lot of discussions about cultural appropriation in the dance community. Here’s my thoughts:

I think the problem is that we haven’t all agreed on what cultural appropriation is, NOR are we bringing trans-cultural diffusion into the discussion, which is going to happen whenever multiple cultures meet…if we look at the world today, we’ll see a lot of trans-cultural diffusion in clothing, technology, food, music, dance, the words we use, how we do business, and more.  So, when does trans-cultural diffusion become cultural (mis) appropriation?

I think most people who discuss cultural appropriation do so with this understanding: “Cultural (mis)appropriation occurs when a group in dominance or with power copies elements or practices from another group and uses these things outside of the cultural context of the originating culture”, but it seems to also include the aspect of harm or diminishment, as in

• uses them in such a way that the originating cultures either is harmed or does not profit from this use
• is done in such a way that the originating culture experiences emotional, physical, financial harm…

but can, or should, this be further defined in order to allow trans-cultural diffusion (which is almost inevitable when people meet and has always taken place), with all of us agreeing that cultural (mis)appropriation is the taking of an element from a culture not your own, without showing respect for, an understanding of, or giving attribution to,  the culture from which you are taking it, or perhaps even with the intent of claiming it as your own while depriving the originating culture of a say in how it develops or is presented or is defined?

Or, should we also include in the definition of cultural misappropriation that the person appropriating those elements uses them but refuses, or fails, to understand the daily experience of the people within the dominated or borrowed from culture, which can include, but is not limited to, discrimination, lack of power, oppression, etc ?

We could then say Cultural (mis) Appropriation, often simply defined as “when a group in dominance or with power copies elements or practices from another group and uses these things outside of the cultural context of the originating culture” is further clarified to mean cultural (mis) appropriation is when

• a group in dominance or with power copies elements or practices from another group AND/OR uses them in such a way that the originating cultures either is harmed or does not profit from this use,
• AND/OR is done in such a way that the originating culture experiences emotional, physical, financial harm,
• AND/OR is done in such a way that the person appropriates the element or practice without showing respect for, an understanding of, or attribution to, the culture from which it is being taken,
• AND/OR takes the element or practice with the intent of claiming it as one’s own while depriving the originating culture of a say in how it develops or is presented or is defined
• AND/OR when the person appropriating those elements uses them but refuses, or fails, to understand (and address?) the daily experience of the people within the dominated or borrowed from culture, which can include, but is not limited to, discrimination, lack of power, oppression, etc ?

I think it also means that it really is time for the inspired-by, offshoot dance forms- whatever form they take- to step away from the name “bellydance” (please don’t toss out that this is not an original  Middle Eastern term; the FACT is, it is the term we all know and recognize as meaning raks sharqi, tanz oryental, et al- in other words, we know what it means to almost the entire world, we know what culture/s  is represented by the name of the dance form, we know that when we call ourselves a “bellydancer” the general public has a preconceived image that forms, and that image is equated with specific music, costuming and cultural background) and start developing their own name, look, market and history.