Appropriating Culture Every society has its own culture, and each culture is unique in its own way. With the many cultures on earth, some may begin to wonder what would happen if an individual from one culture began practicing another culture's way of life without permission. Surprisingly enough, this happens quite often. It can be referred to as cultural appropriation. The exact definition of this term is when individuals from a dominant group adopt cultural elements of an oppressed group, for their own advantage. Some may even unknowingly practice cultural appropriation. A fitting example of cultural appropriation occurred when fashion designer Marjan Peroski created a line of clothing that appropriated Native Americans sacred culture. The designer claims he did his fashion line as a tribute to culture, not to appropriate it. The problem with this claim is that the clothing line is not so much of a tribute to the culture, due to the fact that the articles of clothing are ridiculously priced. He is clearly exploiting the culture as a way to make an enormous profit. Another conflict with the designer's predicament is that he …show more content… These preformers include Katy Perry, who appropriated the Japanese culture while preforming at the American Music Awards. BeyoncĂ© also appropriated the Indian culture in her recent music video with Coldplay, "Hymn for the Weekend." With strong influencers in the media, such as BeyoncĂ© and Katy Perry who appropriate a culture, it makes people confused. They feel because celebrities appropriate a culture, that it is okay for everyone to do it. This statement is incorrect, not one person should be able to exploit a culture for their own profit. Cultural appropriation is an issue that may lead to harsh consequences, and celebrities should preach this concept instead of publicly exploiting a Show More
