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neopaganism and cultural appropriation
May. 23rd, 2005 11:48 amTo what extent might the neopagan movement be guilty of cultural appropriation?
I'm going to clean up a definition of cultural appropriation from this page: "Cultural appropriation occurs when members of a majority group (usually Whites or otherwise Eurocentric folks) mine a minority culture for the jewels of its heritage for their own pleasure or benefit while the voices of that culture remain silent or silenced." It is a tool of oppression which contributes to the silencing of an oppressed class by detaching its members from meaningful connection with their own heritage.
From this short essay:
In the United States, cultural appropriation can be a mixed blessing, because it might bring visibility or commerce to a subculture which would otherwise be invisible and/or shunned. Also, it is tempting to ask, if many of the people selling Native American items are themselves Native American, how are they being harmed? This illustrates how subtle the matter can be (but also reminds me of how some attempted to defend American slavery by arguing that white slave-traders bought slaves from members of African tribes which had enslaved others).
Clearly it is cultural appropriation to buy sacred items from someone else's religion to use them as decorations. But what if you are buying them as items to use in worship? It might get a little murky there, but you'd have to ask yourself, am I doing this in the context of a genuine connection to people in a living culture? Or am I worshipping goddess X because I liked what I read about her in a Llewellyn book?
Even murkier: is it cultural appropriation to reconstruct religions long dead? Or to read about other traditions and draw inspiration therefrom? Or to play musical instruments or wear fabrics from another culture, or eat at ethnic restaurants? (I'm leaning no on these, because they are not involved in the silencing of an oppressed class, and these have been aspects of international trade for milennia.)
At the heart of the issue is the motivation we experience -- a search for meaning and beauty, combined with the feeling among seekers that relevant aspects of dominant American culture are corrupt. For example, if an American feels that Christianity is corrupt or feels disconnected from it, where else might one turn for spiritual expression but the religions of other cultures? And where does one cross the line from "drawing inspiration" into cultural appropriation?
While writing this it dawned on me that several of my icons, including the one of Mohini which has been my default for some time, is probably an example of cultural appropriation. I have very specific reasons for feeling connected to the myth of Mohini, but she does not represent my heritage and it does not seem that I have earned the right to use her image.
I'm going to clean up a definition of cultural appropriation from this page: "Cultural appropriation occurs when members of a majority group (usually Whites or otherwise Eurocentric folks) mine a minority culture for the jewels of its heritage for their own pleasure or benefit while the voices of that culture remain silent or silenced." It is a tool of oppression which contributes to the silencing of an oppressed class by detaching its members from meaningful connection with their own heritage.
From this short essay:
[Rev. Danielle Di Bona, VP of the Diverse Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries (DRUMM)] stressed that the context in which cultural symbols and practices are expressed is extremely meaningful. "The specificity [of their use] is so complete, that visiting Native Americans do not participate in another tribe's rituals, and to do so would be perceived as foolish. "I would not even practice the rituals of my own tribe, because I am not an elder or spiritual leader." If this is true of her own people, then the use of these things by others who share no cultural context is seen not only as particularly foolish and inappropriate.
In the United States, cultural appropriation can be a mixed blessing, because it might bring visibility or commerce to a subculture which would otherwise be invisible and/or shunned. Also, it is tempting to ask, if many of the people selling Native American items are themselves Native American, how are they being harmed? This illustrates how subtle the matter can be (but also reminds me of how some attempted to defend American slavery by arguing that white slave-traders bought slaves from members of African tribes which had enslaved others).
Clearly it is cultural appropriation to buy sacred items from someone else's religion to use them as decorations. But what if you are buying them as items to use in worship? It might get a little murky there, but you'd have to ask yourself, am I doing this in the context of a genuine connection to people in a living culture? Or am I worshipping goddess X because I liked what I read about her in a Llewellyn book?
Even murkier: is it cultural appropriation to reconstruct religions long dead? Or to read about other traditions and draw inspiration therefrom? Or to play musical instruments or wear fabrics from another culture, or eat at ethnic restaurants? (I'm leaning no on these, because they are not involved in the silencing of an oppressed class, and these have been aspects of international trade for milennia.)
At the heart of the issue is the motivation we experience -- a search for meaning and beauty, combined with the feeling among seekers that relevant aspects of dominant American culture are corrupt. For example, if an American feels that Christianity is corrupt or feels disconnected from it, where else might one turn for spiritual expression but the religions of other cultures? And where does one cross the line from "drawing inspiration" into cultural appropriation?
While writing this it dawned on me that several of my icons, including the one of Mohini which has been my default for some time, is probably an example of cultural appropriation. I have very specific reasons for feeling connected to the myth of Mohini, but she does not represent my heritage and it does not seem that I have earned the right to use her image.
