Avoiding Cultural Appropriation with your Mermaid Costume

[AptaMer]

I gave up worrying about what people think years ago.

What do you do when you look like a melanin-challenged Scottish pale person, but lived in Africa as a kid and speak snippets of an African language, still have and wear African clothes, and actually speak snippets of Gaelic, because that was my family's language before they migrated to Canada.

I have been asked why I'm wearing a maternity top when I've worn my northern shirts from west Africa before. In all fairness, they actually do look like maternity tops- but boy there's nothing that ventilates better and keeps you cool in the summer than those northern tops (cool temperature-wise, definitely not appearance-wise LOL)

Don't have a kilt, though. They're supposed to be pretty cool in the summertime.

[SeaGlass Siren]

^ i'm almost certain it still counts because u were raised with it. Like how most canadian born children of different ethnicities were raised here. Thankfully we're a cultural hot pot of deliciousness.
reminds me of this recent episode of Fresh of the Boat where an obvious chinese boy was adopted by jewish people but he acts and speaks full jewish and completely forgot his chinese origin.

[MermaidCelesteFL]

You know, I didn't really think about cultural appropriation when designing my tail. I have no idea where my tribal print came from- it just looked awesome.

As for my personal background, I'm Polish-Austrian/Russian-Romanian. Very Jewish. Sadly, that's the only information I know, I lost A LOT of family and documents during the Holocaust. Nothing is known beyond my grandparents' generation.

Are there other ways of getting that information?

[Vrindavana Starfish]

Great article, Raina. I love when people reference their folklore. But, I have a degree in folklore and mythology so, there's that.

...
I think it also has to do with your specific training through life. For example if you have put the study in to become a blackbelt in Tai Kwon Do or Karate, you may want to use some inspiration from your training and it's culture because you now have personal ties to it. My boyfriend is a master of the West African djembe, and sometimes he gets questions about being a white guy (English/South African) performing African music, but he has studied for over 20 years and learned from African masters around the world, so that whenever an African hears him play they respect his talent and don't take offense. He wears this gorgeous African "mohawk" style hat that is reserved for only djembe masters, and it's really the only "headdress" he feels comfortable wearing to represent himself because he has studied diligently to earn the right to wear it. For me, I would feel comfortable using just a hint of hindu inspiration, as the study of yoga (and the ancient scriptures) is a big part of my personal spiritual path, plus I know that traditional yoga masters don't mind what culture or religion you're from, they think anyone can and should learn from their culture. I think a bindi is just fine, as from what I've researched most Hindus today consider them a fashion accessory anyway. If you want to get spiritual about it, the bindi is placed on the forehead after morning meditation as a way to remind yourself to stay focused on meditation throughout the day. Of course you can't see your own bindi, but when you see other's bindis you are reminded (so the more people who wear bindis the better!). I have a regular meditation practice so I could def use the reminder! I would say just don't wear a red bindi unless you are married or a black bindi unless you are widowed.

...

These are excellent points that I agree with. My genetic heritage is Irish/Scottish/Welsh/French - basically a Celtic mutt, and I LOVE my celtic roots. But my spiritual path is a Vedic one, and I lived in India for a short time for the specific purpose of better understanding my path. I wear saris and bindis, and it is not outside of my personal culture even if it isn't my genetic one - these things represent ways in which I actually live my life. I also practice yoga and bhakti yoga. When I was in India, all I got was appreciation for wearing Indian dress, not any kind of cultural appropriation backlash. However, I do get that from white people on the rare occasions I would be seen in public wearing Indian clothing.

Btw, you're right about the bindi - both in its meaning as a reminder of meditation and also as fashion. And the red dot bindi is for married women, yes, but you can wear what matches your outfit.

I would feel more than comfortable drawing celtic and Indian influences into my mermaid persona. I mean, my name is the name of a village in India, so... But I would feel less comfortable bringing in Chinese or Japanese influences into my persona (specifically my persona - I will wear fashion inspired by these cultures but I always research to make sure I'm not being inappropriate when I do) because I don't feel these cultures are part of my persona, even if they're beautiful and I truly appreciate them.

[Vrindavana Starfish]

Also, how have I not seen this amazing thread before? That video about the Kimono was awesome, and pretty much reflects my experiences wearing saris. It's always been Americans (and white Americans, not Indian-Americans) who have taken offense.

So, when I visit Japan, I want to learn how to properly wear kimono Among many, many other things I want to learn about the culture while I'm there.

[Sabrina the Selkie]

Eh. Just make sure to keep the right side of the kimono out so you aren't wearing it like a corpse.

[SeaGlass Siren]

I wonder if I can make a fusion style hair piece borrowing from Chinese and French... Hm... They both like to wear their hair high in odd shapes.... (Tang Dynasty and rococo period)

[Mermaid Wesley]

I wonder if I can make a fusion style hair piece borrowing from Chinese and French... Hm... They both like to wear their hair high in odd shapes.... (Tang Dynasty and rococo period)

DO IT

[Mermaid Sirenia]

I'm half irish, and then also have a German and a bit of Native American in me😊 I'd love to do a shoot inspired by my heritage soon!

[AptaMer]

Speaking of French style, Atsuko Kudo, the famous London couture designer who makes all those latex dresses for the celebrities has come out with a world first- the latex beret! Perfect for fashionable French styling you could wear in the water


As you would expect for someone who sells dresses to the likes of Kim Kardashian & Rita Oro, though, the price (87 quid) is eye-wateringly high

https://www.atsukokudo.com/simple-sh...edLeopard.html

[SeaGlass Siren]

[Little Selkie Rill]

Cat amongst the pidgeons... or I guess... uh, Blue Whale amongst the Krill (???)...

What if you come from a culture whose entire cultural bag is, unfortunately, appropriating other cultures and "Anglicising" them via Empire building? "Britian" is all about building empires and taking the good stuff from other cultures then saying it belongs to them. Like, for example, a lot of people mention their cultural heritage is Scottish (including in Raina's article) and immediately say "tartan, kilts, bagpipes, etc.".... only, though those are now in fact synonymous with Scotland, and yes, we don't help matters when we tell tourists that we hunt haggis (which is a type of pig-bird-hybrid with one leg shorter than the other that runs around hills sideways and loves to eat fresh heather honey, fyi)... BUT, actually, none of those things are truly Scottish in origin; even our mythogical heritage is somewhat of a hodgepodge between Irish and Welsh Celtic, Anglo-Saxon English, Breton/Basque/French and Germanic/Norse, etc. (I think essentially Northern and West European?) The earliest archaeological evidence of bagpipes is actually Etruscan/Middle Eastern and they most likely migrated to the British Isles when the Byzantine/Greco or Roman Empires invaded our shores; or potentially via pre-historic trading routes, we will likely never really know. Kilts were only introduced in the 16th Century in some sort of fashion statement/propaganda move (and essentially all fashion is cultural appropriation and is cyclical in nature to boot) during one of our many wars with "The Auld Enemy" and then largely abandoned as "national dress" until the age of steam when Victorian nostalgia for a time of shortbread tin tartan was a big pull for a newly minted Scottish tourist industry (Visit Scotland tourist board, 19th C edition, haha); and are actually a Scandanavian/Norse tradition (though tbh, genetically speaking, most Scots are at least a couple percent Viking). So, what I'm asking is, how long does something have to be part of your culture's "Cultural Identity" before it's no-longer seen as appropriation?

I am too Celtic to function, btw, even my non-British Isles Scots-Irish-Welsh-Cornish/Devon(ish?) cultural background is mostly Celtic, Pictish (which is technically still largely indistinguishable from Celtic though) or Gaulish-Celt or Germanic-Norse (much of which crosses over with Celtic culture anyway due to trade, inter-marriage and invasion/raiding), though I do have some Anglo-Saxon and Belgian/Low-Countries blood in me several greats back on one side (my mum's family seems to have basically gone, Ireland-Scotland-Ireland-Scotland or Scotland-Ireland-Scotland and that's it as far as we can tell [though there's a chance there might be some Welsh in there as well on one side]... My dad's were slightly more adventurous, but not by very much: Ireland-Scotland & Wales-Cornwall-Devon-Scotland and Ireland-Scotland & France-Germany-Belgium/Low Countries-Scotland respectively; but due to the specific Scottish regions there's a high chance of Viking blood millenia ago). If you are at all European there's a high chance that due to population movement and migration (the side effect of which is cultural trade-off and sharing or adaption of stories/mythologies and traditions), you'll have at least a little bit of most European cultures other than the obvious ones from where you grew up somewhere up your family seaweed tree. The Byzantine, Etruscan and Greco-Roman Empire got around pretty much everywhere (except for most of Scotland) back in the day!

I guess also, what I want to ask (and a point a few other people have raised) is: is your cultural identity only your genetic identity (and how far back can you legitimately go to not be seen as appropriating from another culture)? Or is it only the national and social culture of the place(s) you have grown-up/lived in during your life (can you adopt cultural identities by being a citizen of a given country, or by marriage for example?)? Or is your cultural identity a combination of several factors?

Also... just gonna leave this here because it's interesting (to me anyway):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_history_of_Europe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneti..._British_Isles

Culturally speaking, I am a pirate.

[AniaR]

it can be made really clear: if another culture tells you what you're doing is hurtful to them, listen and stop

[Talia]

there's a lot of backlash in Hollywood for casting white actors to play the roles of other cultures. And I think if a white actor is portraying someone from Spain or Mexico in a stereotyped way or a way that makes fun of them, it's frowned upon. It's called "whitewashing"

A few links:
http://www.villainesse.com/culture/t...n-and-tokenism
http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandc...sian-in-ab-fab

As a Spanish (from Spain) woman, I would say that any white actor portraying a Spanish (from Spain) person is not whitewashing. Here in Spain 90% of the population is white; Caucasian, if you prefer, not Latin@. Of course, I cannot talk for Latin@ people.

The image of the Spanish as brown skinned, black or brown eyes and raven black hair is an stereotype. I read once that many Americans think of Spanish people as Romani regarding features, and that is quite incorrect.

Personally, I have blue eyes, I am blonde and have very white skin (I get burns easily), and I have been mistaken for American, English, and German in my own country while doing turism. And I was asked once if I was Russian while living in the US.

I find more insulting the fact that when I mentioned I was Spanish to an American, the only thing they could come up with is "paella", "sangria", "flamenco" and "bullfighting". Yeah, we have those. But we have quite more than that, you know. Also, I loath bullfighting. Some regions of our country are now prohibiting it, and I hope very soon the practice will be banned everywhere.

[AniaR]

I find more insulting the fact that when I mentioned I was Spanish to an American, the only thing they could come up with is "paella", "sangria", "flamenco" and "bullfighting". Yeah, we have those. But we have quite more than that, you know.

ugh yup. I think the point though is that it becomes a stereotype. I mean the fact those are the only ones mentioned = stereotyping right there.

I know in Canada it's really stereotyped. We don't have a huge populace here, and in Western Canada there's a lot more racism toward immigrants

[MermaidNerenia]

Has anyone here actually had their DNA done by a company like Ancestry or something? A lot of people in here seem to know exactly what percentages they are of specific cultures and I would love to know the same. Is there a specific service that anyone can recommend, I didn't know if someone had had a positive experience with one company or a negative with another.

I don't ever claim to be anything because I have no proof of anything. I have been told there is Irish and Native American in my blood somewhere but I am at a complete loss as to where it came from or how much. My family is no help on this subject because they will say things but have no proof. I would love to know my actual results, if I go through with the testing I would be more than happy to share here just for funzies. I'm sure I will get tossed a wrench and find out we're actually Italian or some such thing.

[AniaR]

I have been curious about doing one of those DNA tests too because they look at your health too!

I'm pretty dang Irish. I am first born Canadian. LOL my family still have their accents hahah

[Vrindavana Starfish]

I have been curious about doing one of those DNA tests too because they look at your health too!

I'm pretty dang Irish. I am first born Canadian. LOL my family still have their accents hahah

What part of Ireland? I just came back from 3 weeks in Cork/Kerry/Clare/Aran Islands and now all we want to do is move there. Actually, it is now our plan - not just a dream - to move there.

My mom, who is one of those people who will say something is true if she wants it to be true or if she thinks it's what someone wants to hear, has told me all my life that the Irish in my family was from Ulster. There's a castle in North Ireland I've always been obsessed with. When I was talking about the Aran Islands for this trip, and how excited I was, she was like, "Oh yeah! Our family is from the Aran Islands. That's where we came from." ...really mom? Really? Because there's like 1400 people total on the islands so if that's where we were from, I'm pretty sure we'd really know it. But suddenly, it's not Ulster anymore, but Inish Mór. lol.

We're totally not from the Aran Islands, btw, more likely Connemara area according to my preliminary research. Also, I'm mostly Scottish, and Scots-Irish. But I identify so much more strongly with any Irish heritage I may have than anything else.

On the stereotypes of Spanish people, my best friends and adopted family when I was a kid were Cuban. Andrea had blue eyes and blond hair, so did one of her brothers, and my best friend had dark hair, light skin, and blue eyes. The only thing that could give them away as being stereotypically "latin" is that they were proud of their heritage and would wear Cuban flags on their clothes.

[Winged Mermaid]

I was thinking recently of doing one of those DNA tests as well- since my Paternal Grandfather was adopted, we can't really trace the family tree that way. Would love to know more about where my ancestors came from!

[AniaR]

Ballycastle Ireland.

I have never been. but my nanny (aptly named, Angela aka Annie) I have her ashes and I'd like to take some of them back there. She always wanted to go back for a visit but never got to.