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blackface, blackfishing, and cultural appropriationa thread
cultural appropriation is the adoption of elements from one culture into another. when these elements are adopted, they lose historical and cultural value. this leads to the new, dominant culture rebranding an element that isn’t there’s aka erases another’s culture
this is harmful because cultural elements become trends or even costumes once the mainstream believes it’s socially acceptable. for the purposes of this thread, we’ll discuss the cultural appropriation of black culture.
the kardashians are notoriously known for their obsession with black culture (and men). here is a photo of kim kardashian with fulani braids.
fulani braids are a traditional braiding style native to subsaharan africa. it’s used as a protective style for black people.
when people try to defend their argument against cultural appropriation, they bring up bo derek. bo derek wore these braids in the movie 10. she admitted to copying the hair of a backup singer.
the reason why this is harmful is because kim kardashian and bo derek both tried to rebrand fulani braids, a traditional african style, as bo derek braids, a hairstyle for white people
the same thing happened with cornrows, durags, laying down edges, etc
black cultural appropriation feeds into the fetishization of black men and women, which has a deep history. let’s focus on black women for now
in 2014, kim kardashian “broke the internet” with this magazine cover.
the photo is inspired by the cover of jean-paul goude’s jungle fever, in which grace jones is pictured. the book is about the beauty and eroticism of black people.
the obsession with black erotica traces back to sarah baartman. sarah baartman (1789-1815) was native to the khoikhoi tribe in south africa. when colonists, they were fascinated with her large butt
so they took her to europe and made her perform in freak shows and zoos. they changed her name to hottentot venus (hottentot was what the khoikhoi people were called, venus after the roman goddess of love)
sarah baartman was sexually exploited by european men and eventually became accustomed to sex work even though she was forced into
