As some people here know, I've started doing research on Cultural Appropriation some time ago. With the help of my professors, I've come close to an understanding of what this social phenomenon truly is about.

(This thread turned out longer than expected but please read it )

[Before, and to clarify]

Offensive and disrespectful actions and behavior come from a bad education, or the lack of one on certain subjects.
I believe we all can and MUST learn in order to change that behavior, and accept that this change is possible. People can learn.

I'll also add that it's always important to call out and let people know when they're being offensive towards a culture, as long as we know enough about that culture as well. Misinformation, even with good intentions, is highly dangerous and damaging.

Now, back explaining CA and why we should stop using this term so much.

Cultural Appropriation is a term mostly used to describe the adoption of certain aspects or objects of a disadvantaged culture, and using it without giving any importance to its original meaning.

From this perspective, Cultural Appropriation is terrible. The thing is, it goes further than the meaning stan Twitter has given to it.

In Sociology (the science behind the term), Cultural Appropriation is simply the adoption of specific elements from one culture by another.

So CA isn't something new at all.
Cultural exchange, cultural appropriation and cultural imposition have been practiced in the oldest tribes and empires since the beginning of history. For example, that's the reason why most of us use arabic numerals to do our maths.

This doesn't mean that we are being mean or ignorant towards arabic culture, it means that this aspect of their culture was appropriated by the europeans and then imposed to the rest of the world. (thank you, colonization).

So CA is an open and very fucked up debate even in sociology when it comes to classifying it as either good or bad, hence the reason why new terms such as "cultural appretiation" are rising, so we can have a difference between problematic CA and non-problematic, respectful CA

(By "non-problematic, respectful CA", I mean that it can contribute to more people knowing, appreciating and therefore respecting other cultures, if done in an appropriate way)

: "So, why should we stop using the term anyway?"

Well, thank you for the question, Timmy. That's because it's giving everyone an erroneous view on what CA really is, as a scientific term, and it's just not enough to describe certain situations.

Imagine someone describing a murder as disrespectful. Like, yes, what a lack of respect to stab someone in the throat, but it's a bit worse than just that, don't you think?

: "What terms are enough to describe these situations then?"

You're on fire with those questions, Timmy! Pretty much anything that sounds right and is non-scientific, if that makes sense?

-Offensive
-Culturally offensive
-Disrespectful
-Insensitive
-Harmful
-Ignorant, etc.

My intention with this thread is not to convince anyone to stop talking about issues that deserve attention, but to let you know that you are using a very complicated term to describe them.

I've seen many people saying that they don't want to talk about this issues because they don't understand the term being used, and that's because this is a scientific term. No one should have to stay shut because they feel other people are using too complicated words for them.

Using more simple words, like the ones i listed above, will help more people understand what you're talking about and feel comfortable talking about it too.

If you've read all of this, thank you, and sorry for any mistakes on the english I appropriated. :P