a thread on south asian cultural appropriation , and the difference between appropriation and appreciation.

firstly, i will not be going into depth of the history of everything mentioned in this thread, as the thread will become wayyyy too long. if u wanna find out, google is completely free!

secondly, please do not expect us desis or poc in general to educate you all the time. like i said, google is free, and it gets so draining to have to experience so much invalidation from others.

there are many problems with non south asians wearing our jewellery etc as a fashion accessory. firstly, it removes all cultural significance and history, and reduces it to nothing more than something ‘exotic’ and pretty.

secondly, south asians have been through so much racism and discrimination throughout history, and our culture is constantly made fun of even today.

things like bindis, tikkas, naaths and even mehndi (aka henna) have such deep and important significance and history in our culture. like i said, i won’t go into it as this thread will become way too long, but all it takes is a simple google search if you’d like to find out.

when we wear it, it’s ugly and we are laughed at and ridiculed, but when non south asians wear things from our culture, it’s cool and pretty. see the problem?

not only this, but many of us south asians have grown up experiencing racism and the mocking of us and our culture, and now to see our culture become nothing more than a fashion statement reduces our struggles to nothing. it hurts.

something u may have noticed is that many idols who have worn bindis or other important things from our culture have also mocked us. this may have been mocking the way we dance, our music, reducing us to nothing more than curry and hand gestures, or more.

the fact that we are laughed at and mocked for simply existing, but then important jewellery and clothing is taken and worn as an aesthetic says a lot. they pick and choose what they want from our culture, but all we are to them is nothing more than a joke.

we are only cared about when we are needed us for people’s aesthetic.

there’s also a big difference between cultural appropriation and appreciation.
to put it simply:

appropriation: wearing things from our culture as a fashion statement or trend bc it’s pretty.

appreciation: wearing things from our culture when going to desi events/celebrations, such as weddings, dawaats etc, or when visiting south asian countries/learning about our culture

i could go on for so many more tweets and im sure there are things i’ve missed, but all i’m saying is please do not speak over us. i’ve seen many desis on here being ratio’d, getting death threats, being unfollowed/reported etc for simply calling out an important issue that -

- needs to be talked about. why is it that u are so silent when it comes to the disrespect of us? all i ask is u educate urself and help us spread awreness about these things. please remember, u are a human before a kpop stan. the disrespect of culture is not to be taken light.