A Few Discoveries and An Ethics Question

[browngirl]

• An MBTA flexible pass will still function after having been stuck in a washing machine for a week.
  
• This cold makes me sound rather like The Littlest Jagermonster.
  
• Balsamic vinegar is sadly wasted on a person with no sense of smell.
  
• OTOH, changing diapers is not nearly as onerous.
  
• tibicina is a great houseguest -- well, we already knew that. *grin*
  

So, I hear people muse about cultural appropriation, about people taking elements of other cultures than those they 'belong' to, and using them without really understanding them or otherwise misusing them.

Now, I generally believe that culture is learned, not genetic, so people who honestly are interested in a culture are entirely capable of learning it. (Hence my use of Scare Quotes around 'belonging' above.) For example, I roll my eyes at well-to-do children who affect the poses of hoodlums -- but that has to do with posturing, not with particular ethnicities.

That said, though...

I've been fascinated for years by the Scandinavian practice of honoring Saint Lucy the Lightbringer on the Winter Solstice (you knoe me and light imagery) so I decided to make her the theme of my Winter Holiday Card this year (thus making it a little more Christian than I really should for true ecumenicalism, but that;s *another* neurotic LJ post). And then I wondered if I was unfairly strip-mining a culture I don't actually belong to just for my own amusement, or if I was being inspired by an idea from another culture and translating it in a respectful way.

And that's about where I'm currently at. *muses*

Comments

[catalana.livejournal.com]

Okay, putting on my professional ethicist hat now (remember kids, don't try this at home):

I think you're fine. You are treating the beliefs with respect, not ridicule. You are reflecting upon your actions, rather than simply doing them and not worrying about their ramifications. And, as you note, culture is social. We do not come out of the womb knowing anything about a particular culture; we soak it up as we grow and learn. There are aspects of British culture which are my own because I spent three years there. There are aspects of other cultures which are my own because I have learned about them.

Art, in particular, tends to be a blend of numerous cultures, perhaps because so much of it is symbolic and transcends any particular culture. I can appreciate paintings without being Christian. I can write songs about elaborate elvish rituals without being an elf myself. (And we wouldn't want authors to be restricted to what they had themselves experienced when they wrote - we'd lose so much cool stuff that way!)

As long as you treat it carefully and think about the impact your work has on yourself and others, you are acting rightly.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Ooh, thank you for putting on the Professional Ethicists's Hat for me. I will continue working to live up to these guidelines.

Altthough now I'm picturing you dressed as an Elf. :D