Cultural appropriation and individualism

[sqbr]

Two related topics I have strongly held opinions about which I can't quite put into words are cultural appropriation and the flaws in an overly individual focussed point of view.

But as it happens posts on both have come up in racism_101 in the last few days which deal with them reasonably well, so here they are, plus some attempts to express myself:

First: A link to, and discussion of, the video "yellow apparel: when the coolie becomes cool", about american appropriation of asian culture (while american and australian attitudes to race and culture differ in some ways, I think the history and treatment of people of asian descent is pretty similar)

It doesn't spoonfeed it's ideas, it's more a series of images and interviews which add up to a pretty compelling experience if you watch it all the way through (thus I included the discussion, for those who can't be bothered. There's also Cultural Appropriation 101, and more cultural appropriation links at my delicious)

Second: Individualism as enabler for racism about the way treating everyone as an "individual" allows people with unfair advantages to avoid taking responsibility for the inequalities of society.

And now a disconnected ramble about individuality, and how it relates to my POV as a white ex-protestant left wing atheist. Do not search for a point, there isn't one :)

I have a rather conflicted view of individuality, and always have, and I think this conflict is fairly core to my sort of counterculture left-wing WASP(ish) background. On the one hand (my upbringing says), we all need to pull together and form a cooperative collective, and should bond with the Everyday Little Guy etc. On the other, since most people aren't counterculture and left-wing, the Everyday Little Guy is wrong and we need to stick to our internal sense of right and not be sucked into the beliefs of the culture around us. This conflict is less extreme in left-wing-ish places like Australia than it is in say America (where afaict most left wing types simultaneously despise the poor as mindless republican drones and put them on a pedestal as helpless victims of a cruel system), but I think it still exists.

Anyway, starting from that point my POV has gotten even more complicated. I've been learning about history, and reading POVs outside the WASP paradigm, and am slowly realising how much of my "individuality" (and most of materialist humanist thought) is just a manifestation of the same WASP society I am "rising above", and truly transcending it and seeing the real truth (or at least something less false and limited) requires getting my head around the attitudes of other, often less individualistic societies (though I may just be misinterpreting them because they don't fit into my neat little mental boxes).

Yet being less individualistic means diving back into the same society I am reacting against, or something at least superficially similar (eg I am deeply uncomfortable opening my mind to any opinion with even a whiff of religious assumptions, and this makes it hard to engage with a lot of aboriginal writings) and so I feel, well conflicted. Still, one of the tenets of being a "rational individual" is being willing to face hard facts and stretch my brain, so I do it anyway. Hopefully at some point it will coalesce into a less flaily POV.

Comments

[tevriel.livejournal.com]

I can see where lack of openness to religious concepts would cause problems with engaging with other cultures, since religion/religious heritage tends to be fairly integrated with culture.

I'm pretty confident I won't alienate you or hurt you, as a friend who likes to grow in these areas, in pointing out that this is probably a part of that whole WASPish upbringing thing, in that you're been willing to embrace and internalise (http://alias-sqbr.livejournal.com/225452.html#cutid1) Christian teachings/concepts where they fit your preconceptions. Accepting the religiously-influenced moral assumptions of your own culture, while being uncomfortable with those of others is, arguably, problematic in ways that don't reflect on your atheist credentials so much as your multicultural open-mindedness.

Engaging fully with understanding and appreciating (not appropriating) other cultures requires accepting the ways in which they're influenced by religious background, I think, because religion influences cultural mores, polite behaviour, traditions, etc, in ways that aren't inherently based on religious faith. If, for example, a given Japanese person (to take a culture about which I am less ignorant than many others) doesn't follow Shinto, even if they're part of the tiny Christian minority, their cultural background will still be influenced by the Shinto tradition - in much the way that you, my atheist friend, are still influenced by Christian tradition.

Christianity is widespread in Africa, but older spiritual traditions still have cultural influences. Etc. Cultural appreciation is a good and wonderful thing, in my view, but does need to take that into account...

... There's more I kind of need to say but I have stuff I have to do today. Gah.

[alias_sqbr]

Oh yes, it's amazing hypocritical and inconsistent, and I'm aware of that. Christianity is so familiar and comforting it doesn't usually ping as "oppressively religious" unless it actually is. Unfortunately whenever I try to counter this inconsistency, instead of getting more accepting of religious tinges from other cultures and religions I just get less accepting of it in christian/protestant culture, which I'm not sure really counts as an improvement :/

Also, one reason I'm so comfortable with christianity is that for the most part I explored and learned about it while being christian, which I would say has made it more a part of my worldview than that of someone in a similar situation to me who was always an atheist.