I remember when "cultural appropriation" was seen as a sign of an inclusive society

[Prism]

102. We're not bright enough to have these conversations

And by "we", I mean generalized American culture. The problem is that intellectualism has been dumbed down and embraced by people wanting the tribal status of education without ever having developed the critical thinking skills that should accompany it. An excellent place to observe this phenomenon is twitter and tumblr. As a result, people know the buzzwords and concepts and use them to attack whatever they dislike without really thinking through the implications of what they are saying. As a result, appropriation topics have devolved into a form of neo-segregation.

Here's a great example. Anime. Anime is actively marketed to Westerners by Asian and American writers and producers. Many Westerners love the stuff. They go to conventions, post on message boards, write fan-fic, dress up as their favorite characters - you name it.

Have you ever seen the grousing on tumblr about white people "appropriating" Asian culture as a result? Ridiculous. The reason people dress up as these characters is because they love them. They love the stories, the characters, the evocative style choices - and the writers and producers of this content are overjoyed when others around the world love and appreciate their work.

But, nope. We get some undereducated self-appointed cultural guardians dumbsplaining that white people can't enjoy anime because it's racist, as they sneer and snap and assume a position of moral and intellectual superiority they have done nothing whatsoever to earn. They just think by saying "Appropriation!" and berating some white folks, they are part of the educated tribe.

They are not. And it is not racist, classist, or privilege to point out how ridiculous and nonsensical these self-appointed cultural guardians are.

Actual appropriation is an easy spot. Katy Perry's corn rows. Is she just doing it because she's thinks it's pretty? Not appropriation. Is she doing it disrespectfully, adopting stereotypical African American cadence, gestures, or cultural artifacts that were previously not a part of her personality as a form of mocking? Then it's probably appropriation. It's the mocking bit that's the key. Is someone being made fun of? How difficult is that to ask oneself when making these judgements? Context is hard, but it's also pretty helpful.

But, you know, some low grade academics need to justify their grants, and some tumblr activists need to feel superior, so we get these masturbatory articles once in awhile meant to generate clickbait and for people to feel smart because they can fling about a five-syllable word and perceive themselves as superior.

Meh. I'm a gay man. "Straight culture" wouldn't exist if it didn't "appropriate" nearly every damn thing gay culture has done from time immemorial. It's awesome. It doesn't feel stolen to me. It feels like my community is contributing to the larger, general culture. It's a good thing in my eyes.

Except hipster lumberjacks. That one's on us because of our bear thing of the last decade. I'm really sorry about that, heterosexuals =(