My Culture Is Not A Costume


In today's society, we are trying more and more to become a welcoming and inclusive community. Racism, and discrimination play big roles in this and it's great that we are bringing much more attention to these issues than ever before. I recently watched a video titled My Culture Is NOT A Costume, which brings attention to offensive cultural Halloween costumes. In this video Teen Vogue asks six women of different cultural backgrounds, about their opinions on cultural costumes. These women express that although these costumes may just be for fun, they take great offence to it. 
Related imagePersonally, I think that bringing awareness to cultural discrimination is great, but this topic may have gone a bit overboard. I understand why people get offended when their culture is portrayed in a negative light or is deliberately made fun of, but I also believe that wearing something from somebody else culture can be a form of flattery. I never thought wearing a hula skirt or a lei is considered being offensive to the Hawaiian culture, just as I never thought that a bandana and hoop earrings as being offensive to the latino culture. If a little girl dresses as Lilo or Moana, is that considered offensive? Where do we draw the line? I'm not sure how flattering my opinion is, but its what I believe. If wearing these costumes truly offends people, I respect that, even though I might not understand it. Aside from this topic, I think with today's society, everybody gets offended very easily, almost like they want to find ways to be offended or despise others.
This whole issue does not stem fully from people who wear these costumes, but from stores that put these costumes up on their racks. If stores and manufacturers stop advertising and selling these costumes, deterring people form wearing offensive costumes will be much easier to discourage wearing them. In conclusion, although I do not fully understand their reasoning behind it, I think that if people are truly offended by cultural costumes, we should make an effort to accommodate them. 


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