Media Culture

For the pass few weeks, I have been researching the difference of cultural appropriation and culture exchange and the reason behind which makes people cautious of (in western pop music). In my opinion from all the research and things I have read, I found that not all people are against the practices of appropriation.  From reading through some of the opinion from those agree to appropriation is not a bad thing, I found it might be they are confused with the word Appropriation and Exchange.  Culture exchange not just about changing knowledge and doesn't means you can't use it. Cultural exchange also means by third word culture, It is call Transpacific Culture, it is when you put two knowledge of cultural together and combine it into a new culture.  The third world is  unique, because of new combination. It is respectful and informed, and does not harm a minority culture. There are example of successful case like "The Taiko Boom": "Tradition...

Appropriation start from a long ago in history, some music are taken from the others and we don't even know the story behind it. But in the processes of appropriating, there are slight brightness in every darkness.  Let me show a song in that long history, where a song that show both the dark side of appropriation and the bright side of appreciation. In my childhood the song "The lion sleep tonight", is a really popular song. According my research the song is also called " Mbube" and "Wimoweh", Mbube which means "lion", It was a hunting song originally sung in Zulu in what is now Swaziland.  It was written in the 1920s, by Solomon Linda, a South African singer of Zulu origin (Malan, 2012).  The First version of "Mbube" in year 1920s After this song is adapt by other music artist, this song become a disaster because is been change into several names like "Wimoweh". Which turn the whole meaning "lion" a...

On my last post, I explain about how cultural appropriation on black cultural causes stereotype. But there are another a few more points I would like to point it out.  How do we harm them? What do we make those cultural being appropriated people feel? Taking their elements and use it as our own are causing them to feel struggle to be affirmed feels trivialized . For example, black people are being pressure to straighten their natural curly hair. Because most companies and jobs does not accept to hire those which have their natural black hair style. These are also happening in school, where there is rules which banded them to have these kind of "hair style". Their hairstyle might not be appealing in social media, and it is been call in a bad way when they have their natural hair style.  But, celebrities are being encourage do make their hair look curly. Most white girls does it, it is call beauty and appealing.  White girls being praised for making these s...

In the previous post, I mention about cultural appropriation on the other's cultural will causes stereotyping and cultural sensitivity. So how is this act harming? Why it is bad? According to Lippmann, he defined stereotypes as "pictures in our heads". Before we see and experience the world, we take from society pre-defined images of the world in the form of stereotypes.  Lippmann claimed that s tereotypes are the defense of our social status, he sees stereotypes as  "The predictions of the world, our own values, our own position and our own right. They are our traditional fortress, and behind its defenses we can continue to feel secure in the position we occupy. Any attack on stereotypes is like an attack on the basis of our social status, values and on our whole belief system ." This is a video of Hollywood movies   (stereotypes)  make us think about African man, but how it really is different from what we think. Stop being a  stereotype and see it your...