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HelpRe: Honest Question About Cultural Appropriation and Names
in reply to a message by RuralRuna
I know that they say impact matters more than intent, but I do think that intent matters a lot in this situation. It's rarely as simple as "these white people want to interact with another culture - should they??"
I think it's tempting but unwise to say "white people should only use white people names" because it's rarely that simple and also, a lot of people who look white are actually Indigenous too, so policing who can use what based on skin colour/nationality alone is problematic. I grew up in a place where there are LOTS of "white" Native American and Metis folk. There needs to be more nuance around the topic, but people want it to be black and white.
I think of the example of Uma Thurman's father, who was a scholar of Buddhism, and how it's ok for him to give Tibetan names to his children because although he's not Tibetan, he was intimately involved with Tibetan culture. He picked the names because he liked them, obviously, but because they meant a great deal too. It wasn't just done flippantly to be "cool" or whatever.
Also, true cultural appropriation involves a certain amount of theft in that using that culture somehow robs or takes away from the culture of origin - for example, it's not really cultural appropriation when my white friend learns traditional Native beading and just sits at home beading things for herself - but it would be different if she set up a business claiming to teach and sell "Genuine Native Beading" which would take power away from an actual genuine Indigenous beading business (of course, we have friends who think that a white person does not even have the right to learn about Indigenous things, but I disagree with that). Naming one's children usually doesn't really benefit the parent in any real way - unless, say, the parents were YouTubers or bloggers or something where their child's name was like a product they are attempting to sell, to give themselves a benefit and which would impact actual Indigenous YouTubers and bloggers. If this European couple is planning to just live quietly in their little village in Portugal with a daughter named Maiara that hardly hurts anyone; it would be a different story if they were celebrities. I do think though that they should be aware that choosing a name like that comes with a certain amount of responsibility of explanation that I'm not sure I'd want to saddle a kid with.
Anyways long story short, I'd need more information about the situation. Maybe these Europeans are being insufferable and deserve to be bullied about their beliefs, I don't know.
I personally WOULD use a name from outside my culture, absolutely, because A) I have no real connection to "my culture" or European heritage anyway, because I'm North American and B) I just love names from all over the place, but not as a status thing. I'd need a personal connection to it, though. Otherwise I would feel very ignorant.
I think it's tempting but unwise to say "white people should only use white people names" because it's rarely that simple and also, a lot of people who look white are actually Indigenous too, so policing who can use what based on skin colour/nationality alone is problematic. I grew up in a place where there are LOTS of "white" Native American and Metis folk. There needs to be more nuance around the topic, but people want it to be black and white.
I think of the example of Uma Thurman's father, who was a scholar of Buddhism, and how it's ok for him to give Tibetan names to his children because although he's not Tibetan, he was intimately involved with Tibetan culture. He picked the names because he liked them, obviously, but because they meant a great deal too. It wasn't just done flippantly to be "cool" or whatever.
Also, true cultural appropriation involves a certain amount of theft in that using that culture somehow robs or takes away from the culture of origin - for example, it's not really cultural appropriation when my white friend learns traditional Native beading and just sits at home beading things for herself - but it would be different if she set up a business claiming to teach and sell "Genuine Native Beading" which would take power away from an actual genuine Indigenous beading business (of course, we have friends who think that a white person does not even have the right to learn about Indigenous things, but I disagree with that). Naming one's children usually doesn't really benefit the parent in any real way - unless, say, the parents were YouTubers or bloggers or something where their child's name was like a product they are attempting to sell, to give themselves a benefit and which would impact actual Indigenous YouTubers and bloggers. If this European couple is planning to just live quietly in their little village in Portugal with a daughter named Maiara that hardly hurts anyone; it would be a different story if they were celebrities. I do think though that they should be aware that choosing a name like that comes with a certain amount of responsibility of explanation that I'm not sure I'd want to saddle a kid with.
Anyways long story short, I'd need more information about the situation. Maybe these Europeans are being insufferable and deserve to be bullied about their beliefs, I don't know.
I personally WOULD use a name from outside my culture, absolutely, because A) I have no real connection to "my culture" or European heritage anyway, because I'm North American and B) I just love names from all over the place, but not as a status thing. I'd need a personal connection to it, though. Otherwise I would feel very ignorant.
This message was edited 4/7/2021, 9:24 AM
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