Don't use what you don't get

I’ve been a long-time follower of the cultural appropriation debate ever since Gwen Stefani decided to hire an ensemble of Asian women for her Harajuku girl persona.

It’s become relevant again, especially recently when pop stars like Miley Cyrus and Avril Lavigne are teetering on a dangerous line between edgy and offensive, funny and racist.

However, I think there is someone who somehow consistently gets away with her borderline offensive antics and needs to finally be called into question: Katy Perry.
Her new music video for “Birthday” features the star playing a variety of birthday performers. One of them is a Jewish comedian who makes circumcision and money jokes. This isn’t the first time Perry has crossed a line. Let us not forget her Geisha costume during her “Unconditionally” performance at the American Music Awards that raised some eyebrows.

In her music video for “Dark Horse” she plays what amounts to be a caricature of an ancient Egyptian queen in a neon throne room blasting failed potential suitors with a Styrofoam ankh.

As the Indiana Daily Student Editorial Board discussed earlier this week, racism does not come about via intention, but result. I see her getting progressively more daring, and the end result is crossing more and more into politically and racially charged territory. Perry, like Miley Cyrus with her grills, twerking and general ridiculousness, is only using the parts of these cultures that she deems aesthetically pleasing or useful.

Then she uses them wrong.

The Egyptian ankh denotes religious significance. Much like the average white girl wearing a Native American headdress or an Indian bindi at Coachella, she turns a cultural symbol into a meaningless accessory.

Even though many minority fans of Perry might not find her actions offensive, at the end of the day they make her look like an idiot. And it reflects poorly on many of her peers.

Because Perry does not understand the cultures whose paraphernalia she so readily uses, it is easy to assume everyone like her believes they can also pick and choose which symbols they can accessorize with.

In short, pop stars using cultural stereotypes to promote a song needs to stop.
Learn about other cultures, try to become more globally aware and attempt to teach others about the complexities of the human experience.

But don’t just build on offensive and racist images and stereotypes or base an entire concert series around a culture because you like the aesthetic.

It’s disrespectful and can be insulting to the native culture. It makes you look stupid.

ewenning@indiana.edu
@EmmaWenninger