Julian
Daydreamer
Posts: 2,036
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Post by Julian on Aug 3, 2014 14:12:13 GMT -5
mic.com/articles/95444/5-reasons-katy-perry-is-pop-music-s-worst-cultural-appropriatorLet's stop dancing around this ugly truth: Right now, Katy Perry is pop culture's most prominent purveyor of racist cultural appropriation.
The "Dark Horse" singer, who has gotten in trouble in the past for her tasteless appropriations, clearly hasn't been getting the messages โ as evidenced by her most recent "This Is How We Do" music video, which coincided with her July 30 cover story in Rolling Stone.
In that interview, the 29-year-old artist was asked about cultural appropriation and how she's been called out for it by numerous people of color. Brushing off the criticism, Perry defended herself and argued that her intentions were pure. It's the perfect example of what happens when you take a clueless person with a heaping helping of white privilege and precious little substantive awareness of it.
"I guess I'll just stick to baseball and hot dogs, and that's it," Perry said. "I know that's a quote that's gonna come to f*ck me in the ass, but can't you appreciate a culture? I guess, like, everybody has to stay in their lane? I don't know."
Earth to Katy Perry: Cultural appropriation is not flattery or appreciation. It's offensive and disrespectful to your fans, many of whom are having a hard time still liking you, since they're disappointed by a string of racist stereotypes.
Her newest video is only the tip of the iceberg, however/There's more in the article if anyone is interested in reading.
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Post by Jason on Aug 3, 2014 20:15:57 GMT -5
Hyper-sensitive much? (Not you, Drag. The person who wrote the article.) I'm probably one of the most PC people on the face of the planet...to the point of being painfully PC. But if we go by this author's standards, no one can ever dress up in costume or do anything outrageous in a music video ever again. I'll give the author the points about the "Unconditionally" performance and the Native American outfit at Coachella in 2010. But, who hasn't ever done something without thinking it would be in bad taste, only to realize afterward that they shouldn't have done it? That saying that starts out with "those who live in glass houses..." comes to mind when I think about the author raising those two points. The other points in the article, I don't agree with. This author was probably among the many who got on Iggy Azalea's case because she's rapping, but she's also white and Australian and "doesn't know anything about Rap culture." I know the author doesn't come right out and say it, but he seems to be dancing around a big neon pink elephant in the room with some of the points he's making about Katy Perry. I'm starting to hear the term "cultural appropriation" thrown around a lot more lately than I've heard it before. And it comes off like it's being used as code for white person who shouldn't be performing "black music." From Elvis to Teena Marie to George Michael to Phil Collins to Vanilla Ice to Lisa Stansfield to Eminem to Pink to Justin Timberlake to Robin Thicke to Amy Winehouse and everyone in between, there have been many white people performing Soul, R&B, or Hip-Hop or infusing elements of those genres into their songs...whether it's just a handful of songs like Katy Perry has done, or it's the genre of music they record. My opinion is that music is music no matter who is performing it. Who are any of us to judge what is appreciation and what is appropriation? We can't know what's in someone's heart and in their mind. The lines between cultures have been blurred so much in recent years anyway. If a white person says, "this is how we do" or "you know how I do," they're not necessarily trying to mock a culture or be offensive. It's a popular saying, just like "Hey, y'all!" or "What's up?" Anyway, blah blah blah. I'm tired of typing. I voted Possibly. My gut says no, but since I don't know what she's thinking, I'm not going to vote No.
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Post by JessieLou on Aug 4, 2014 9:00:45 GMT -5
Jason is spot on. I honestly think Katy is just the type of person who enjoys experimenting with different looks and styles and is fascinated by other cultures, and there's nothing wrong with that.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2014 15:23:38 GMT -5
YEAH WELL, SHE DIDN'T PORTRAY A CULTURE THE WAY I WOULD AND THAT'S RACIST
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Post by Cody on Aug 4, 2014 18:53:04 GMT -5
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Post by Bill Jupiter on Oct 20, 2016 10:43:43 GMT -5
No, I thunk people failed to watch her videos in the proper context.
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Post by Dylan Blue on Oct 30, 2016 17:08:30 GMT -5
I think that some have gone overboard in criticizing Katy (and other artists) for showcasing outfits and customs from other parts of the world in their music videos, stage performances, and photoshoots. I can understand how many don't like the unnecessary eroticizing and exoticizing of cultural costumes and whatnot that is a valid concern (particularly within the spirit of the "we are a culture not a costume" concept). I think that as long as it is not disrespectful, distasteful, vulgar, or intentionally offensive, it is okay in some cases. Everything will be offensive to someone somewhere no matter what you do or don't do.
On a somewhat related note, I was surprised that Kendall Jenner was being dragged so harshly for her photoshoot for a magazine (I want to say it was one of the editions of Vogue) where she was dressed up in traditional ballerina clothing and shoes and she was supposed to be posed doing certain dance steps. I do agree that the magazine should have tried to have actual professional ballerinas appear in the photoshoot instead of someone else. The photoshoot itself was not in poor taste, but unfortunately that was how it was viewed.
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