“Wearing a culture’s traditional clothing as a costume is offensive.” This was a statement I found particularly hard to respond to at the diversity event. I have always found the way in which Americans generally respond to other culture’s clothing to be obnoxious and insensitive. We call kimonos and saris “exotic,” but to someone from Japan or India they are as common as pair of crocs. If a girl wears a kimono to a costume party and claims to be a geisha, or if she wears something similar to a sari and claims to be a harem girl, she perpetuates the quixotic, other-culture mentality that adds to the social distance between the United States and other nations. At the same time, it seems restrictive to limit costume possibilities. What about those who choose to dress as American Indians for Halloween? Such costumes generally have little to no tribal affiliation and may even represent movie characters, such as Tiger Lily from Peter Pan. However it is undeniable that costumes based on traditional American Indian clothing insult the pride and honor of those who wore and still wear the real McCoy. When choosing a Halloween costume this year, I will stick to something less controversial.
Monday, September 27, 2010
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I agree that there is a difference between dressing up to make fun of someone's culture and dressing up to honor that culture. In the hometown of my childhood, our high school football team was the Piqua Indians. We dressed up as Indians in honor of our amazing team. I never met a real Indian, so I don't know if this counts as being insulting to them, but we never meant it that way. It was to us, honoring the strength of our Indians and our pride in having such an excellent mascot to represent us.
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