Addressing Cultural Appropriation: Looking Domestically To Travel Internationally

This article is part of our Fall 2020 print issue. See the full, digital version of the issue here.

There’s no question that the landfall of a worldwide pandemic has put nearly every aspect of our lives on hold. But perhaps one of the most obvious is travel─abroad travel, national travel, and even travel to and from the grocery store. So, because we’re all stuck wherever we may be, perhaps it’s worthwhile to consider the ways in which we travel and how we can become better travelers once life begins to reopen─airplane doors, international borders, and our minds to the idea of travel. 

It’s no secret that we inhabit a world that has grown hypersensitive to the discussion of uncomfortable topics, and traveling across borders with minimal knowledge of the destination culture is no exception. Introducing: cultural appropriation. 

No matter whom you ask, it’s a near guarantee they will agree that travel is incredible, providing us with the opportunity to interact with different people, experience different cultures, and marvel at the beauty of life outside of our familiar, habitual surroundings. However, with travel comes absolutely imperative social responsibility. This includes being aware of how to travel knowledgeably and respectfully. 

What is cultural appropriation? To be frank, the answer isn’t clear-cut, as its definition changes from culture to culture. More certainly, though, cultural appropriation is something that takes place in every culture… and by every culture. Its definition occupies a gray area, so we consulted Brian K. Pennington, director of the Center for the Study of Religion, Culture, and Society and professor of religious studies at Elon University.

“Things veer toward cultural appropriation when you have a dominant group who is borrowing elements from a minoritized or oppressed, marginalized group for its own aggrandizement without understanding the nature of the thing they are borrowing, whether it’s a hairstyle or a form of dress,” says Pennington. In fact, we’ve even seen it in our own culture. 

“The classic case in the United States is Southern cuisine,” says Nina Namaste, associate professor of Spanish at Elon University. “Southern food is food that was created by slaves or domestics […] on Southern plantations, but then white women started publishing it in cookbooks under their names.”

So, how can we avoid it? We have to start by identifying why it happens in the first place and recognizing that it has become far too normalized. Just think: how often do you see colorful bindis and Native American feathered headpieces at Coachella or an Indian god stamped on a beer label? More often than not, we are blind to cultural appropriation in our day-to-day lives, whether the act of appropriating is intentional or not. 

Another reason for cultural appropriation is lack of knowledge about a culture, specifically basic understanding of that culture’s language. According to Shereen Elgamal, a lecturer in Arabic at Elon, we should learn enough of our destination culture’s language at least to be able to say, “We want to make a right there,” or “My stomach is not feeling well.” For Namaste, our disregard for attempting to learn language is what widens the intercultural gap between the destination culture and our own. “We are building, in some ways, some sort of resentment because we go without prior knowledge, without even an intent to learn language.”  

Cultural appropriation can also be a result of not understanding cross-cultural expectations. This could mean being unaware of what our destination culture is asking of us, as its visitors, and what it’s not. A guest in Indian culture, for example, is expected to dress in Indian attire, and the borrowing of that dress is not considered inappropriate. “In India, for foreign women to wear a salwar kameez […] is to show respect to the culture,” Pennington says. But while complying with traditional fashion is honorable in Indian culture, it might not be elsewhere. 

Not having prior knowledge could also mean not understanding cultural norms. It’s imperative that we not only learn about those norms but respect them. And if we don’t, “that is super ethnocentric,” says Olivia Choplin, associate professor of French at Elon University. “If you’re going to judge other peoples’ behavior according to your own cultural norms, then you’re not going to be able to create relationships across cultures,” she says. 

But what’s even more detrimental than our meager knowledge of our destination culture is our inadequate understanding of our own and how it’s viewed abroad. And the problem is just that— we, as Americans, don’t even think we have a “culture.” Choplin sees this firsthand with her pre-departure course students, who often exclude the term “American” when asked to describe their identities until they are prompted to do so. 

“Americans would do well to examine their own cultural situation,” Choplin says, “to understand it, to understand the ways they have been constructed as Americans.” 

Avoiding culturally appropriating is a multi-faceted process, and there’s no handbook on how to universally approach foreign cultures. Everyone is culturally situated, which means that everyone’s perspective is based on their respective cultural lenses. 

“Our approaches to the world are quite different… and everyone’s culture has a way of doing things they think is right,” says Choplin. “Patience and curiosity and a desire to reserve judgment [are key].” 

While there’s no handbook, there are a few major things to do, and not to do. For Namaste, the answer is intentionality: slowing down when traveling, wandering off the beaten path, sparking up conversations with locals, and taking the time to get to know the place you’re in. While contradictory to the American consumerist style of abroad travel, intentionality is the path to learning culture on a deeper level. And when we know more about a culture, we’re less likely to appropriate it. 

For Pennington, while a lot of the learning takes place “in situ,” as he puts it, prior research is paramount. “An important first element in all of this is understanding, learning things about the people and places that you are visiting,” he says. “Most places that Elon students would tend to travel are places that have communities in the United States. Talking to people, learning from people is super important.”

But for Elgamal, there is no question that the solution to breaking down intercultural barriers and avoiding cultural appropriation is “diplomatic exchange,” or sharing aspects of our culture with those outside of it. She believes that perhaps “the biggest barrier that exists in the way of us really knowing each other is trying to be too similar.” 

“I live by an idea, which is: you can never know where you’re going if you don’t know where you came from,” Elgamal says. “I think that one big key to bringing us closer together is knowing what we disagree on and finding ways to live with that.” 

While it might be uncomfortable, Elgamal says the best way to respectfully engage in diplomatic exchange is by asking uncomfortable questions. As a woman who lived in Egypt for 28 years, speaks with an accent, and sports Islamic dress with confidence, Elgamal is surely a professional in the “uncomfortable question” department, not to mention a huge proponent of it. “If you have a question about it, ask me, and I should do the same thing.” 

In the hypersensitive world that we live in, it’s natural to fear addressing a delicate topic. If that’s the case, Elgamal says all it takes is a sincere confession of ignorance and always asking if a question about said topic is acceptable to extend. 

Regardless of where you come from or what your identity comprises, having respect for people and things you deem “different” is imperative, especially when traveling. Knowing the ways in which you might culturally appropriate and actively working to understand and respect cultural differences is what will bridge intercultural gaps. Ultimately, bridging those gaps will help us to become not only better travelers but better human beings inhabiting the same planet.