Appropriate appreciation
Kennebunk, Maine
It is easier than ever before to access virtually any information we desire, but ease has a steep price.
That price is commonly historical and cultural context, giving us a half understanding and partial appreciation for what we are learning. This partial understanding facilitates cultural appropriation. Appropriation does not exist in a vacuum, with inextricable ties to racial inequality and sparce BIPOC representation to name only a few. However, this piece is both an honest reflection specifically on appropriation and how lack of intention does not neutralize the harm.
To start off, I need to make a few confessions. I started using turmeric skin care products not realizing there is a deep cultural significance to haldi. I started doing yoga avidly, not realizing that my “practice” was really limited to asana and some pranayama. I am not proud of engaging with these ancient cultural traditions without understanding them or recognizing how much I did not know. I can’t change the past, but I can change how I approach the future.
In 2017, I saw an Instagram ad for a turmeric face mask which promised brighter, healthier skin. When my order arrived from the then-startup Yellow Beauty, I found a small card in the package. This card succinctly explained that turmeric, or haldi, is a traditional part of weddings in India and South Asia. In an age of bite-sized stories, Yellow Beauty optimized the consumer’s limited attention span to highlight their product’s cultural significance and highlight the fight to end child marriage. While it was incumbent on me as a consumer to dig deeper into turmeric skin care before ordering a new product, I admire that the company sought to cultivate appreciation for the product’s roots among mostly unaware North Americans consumers and donates some of their profits to ensure they are not exploiting culture.
Living in America, yoga is frequently considered a vinyasa practice with an emphasis on the benefits of meditation. In January, I signed up for Yoga Teacher Training with My Vinyasa Practice to cultivate my practice, learn about poses and anatomy, and round out my understanding of yoga. My first lesson was yoga philosophy, starting with Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. I was shocked to learn within the first ten minutes that yoga was a holistic approach to unity with the highest form of self, not just physical movement that provides a great sweat in a heated room at a studio. I stepped back and recognized that the genesis of this shock was ignorance perpetuated by not only the Western media’s portrayal of yoga as a means for wellness or to attain the thin ideal, but by my unquestioning acceptance of this messaging as truth. I realized that despite knowing Sanskrit asana posture names, I never asked where they came from or what the cultural context is. I am so excited not only to learn more, but to start asking more questions.
I am not proud of my ignorance, especially as it could have easily been avoided. We live in an age of ready-to-consume online content, meaning it would have taken five minutes maximum to see how much context I was missing. I still do not know everything about yoga or haldi. There are undoubtedly numerous other avenues I have yet to explore for appropriation in my life. However, the start is acknowledging how much we do not know. It is not claiming ownership. It is not ignoring history and culture. It is open-mindedness, curiosity, and embracing diversity. It is putting in the work again and again, knowing we may get it wrong. We will not be perfect, but it is always worth it.
Authentically,
Cate