Gwen Renée Stefani is a famous American pop singer. She’s considered one of the most successful artists in the music industry and one of the most popular artists during the 2000s. However, she has a slightly controversial history, certainly with cultural appropriation.
What is cultural appropriation?
Using goods or elements from a non-dominant culture in a way that does not respect their original meaning, does not give acknowledgment to their source, perpetuates stereotypes, or contributes to oppression, is known as cultural appropriation. An example of cultural appropriation is a white woman or man styling their hair into locs or box braids. Any kind of person from any race can perform cultural appropriation, though some forms of it are more common than others.
So, what did Gwen do?
Gwen Stefani has been accused of appropriating South Asian, Black and Asian culture and maintaining stereotypes of Native Americans. For example, she has worn a bindi in one of her music videos, ‘’Just A Girl”. She has also done the same for Black culture and appropriated African culture throughout a concert on The Voice.
Her most prominent scandal
Gwen Stefani has received lots of criticism for her group of backup dancers, the Harajuku Girls. They are usually compared to a minstrel show by many and that’s a huge problem because it reinforces stereotypes towards Asians. An author by the name of Mihi Ann says that she has turned this group of Asian-American backup dancers into modern geishas.
Bonus: Cultural Appreciation All of this said, it’s not a bad thing to be interested in other cultures, traditions and clothing! Cultural appreciation is when you genuinely want to learn and honor traditions and beliefs from another culture. It’s not done to boost your personal gains; money, fame, etc. The thing is there’s a fine line between appreciation and appropriation.
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