I dropped her off this morning and saw girls (and boys) wearing grass skirts, some of them with coconut bras too. I’m not sure what else is going on, but it doesn’t seem very respectful of a native culture that we have seriously fucked over. Would they have a “Native American Day” and let kids come in wearing feathered headdresses?

Or am I reading too much into it?

          • Call me Lenny/Leni@lemm.eeM
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            1 year ago

            Easy there, our friend. At this point in time, it’s hard not to see this kind of thing as a mental exercise. Even when it comes to my own culture, I have trouble knowing what is “offensive”. Identity is weird.

            • JesseoftheNorth@kbin.social
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              1 year ago

              Yes, I agree that it isn’t that simple, and as I said in another comment here, people of a specific culture will have differing opinions and feelings on the matter. That doesn’t mean that non-Hawaiians get to decide what is offensive to Hawaiians, and that is what I am addressing.

            • JesseoftheNorth@kbin.social
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              1 year ago

              There is a difference. OP is asking if indigenous Hawaiians would find it offensive. You have been stating that it isn’t as a matter of fact, even though it’s not for you decide.

              • walden@sub.wetshaving.social
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                1 year ago

                Yeah I catch your drift. I didn’t know he was asking Hawaiians specifically. I guess everyone in this thread should keep quiet.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      But aren’t grass skirts ceremonial? Like part of religious ceremonies? I really would love a native Hawaiian to chime in.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Ok, then maybe that shouldn’t happen either? I’m just not big on cultural appropriation, especially when it’s one culture appropriating another culture they committed genocide against and never apologized for.

          • walden@sub.wetshaving.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            1 year ago

            Cultural appropriation is a debate of its own. The wikipedia page on cultural appropriation explains it better than I can. My view is that yes, it would be bad if people started wearing pa’u’s on a regular basis because they think it looks cool with no respect for where it came from. Wearing one to Hawaii day at school is not bad because the intention is to celebrate the culture.

            Later this month I’m going to an Oktoberfest party and people will be wearing lederhosen. I live in the USA. Is that offensive?

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  Well no, I think that literally appropriating their culture by wearing their ceremonial clothing is a qualifier for that. That it’s appropriating a culture that America committed genocide against is just the icing on the cake.

              • PugJesus@kbin.social
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                edit-2
                1 year ago

                Britain engaged in a strategy of ‘terror bombing’, the deliberate murder of German civilians, during WW2, killing over a million people. If a Brit wears a lederhosen, is that offensive? What about a Russian? French folk?

                The present is more important than the past. In the past, we’ve all killed each other in horrific, cruel ways. What matters is the present - Native tribes often still use the national dress they’re depicted with (without much concern for accuracy in most cases) in important cultural folkways, and Native Americans in general still suffer from severe discrimination. For that reason, not past genocides (though the past genocides are obviously important to recognize and acknowledge), is tribal ‘costume’ inappropriate and insensitive.

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  Indigenous Americans often get pretty offended when white people wear their traditional clothing. I’m not sure why this isn’t the same.

                  • PugJesus@kbin.social
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    1
                    ·
                    edit-2
                    1 year ago

                    If you mean lederhosen, then the second paragraph explains why it’s different. If you mean the grass skirts, then I can’t comment, as I don’t know if there’s a ceremonial component to grass skirts that would make wearing one offensive.