Halloween has a notorious history of cultural appropriation, so we see that term get thrown around this time of year. 

We at The Californian believe that cultural appropriation is a growing and prevalent issue that needs to be discussed.

There are many misconceptions about what it actually means to be appropriating culture versus appreciating culture.

In short, cultural appropriation is when somebody adopts aspects of a culture that’s not their own. The reason that makes it such an important issue is found in the details.

A deeper look into cultural appropriation reveals a particular power dynamic, in which members of a dominant culture take elements from a culture of people who have been systematically oppressed.

This is much different from cultural appreciation, when people share cultures mutually with each other, because cultural exchange lacks that systemic power dynamic. An example of this would be trying food from another culture or becoming educated about a culture’s history.

In the case of Halloween costumes, it is a clear showing of cultural appropriation when an individual chooses to wear a “Sexy Native Princess” costume or a “Adult Tequila Bandito” costume. This is reducing a culture to certain stereotypes, stealing the aspects of that culture in a disrespectful manner, and reinforcing those stereotypes, all in jest. 

Perhaps most cruelly of all, it trivializes violent historical oppression. It allows privileged people to wear costumes without having to remind themselves of all the oppression and violence of these groups.

One of the main arguments against cultural appropriation is freedom of expression. People should have the right to express themselves however they wish. 

It is true that nobody can physically force someone to stop taking aspects from other cultures. But when these claims of “ freedom of expression” turn into “the right to take what I want from other cultures”, it starts to sound like the mantra of manifest destiny, something used to justify everything from slavery to genocide.

It takes little to no effort to educate yourself about different cultures. It takes even less effort to wear a cool Halloween costume without contributing to a very prevalent form of systematic oppression.