Issues around “black hair” (I think is the most common word for it, but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong here) are certainly real and depressing.
I still don’t think naming a child after a name you happen to like is so problematic (well, unless the name you like is something like ‘Hitler’ or will otherwise cause trauma and issues for the child). If using another culture’s name is a bad kind of cultural appropriation, then either nearly everyone or almost no one is guilty of this (the former because people move and cultures merge and split, the latter being a reductionist take that all human genetics come from basically the same place and/or a “pre-world” language family).
I think cultural appropriation itself is a bit of a weird one. You have people like most Japanese who encourage people to wear kimono and other Japanese styles. I assume that’s true in a lot of the world (I just happen to be more familiar with the Japanese side having lived here for about a decade). But is wearing clothing cultural appropriation? Is cosplay? My Japanese friends and wife encourage me to wear yukata and such, but I generally am just my jeans-and-tshirt self.
Speaking of, were all those Japanese around the Meiji restoration wearing suits appropriating Western culture. Is “Western culture” even a unified culture? Cultures have always borrowed, stolen, and shared. I think if something is intentionally done in mockery or some other way, it’s not OK. Other than that, I think a lot of people are angry, often on behalf of others who may or may not actually be angry themselves.
This, and cultural diffusion is a normal part of human society. It has been for countless thousands of years.
I understand why cultural appropriation can be problematic but the fact remains that the usual mode of cultural diffusion has been, “that’s really cool. I wanna have that too”
It’s not a zero sum game because there isn’t some finite limit. By wearing a kimono or whatever you aren’t taking someone else’s right to wear one away from them.
the way i see it it’s at worst cringey and in bad taste, but on the flip side it’s at best a huge compliment because someone liked your culture enough to name their child according to it.
And a cringey name is nothing new, there are people who name their kids “hope” or “gaius maximus”
Issues around “black hair” (I think is the most common word for it, but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong here) are certainly real and depressing.
I still don’t think naming a child after a name you happen to like is so problematic (well, unless the name you like is something like ‘Hitler’ or will otherwise cause trauma and issues for the child). If using another culture’s name is a bad kind of cultural appropriation, then either nearly everyone or almost no one is guilty of this (the former because people move and cultures merge and split, the latter being a reductionist take that all human genetics come from basically the same place and/or a “pre-world” language family).
I think cultural appropriation itself is a bit of a weird one. You have people like most Japanese who encourage people to wear kimono and other Japanese styles. I assume that’s true in a lot of the world (I just happen to be more familiar with the Japanese side having lived here for about a decade). But is wearing clothing cultural appropriation? Is cosplay? My Japanese friends and wife encourage me to wear yukata and such, but I generally am just my jeans-and-tshirt self.
Speaking of, were all those Japanese around the Meiji restoration wearing suits appropriating Western culture. Is “Western culture” even a unified culture? Cultures have always borrowed, stolen, and shared. I think if something is intentionally done in mockery or some other way, it’s not OK. Other than that, I think a lot of people are angry, often on behalf of others who may or may not actually be angry themselves.
This, and cultural diffusion is a normal part of human society. It has been for countless thousands of years.
I understand why cultural appropriation can be problematic but the fact remains that the usual mode of cultural diffusion has been, “that’s really cool. I wanna have that too”
It’s not a zero sum game because there isn’t some finite limit. By wearing a kimono or whatever you aren’t taking someone else’s right to wear one away from them.
the way i see it it’s at worst cringey and in bad taste, but on the flip side it’s at best a huge compliment because someone liked your culture enough to name their child according to it.
And a cringey name is nothing new, there are people who name their kids “hope” or “gaius maximus”