Sunday, November 4, 2012

Going Native goes bad.

CHeck out this blog post: http://tequilasovereign.blogspot.com/2012/11/an-open-letter-to-hipster-indian-dufus.html
One of my professors recently posted this blog post about Gwen STephani and her recent apology about how she was dressed for a video shoot. The post reveals an excellent opinion about cultural respect and commercial "cool" when Gwen Stephani gets critiqued for her Native American wardrobe. Identity is not "frozen in the past to be used as a fashion accessory." I wonder... Where is the moral line drawn? Are certain things just off limits for certain people? Fashion and commercial music--culturally inspired or not--is often all about hypersexualized images... but as the author says, dont try to believe that you are being "culturally inclusive" if you are blatantly wearing a costume for the cool factor. I agree with the author, but i'm just curious how Gwen could have been dressed if she WANTED to promote inclusivity in some way? My opinion is that Gwen STephani has worked hard (maybe) to become a sex symbol. Whether she likes it or not, she is a sex symbol. So she has to understand the powers and views that will form as a result of that symbol. If she were to wear a nun costume--- a real nun costume-- it would be disrespectful because she is clearly not a real nun. So, is wearing native clothing inspired by Native American cultures simply off limits? Is it certain parts of her attire? Is it the degree to which she is pretending that she understands what she is wearing? Does she need to?