Does anybody believe in cultural appropriation?
Last Updated: 26.06.2025 08:07
(AI rendering of me that I used as my profile picture during Day of the Dead in Mexico. This year I celebrated Dia de Muertos in Mexico City. Absolutely no one made me feel excluded just because I’m not Mexican).
When I first moved to Mexico I didn’t fully understand this. One evening I was in downtown Mérida and a few people were selling guayaberas and a shop owner invited me inside of his shop to take a look. For those that don’t know, a guayabera is a linen shirt that usually comes in white or other light colors that is worn in several countries in Latin America, but especially in places with a tropical climate.
Cultural appropriation isn’t a thing and if it were, almost everyone on the planet is guilty of it in some way. The mixing of cultures is actually a wonderful thing, especially when it lends to better understanding and empathy.
No, cultural appropriation is a very (US) American-centric way of thinking by people who have mostly never even experienced another culture. If one travels you’ll realize that every culture adopts pieces of other cultures and that globally, this is quite natural.
I asked my Mexican friend if it would be cultural appropriation if I wore such a garment. She just looked at me with a puzzled look not really understanding what I was asking.