Nouriyah Saleh
May 9, 2017
Blog Response: "Arabis, Islam and Dogmas of the West"and "Indo-Chic: Late Capitalist Orientalism and Imperial Culture
Edward Said provides
a definition and a little bit of history behind the origins of the Orientalism.
"Orients" are people from Asian and Arab countries who are seen as
backward by Western countries. Professor Maira expands on Orientalism by discussing
the concepts of cultural appropriation, materialism, and globalization through
Indo-Chic. Westerners are quick to look down on India but are fascinated by
their henna, bhindis, and saris, which they quickly excoticize and implement
into their own wardrobes. From Professor Maira's article, I was intrigued by
how different cultures use and exploit henna, but it made me wonder about the
cultural authenticity of it. Culture is always changing and differs with time,
location, and the people so in a sense, cultural appropriation doesn't exist. I
definitely do not agree with using culture as a means of profit, but Professor
Maira's example of the South Asian women at Smith College shows that they all
had different opinions and experiences with henna, meaning that no one was
right or wrong. The spread of henna through globalization has changed its
meaning and whether that's good or bad is definitely questionable. I think it's
good for culture to spread because it raises awareness, but it inevitably becomes
a site of interpretation and/or a source of profit.
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