Coachella Fashion: Cultural Appropriation

And Coachella 2015 is finally here... The weekend where more people care about the fashion than the music. Honestly, I was almost able to go because my spring break was this week and we were going to visit California, but tickets sold out in under two hours, so instead we went to St. John in the Caribbean. While I would have gone for the music (a few of my favorite bands, like St. Vincent, Marina and the Diamonds, and Jack White are there), many would go just for the unforgettable experience and the unique fashion it brings. Only a few of the outfits at Coachella truly impress me, so instead of praising its fashion, I'm going to point out the problematic aspects of it. While many outfits just are not cute in any way, some are extremely problematic and even offensive. And here's where I bring up the controversial term people either love to debate or roll their eyes at: cultural appropriation. For the few people that are not familiar with the term, it is the "adoption" of an aspect of one's culture, usually an oppressed culture, that is done without the "consent" or original use/meaning of the culture. In simpler terms, it's basically stealing parts of a culture and using it in a way that was not intended of the original culture. This term is an extremely grey term because many people who culturally appropriate claim that they were respecting the culture, but the only true way of knowing is if that person is from the original culture or was using the culture by its intended meaning (example: a white person wearing a bindi at a Hindi event). These cases are okay, but in many other circumstances, especially festivals like Coachella, the people wearing other people's cultures are definitely not doing it in a respectful manner. Examples include bindis (the most popular), Native American headdresses, and even Hindi nose piercings. These "fashion trends" are done by hundreds of common people at Coachella, but I decided to use a few famous examples who appropriate cultures just for the sake of fashion. All of these examples are from Coachella 2014 because not many photos have been released for this year, but these problems definitely still exist in Coachella 2015.

Vanessa Hudgens

She's probably one of the most problematic celebrities out there when it comes to cultural appropriation. I swear, every year she has been going to Coachella, she has worn a bindi. And not in a respectful manner -- she treats it as a fashion statement/accessory without even acknowledging its real use. So many people praise this celebrity for having the best fashion and "festival aesthetic", but really, she is just downright offensive. For the uninformed, bindis are forehead decorations (can be jewels or simply a dot) that are worn in South Asia that is a symbol of the Hindu religion. To an extent, it has evolved into a fashionable accessory that can be worn with a sari, but it's religious meaning still stands when used this way. Vanessa Hudgens, however, was not using it correctly. She probably sees it as a boho trend that makes her look more "Coachella ready" and may not even know the meaning behind the bindi. She may even call it "face jewels" (like Urban Outfitters once did) because she is so uninformed on the accessory she is wearing. I'm not Hindu, so I'm in no place to call what is offensive and what isn't, but I know of many Hindus that do believe this statement is offensive, which defines it as cultural appropriation. Because Vanessa probably has no idea what she is truly wearing on her forehead (or maybe she does, yet she fails to respect the culture), it is considered cultural appropriation. And, because the group was technically oppressed (and even some would be disgusted by an actual Hindu wearing a bindi but would praise the white girl wearing the new fashion trend), Vanessa is in no place to wear the bindi. Yet, she still does. 

Selena Gomez

Yes, another bindi. Selena Gomez may be a fashion icon to many (and maybe some of my readers), but once again, she is just as offensive as Vanessa. The only reason I'm including her along with Vanessa is because this is not the first time she has culturally appropriated. At the 2013 MTV Movie Awards, she wore a bindi during her performance of "Come & Get It", which already has cultural appropriation in the song itself (it starts with a man singing in Punjabi). While in this case, she did know the meaning behind the bindi, she stole Hindu traditions and used it for her own music and performance without respecting the culture. And of course, she didn't learn from this incident, because she still continues to wear the bindi at festivals. 

Kendall Jenner

And here we have Kendall Jenner, the queen of being problematic (right under her sister, Kylie, who has done far worse things such as "unintentional" blackface). This is one we haven't seen before, and many people probably have no idea what it even is except for a huge, tacky nose ring. However, it does come from the Hindi culture -- it is a nose ring worn by the bride at traditional Hindi weddings. While people could argue that all nose rings are cultural appropriation (which I don't agree with), this is so obviously stealing from the Hindi culture that it's just completely ridiculous. Even if it wasn't cultural appropriation, it still looks tacky and does not work with her simple outfit, but the fact that it is so obviously cultural appropriation makes her look extremely offensive. Of course, this is not the last time she has culturally appropriated. She wore a bindi on the other days of Coachella last year, and she even wore a hijab (along with Gigi Hadid) as a fashion statement. 

If more Coachella pictures from this year are released and I happen to see trends I am actually fond of, I may make a post showing Coachella trends that are actually not problematic.