Tag: cultural appropriation
Halloween is for Irish people only; for anyone else, it’s racist cultural appropriation
October 31, 2016 | Post
A year ago, lecturer Erika Christakis wrote an email criticizing Yale’s attempt to control students’ Halloween costumes. Christakis suggested that students, as adults, are capable of policing themselves, that the boundary between acceptable and unacceptable costumes is contestable, and that Halloween is holiday meant to allow people to indulge in certain transgressions. Students harassed her […]
Are Novels Cultural Appropriation?
September 18, 2016 | Post
Author Lionel Shriver’s keynote address at the recent Brisbane Writer’s Festival has sparked heavy criticism. Shriver, best known for her book “We Need To Talk About Kevin”, spoke out against criticisms of authors based on cultural appropriation. The concept of cultural appropriation is divisive: some view it as oppression by majorities who adopt or appropriate […]
What J.K. Rowling Does And Doesn't Do for Native Americans
April 29, 2016 | Post
The ControversyIn preparation for the November 2016 release of her upcoming film, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (which is set in 1920s New York City and features MACUSA, the Magical Congress of the United States of America), J.K. Rowling has shifted her focus from Harry Potter’s Great Britain to North America. Last month […]
The War on Yoga
December 8, 2015 | Post
Free expression is under attack on college campuses. Last month, there was an uproar over – of all things – Halloween costumes at Yale. Now, it’s a war on yoga. The University of Ottawa recently decided to ban a free yoga class because of worries over “cultural appropriation” – the PC term du jour referencing […]