Graphic by Alexis Riner

By Nia Rutledge

You see her every day.

She has Native American feathers in her hair, and a West Asian Bindi on her forehead. A shirt illustrating Hindu and Buddhist Gods. Leggings patterned with the cross of Christianity. Necklaces with Yin Yang and Hamsa pendants.

All the while, she is not a part of any of these cultures or religions. Her only motives for wearing these symbols are because she thinks they are cute and trendy.

In the fashion industry, clothing and trends are commercialized rip-offs of the symbols of various cultures. Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters are some of the top distributors of the culturally appropriative clothing.

I see a lot of seemingly Caucasian girls with dreadlocks prancing around in Native American head dresses, or with their faces painted as Mexican sugar skulls and flaunting their super-on-trend Middle Eastern henna tattoos.

Most recently, the cross of Christianity has been taken from its religious roots and is now seen as a fashionable trend. Rather than taking its traditional form of delicate jewelry and tattoos, it has become more of a print than a symbol of Christian faith.

It is completely demeaning and insensitive to a religion to wear a print that has specific religious connotations. Some students say that by assigning their own meaning to the cross, they can wear it without being culturally appropriative. But that isn’t how it works.

Religious symbols are not like colors, animals or shapes.

Religious symbols are arguably the most distinct symbols we have as humans.

It is silly when people think that these symbols are up for their own interpretation since there is already this vast consensus about what the symbol stands for. Often, people try to explain their act of cultural appropriation as that they are actually admiring the culture in which it comes from.

They are not admiring it.

Buying something from money-grubbing corporations and parading it on your body — when you either do not know much about the symbol or believe in it — is cultural appropriation, and it is not acceptable.

I think we can come to a consensus that henna tattoos are exceedingly beautiful. But just because a cultural symbol is beautiful, does not give anyone even a slither of a right to wear it if they themselves are not a part of a culture in which it is a cultural symbol.

In the Middle East, henna is done commonly for bridal ceremonies. When a person who is not Middle Eastern wears henna merely because it is pretty, the ceremonial meaning for henna is degraded.

When someone takes part in a ritual, but is not properly committed to it, it degrades the meaning of the whole ritual and could possibly be offensive to those who are committed.

Considering that issues of religion and culture are delicate to begin with and are often life-long commitments, when one invites themselves into the customs without being properly informed or invested, it is extremely belittling to the sacrality of the religion or culture.

Cultures and religions are not trends.

These symbols represent someone’s life, their heritage and what they believe in. To wear it because you think that it is cute is offensive and insensitive.

You are making a mockery of the culture, and you don’t even know it.

Sure, there are students who see wearing these symbols as a sign of respect — an attempt to embrace another culture.

“I think it’s perfectly fine to do whatever you want,” said sophomore Oreana Figuieras. “Me personally, I’m religious, I’m a Christian. But, I want to celebrate Hanukkah this year. I like to open my views on to other things, that’s another reason why I do henna…I try to learn about other religions or cultures. I want the pilgrimage to Mecca. I just want to see what it is and just to be a part of that.”

If you want to admire a culture, buy authentic art or trinkets from authentic shops. You admire a culture by reading about it, watching documentaries, learning the languages in which they speak or travelling to where it originated.

You do not admire something by inviting yourself into the culture and stealing aspects and traits from it for the sake of looking trendy, edgy and cute.

Even if something may not seem like a big deal to you, you still need to be culturally and religiously sensitive to whom it is significant to.