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Cultural Appropriation
This is a discussion I've wanted to have for a while, but until recently lacked the terminology. I don't think it was brought up here.Cultural appropriation is the adoption of an element of a culture by another culture, usually on that's higher in privilege. Common examples are fashion statements, ex. dreadlocks, henna tattoos, even mohawks on white people, or liberals thinking they're exotic by eating Vietnamese food.The name nerd equivalent would be, say, a person of color living in the west being named Melissa or Tom. That's seen as totally normal, expected. But what if Tom were named Takehiko in honor of his heritage, or Melissa were named Mojisola in honor of hers? Then that would be seen as them not assimilating into Western culture, as just more "different." Same way if they would wear traditional dress or style, or packed home meals every day.Conversely, what if a white child in the west were named/ went by the name Momoko? Would that just be seen as trendy, or exotic, like if they were to eat "traditional" Japanese food? This is a more likely example than say, Olamide because of the anime craze that makes 14 year old girls glamorize, want to be everything Japanese (if you use the internet, you know what I'm talking about). I actually had a friend who swore she'd change her name to one she heard from an anime (idk if she legally did, but she went by it). Is this okay? is it different than if you "connected" with the culture somehow?
If I loved the name Olamide, even had a personal connection with it and wanted to name my non-African child that, would that be okay?I realize this is an uncomfortable topic, and that's sorta the point.
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I live in the US. In my opinion we have a nation who's culture is one that has taken, and continues to take from all of the people who have come here from all the nations of the world. So, an asian Rosalie or a hispanic Nneka or a caucasian Aiko wouldn't really make me turn my head. Maybe this is the case because I live in a urban area that is more culturally diverse? I don't think that cultures own names per say and even find it to be refreshing to hear of, meet & see people who have gone beyond thier own backyard in the search for the perfect name for thier child. Not that I don't like or appreciate peoples name tying them to thier own culture: because that's nice as well.Whatever the case may be, I am glad to hear names that have history and/or meaning to them on whoever owns them than be subject to one more name that isn't supposed to begin with "k", has a "y" replacing a vowel or ends in "aiden". I wish people would stop appropriating "trendiness". Now that would be awesome!
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"I live in the US. In my opinion we have a nation who's culture is one that has taken, and continues to take from all of the people who have come here from all the nations of the world."
I'm sorry, but I can't tell by your tone if you mean that critically or not? I live in the U.S. too.I also live in what I would consider a culturally diverse area, but not so much accepting. Like I heard comments from people, asking "why does she have an American name?" in reference to a girl wearing a hijab, or commenting on a name being ghetto when worn by a black girl but not if a white girl had the same name. That's more what I meant.
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I didn't mean it critically. Just my experience.
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Man if you're bananarama you're disguising yourself pretty well. I honestly can't tell if that's you or not. Keep it up.
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Common examples are fashion statements, ex. dreadlocks, henna tattoos, even mohawks on white people, or liberals thinking they're exotic for eating Vietnamese food. Bananarama, is that you?To answer your question, I think if you wanted to give your white child a Japanese or African name, it would be nice if you had *some* connection to the culture, but you don't *have* to. I know a white girl named Avani because her mother stumbled upon the name and really liked it. Not something everyone would do, but no big whoop.

This message was edited 3/24/2013, 8:41 AM

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WOAHnowDid I seriously come off as bananarama? really?...imdone...Thanks for your input, though.
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If I meat a white Momoko, I'd assume she was born in Japan. If I met Japanese Americans named Melissa, I'd know she's American, or if she were Midori, I'd know her family still feels a connection to Japan. For any ethnic name, I'd assume the parents have some sort of connection to where the name is from. They could be the children of immigrants or an honoring name from the person who moved here.
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Most of what I just read I don't understand a lot of - I will openly say that I am pretty naive about other cultures though I am keen to broarden my horizons.
In terms of names, I can relate to what you're saying (sort of) because on my list I have the names, Caoimhe, Kimiko, Finnegan, Niklaus, and Anya (just a few that stand out) which are obviously from very different cultures/parts of the world. Now I'm English, with no anscestory from anywhere other than England - though my surname may suggest that I have Irish roots. I love all of the names I've stated above for their sound, or their meaning, not because I read them in a magazine or saw them on TV, but I would be reluctant to use them for the reception that they or I might get.
I don't believe that this is right because in such a culturely diverse society we should be able to use a name from Japanese roots because we like the sound or meaning of it, when done for the right reasons I think it can be very complimentary to the Japanese (for example) culture.
However I think that if someone names their child after an anime character they are being quite immature - unless they can back up their useage of the name by explaining further why they like it beyond just "I liked such-and-such character".Sorry if I don't make sense or what I've just said doesn't relate in any way to what you were asking. But that's how I understood your comment. :)
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It depends greatly on the original usage of the name and the complexity of the name. I think I can explain best by giving examples, and please keep in mind that this only describes my point of view as a Dutch person living in the Netherlands. These are the impressions I'd have if I encountered a Dutch family giving their Dutch child a certain name:Angelo, Lorenzo, Marita, Sarita, Steven, Joey, Ashley
- I think the usage of Spanish/Italian/English names sound a bit tacky, but not weird. Some of these have been used so many times that they blend in with Dutch names completely and pronunciation isn't an issue anymore. Frédérique, Juliette, Rosalie
- I think usage of French names on girls sound upper-class (or as if one is trying to be upper-class). They're okay to use though without being weird. French names on boys, have for me more the association with Flemish people, so I'd assume some sort of Flemish background. Momoko, Hakuri, Yukiko, Cheng, Xiang, Ayodele, Chizoba
- Japanese/Chinese/African names sound weird on Dutch kids and as if one is trying way too hard to be special. They're acceptable only if they're short, simple and only use elements that are used in Dutch as well like Sora, Rudo, Fen or Taro. Then there's no problem at all. Gülay, Nimet, Yildiz, Jamal, Hadiya, Stanislav, Kazimiera
- Turkish/Arabic/Eastern European names would be weird on Dutch kids as well.

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I think Olamide would be less problematic than a Japanese name. Olamide sounds kinda similar to European names. People wouldn't instantly guess it was African - they'd probably ask where it was from. But Asian names are so different from Western names as to instantly give away their origin. That said, I think certain European names scream their origin as well. French names seem obviously French, and the same goes with Italian and Russian names. I'd be wary to use such a name, afraid that people would ask my child "Are your parents French/Italian/Russian?" etc. I'd be annoyed to have to explain that we have no Italian heritage, that I just like the name. There'd be no such problem if a child with Japanese heritage was given a Japanese name. I know a Vietnamese girl (I assume she was born here in Australia) who has a traditional Vietnamese name. I don't find it strange at all. As for giving a Japanese name to a Caucasian with no Japanese heritage, it's not that it's not "okay" - but people will be quite surprised. It's not usual. I assume that it goes both ways - I assume that it would be strange to give a Western name to a Japanese child living in Japan. But I don't know this for sure.
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