Episode 20: Your Culture, Their Costume? Fancy Dress and Cultural Appropriation

In 2011, Teen Vogue drew attention to harmful consequences of insensitively chosen fancy dress costumes that reduce beliefs, cultures and people to garish stereotypes. In previous episodes of Dress: Fancy, Lucy and Ben have considered the painful consequences of badly informed costume choices and in this episode they continue this dialogue, reflecting in far more depth on the widening debates about cultural appropriation and dressing up. Links ‘Cultural Appropriation Explained’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHD0ZLPDRxM.  Jessica Andrews, ‘Cultural Appropriation at Halloween: My Culture Is Not a Costume’, Teen Vogue. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/cultural-appropriation-halloween-costume-video. Kat Lazo, ‘Is Your Halloween Costume Racist?’, Everyday Feminism (October 2013). https://everydayfeminism.com/2013/10/is-your-halloween-costume-racist/. Connie Wang, ‘Finding the Beauty in Cultural Appropriation’, New York Times (April 2019). https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/20/opinion/cultural-appropriation-coachella.html  ‘What is the Costume Campaign...And Why Do We Do It?’ http://www.lspirg.org/costumes. Dior Cruise, Cultural Appropriation or Cultural Exchange?: https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/pajpq9/dior-cruise-2020-wales-bonner  The Albert Memorial: https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/kensington-gardens/things-to-see-and-do/memorials-fountains-and-statues/the-albert-memorial The Good Immigrant:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Immigrant-Nikesh-Shukla/dp/178352295X NY Times: finding the beauty in cultural appropriation: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/20/opinion/cultural-appropriation-coachella.html Homecoming Quotes: https://www.bustle.com/p/all-the-quotes-in-homecoming-show-beyonces-commitment-to-recognizing-great-black-thinkers-17044727