Is Cultural Appropriation a Legitimate Concern? Dior 2019 Cruise Collection

Dior 2019 Cruise Collection Advertisement with Jennifer Lawrence

Earlier this week, Dior released an advertisement for their 2019 Cruise collection for women inspired by Mexican culture, specifically escaramuzas, who are professional Mexican female equestrians.  The Parisian fashion house soon found themselves under condemnation from the public when the company chose to have Jennifer Lawrence, a white actress without any Latino heritage, represent the collection.   Many critics have denounced the company for appointing a white woman to be the face of the campaign, which was influenced by Mexican roots.

The City of San Francisco, known for its rolling hills, as well as its nonjudgemental culture.

This criticism highlights a dichotomy in the second decade of 21st-century America, specifically the Bay Area, Hollywood, New York, and other metropolitan cities.  These regions often pride themselves on being the most open-minded and accepting, but ironically, they are also the most censorious and disapproving.  A century and a couple decades earlier, it was societally unacceptable to speak Chinese in public, in fact, the act of speaking Chinese could land you in a dangerous predicament, even in the inclusive city we now know as New York City.  In fact, in his 1890 book How the Other Half Lives, Jacob Riis categorized the Chinese of New York as "a constant and terrible menace to society."  A century later, the aforementioned cities were avant-garde for championing for the inclusion of all cultures in the workplace, education, and civilization.  This assertion can be corroborated with the advent of ethnic studies majors, such as Latin-American Studies, Asian-American Studies, and African-American Studies, in renowned universities and colleges, and the incorporation of non-White characters in popular culture, such as Kelly from The Office.  However, these cities with diverse cultures and ethnic backgrounds have forgotten about what they once stood for and have erased the idea of freedom of expression.  

In 2018, America has become just as traditionalist as it has been during the colonial period.  Society can no longer innovate in the fields of fashion, humor, and most importantly, ideas.  It seems like the public domain is run by a not-so-secret Thought Police, composed of Twitter users and self-declaring "progressives," and any idea deemed offensive will be taken down along with the person.  It is quite ironic that the "Progressives" are the least accepting group in American society, except, perhaps, superseded by the Alternative-Right.  The only difference is that the "Progressives" hold more influence on society than the Alternative-Right.  Showing your admiration for non-white culture as a white person or organization is no longer allowed and will be condemned by the Left because it is considered "stolen," as proven by this Dior collection.  But showing your admiration for white culture as a non-white person is approved by the Left?  Can cultural appropriation not be applied both ways?

Progressives have failed to criticize the Chinese for appropriating Grace Kelly's sense of fashion of carrying around the Hermès Kelly Bag made famous by the Princess of Monaco.

To sign off, I would like to leave you with a controversial paradox.  Progressives do not accuse a marriage between an African-American man and a Caucasian woman as "cultural appropriation," a ritual that has been carried out within the Caucasian ethnicity for all of mankind except, maybe, for the union between the great Roman Empire Julius Caesar and the beautiful Egyptian Queen Cleopatra.  Nevertheless, once a white man puts on a sombrero, he is accused of appropriating Mexican-American culture.

Cleopatra Before Caesar (1866) by Jean-León