Happy Year of the Rat. Chinese New Year falls on Jan. 25, and the festivities traditionally last for 15 days, concluding with the lantern festival. So, my fellow Americans, you will have plenty of time to join me in celebrating. I invite you to appropriate my culture.
You’re welcome to try on traditional Chinese clothing: the cheongsam, or qipao, for ladies; a Tang shirt for gentlemen. You may be concerned. If you are not ethnically Chinese, can you really wear a traditional Chinese outfit? Can you loudly wish someone “Happy New Year” in Chinese? Can you cook traditional Chinese dishes without being guilty of “cultural appropriation”? I assure you that most Chinese don’t mind. We appreciate it when outsiders incorporate elements of Chinese culture into their lives.
The idea of “cultural appropriation” is silly. While misrepresentation of other cultures does happen and can be harmful, “cultural appropriation” has been weaponized by social-justice warriors to shut down freedom of expression and control others.
No one is safe from being accused of “cultural appropriation,” or even “racial identity theft.” Whether you are rich and famous or an average Joe going about your life, culture police are everywhere to make sure that people don’t out of their lane to claim something that’s “not theirs.” Chef Gordon Ramsay was accused of “cultural appropriation” after he said he would open an “authentic” Asian restaurant in London. Neither he nor his head chef is Asian. A high-school student in Utah was criticized on social media after posting pictures wearing a qipao to her prom. Inuit singers boycotted Canada’s Indigenous Music Awards over the nomination of Connie LeGrande, whom they accused of using an Inuit throat-singing technique without being an Inuit. (Ms. LeGrande is Cree, another Canadian indigenous group.)
Based on the social-justice warriors’ logic, people must only function within the ethnic identity and culture they were born into—for life. Authenticity, to them, means each cultural group must embrace its own culture and fiercely defend its unique traits from others. But no culture can survive in a vacuum. All of today’s cultures are the result of cross-pollination with others in the past.
The qipao, for instance, was originally a Manchu dress. The Manchu are an ethnic minority living in northeastern China. Over decades, Manchu armies conquered the Ming Empire, founded the Qing Dynasty in 1644, and ruled over the Han Chinese population until 1912. The Han considered Manchu cultural customs, including their clothing, barbaric, and tried many times to overthrow the Manchu rulers.
After the 1912 revolution that ended the Qing dynasty, Western ideas such as equality and liberty began to influence Chinese women. As more attended school and entered professions, they needed new outfits to match their enlightened social awareness. So Han Chinese women borrowed the Manchu qipao, which was loose and wide, and made it more form-fitting with various lengths and sleeve styles.
When the Communists took over mainland China in 1949, they regarded the qipao as a bourgeois symbol and for several decades forbade Chinese women from wearing it. The qipao has became fashionable again among ordinary Chinese women only since the 2000s.
The story of the qipao demonstrates that “authenticity” and “originality” are misleading ways to think about culture. Adopting something from another culture is unavoidable and natural. Not to mention, a life lived only within one culture—frozen at an arbitrary moment in historical time—would be boring.
As an immigrant, I have shamelessly appropriated American culture. My New Year’s resolutions include exercising more, and for that I attend Zumba, a dance workout to Latin music, or do yoga, which originated in India. On Super Bowl Sunday, I’ll eat nachos and pizza. And you bet my household celebrates Independence Day with a backyard barbecue of hamburgers and hot dogs, followed by a show of Chinese-made fireworks.
So this Chinese New Year, I encourage you to appropriate Chinese culture by wearing something Chinese, learning how to say “Happy New Year!” (“Gong xi fa cai!” in Mandarin), cooking and eating Chinese food, and hanging out with your Chinese friends. Don’t let anyone dictate what you can or can’t do in the name of “cultural appropriation.” Do the thing that’s increasingly off-limits: Have fun.
Ms. Raleigh is a senior contributor to the Federalist and the author of “Confucius Never Said.”
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