@osmanthus
What I mean is that how many people do you really think saw that costume and thought "Oh hey, this must mean it's not ok to be Amerindian"? My guess, hardly any.
The main point of that observation was that lived experiences of marginalized groups are completely different to the experiences of those people who choose to embellish cultural attire for a day. Dressing up for a day in another’s cultural dress does not result in any racial attacks or discrimination which is something those marginalized, underrepresented groups have to deal with throughout their lives.
Just because this is the way I interpret this situation does not mean everyone will. I understand that not everyone will agree with my points, or see things in the same way, and that is fine. It isn’t a numbers game – so it doesn’t make a difference if only one person interprets it this way, or one hundred.
And of course the faux war bonnet is part of the costume. It's arguably the main feature. What's your point there?
Seriously, the message I got is "Karlie Kloss looks bloody silly in that shot". Well, that and "that girl needs feeding".
The reason I picked up on that was because you described it as a ‘silly costume’ which involves the war bonnet. You’ve reduced a culturally significant item to a ‘costume’ and this is why this is seen as an issue. When does the war bonnet stop being a ‘silly costume’ and when does it start being a symbol of bravery? When is native dress a ‘costume’? When a non-native wears it or when anyone wears it regardless of their heritage?
Next question: what happens if an Amerindian wears a cowboy hat? Should rednecks get offended by the appropriation of part of their culture?
Does the latter situation negate the racism and offence felt by some Native Americans when their dress is worn by non-Natives as a costume? I doubt it.
Have cowboys experienced genocide? Have they been displaced from their home land? Do they experience racism and discrimination? Are they raped, murdered and abused by non-cowboys for being cowboys? Have cowboys been kept as slaves?
ETA: Oh and don't forget my question about VS using angel outfits in their parades. Are you going to be equally up in arms on behalf of religious people who believe in angels? I'm not taking the piss here. It's a valid question.
These comparisons fail because we assume that cowboy dress, angel costumes and Native American clothing have equal weighting. Because, objecting to one dress does not mean we should object to them all. We need to be more aware of the histories to make sure that we do not offend someone with our ignorance – and we cannot ignore the past to justify something today because we may feel it’s ‘not a big deal’ or irrelevant because we don’t see how it’s offensive – or we’ve been privileged enough to not experience inequalities based on our cultural differences etc.
Note that I'm not disputing that the Indian headdress costume was tasteless or tacky or insensitive or several other things. I just think the claim that it must, automatically, be racist is a pretty severe claim that doesn't really hold up.
It’s racism based on ignorance. Just because something is racist does not mean it is intentional, and sometimes we can even be racist without knowing the prejudices we hold because they’ve been socialised into us. There are many things we have to unlearn because of the systems of institutionalised racism, sexism, classism etc we live within.
Topic: Racism in Victoria's Secret?