1. LISA
In the poster of Money, released on September 19,
Lisa was spotted wearing what appear to be box braids.
The hairstyle in this photo, which is considered an integral part of black culture and identity,
is being seen by many as cultural appropriation. Although braiding
has been an intrinsic part of several Asian cultures,
this particular style of braiding is generally considered to stem from black culture. So Fans
of Lisa, especially those with African roots, are reportedly upset by her choice of hairstyle.
Some believe that since she is not black,
she has no right to use that hairstyle without acknowledging it.
On the other side of the debate, some fans are defending Lisa.
According to them, the braids sported by Lisa are a part of Thailand's past,
so that cannot be labelled as cultural appropriation. Some supporters have
identified the braids as "Phom Pia," which literally translates to hair braids.
It can be seen that Lisa had this exact hair style when she was little in a picture taken
with her dad. As a child, Lisa was made to think it’s ok, it's pretty.
She appreciated it and didn’t mock or make fun of it.
However, Lisa then still made an apology in a livestream with fans saying that she didn’t
have any bad intentions. She genuinely thought that the hairstyle was very cool and pretty,
then promised to double check everything in the future since she had a lesson this time.
After that she kept saying sorry for anyone who got hurt or offended.
On the other hand, some black youtubers even said that they had no problems with LISA’s braids
and they weren’t offended. LISA’S BRAIDS MY OPINION
The youtuber thinks that people are making a big deal of it and Lisa was just inspired
by the culture. As referring to herself, she also said she has been learning Korean
for hours a day and Korean culture as well as K-pop is an inspiration for her.
A Pretty1 react channel also believed that Lisa was just inspired by the culture
and that people should not bring her down for stuff like that.
“If you find that culture interesting, like you just want to try, you know,
that’s it. Well, I like the braid. She killed that. Period,”
“I know the whole controversy behind her braids and everything…
I literally, I’ve never found, like I get the whole cultural appropriation
thing but it’s never affected me because where I grew up that wasn’t a thing,”
T-ARA
Another case is T-ara’s Yayaya. So, the entire concept from the song,
to the outfits, to the choreography, all seemed to be a clear mockery imitation
of Native American culture according to some netizens.
Specifically, YaYaYa portrays a guy who was in an aircraft and crashed on an island
where the T-ara girls appeared wearing Native American ‘inspired’ attire and makeup.
The girls then took the guy and placed him on some wooden stake and
suggesting they were either going to burn him (as a sacrifice) or they were going to cook him…
Obviously, Some people found the MV offensive and claimed that T-ara was
conveying the wrong image about the Native Americans culture.
In the MV, the girls spent the entire video dancing around the guy, chanting and yelling YA
YA YA which made absolutely no sense, suggesting that they are cannibals and just go around
chanting whatever comes out of their mouths for the sake of it. This video was supposed to be
entertaining and fun, however people couldn’t help but think it’s just distasteful and offensive.
Even worse, member Soyeon was seen having a tattoo of the Star of David
which is a sacred jewish religious symbol and can not be painted carelessly like that.
They also pointed out that the choreography was stereotypical gestures
including T-ara’s members bobbing their hands over their mouths and prancing around.
Some even refer to this MV as the worst display of culture appropriation in Kpop.
NCT U
NCT U is another group who got alleged for cultural appropriation with their
Make A Wish MV. Right after the SM released new merch items for NCT U‘s “Make A Wish
(Birthday Song)” and these pop-up displays
A group of Fans immediately began tweeting the hashtag #SMStopDisrespectingIslam
A lot of people were taking issue with the merch’s mosque designs
and the ornate cube that closely resembles The Kaaba. The Kaaba is a sacred place of worship,
located in Islam’s most important mosque, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca.
Unfortunately, this is not the only reason NCT U’s “Make A Wish” received backlash for
cultural appropriation. The stage sets for NCT U’s music video and live performances
have been criticized for resembling mosques also.
During one stage, a backdrop even featured text from a sacred Muslim prayer.
On Twitter, fans were expressing their frustration with SM Entertainment,
demanding an apology for the concept of “Make a wish”, and asking the agency to educate
themselves about cultural appropriation. Some also asked others to help trend the
hashtag #SMStopDisrespectingIslam to call attention to the ongoing issue.
However, NCTzens found out that Make A Wish MV was actually not cultural appropriation as alleged.
Now, let’s see why. First they pointed out that Taeyong's “hijab” is not a “hijab”
when he was just wearing a piece of cloth only 3 seconds in the MV.
and this is the actual “hijab”
Next they spotted the difference between a mosque and a building inspired by MENA culture,
a real mosque building will have the writing of the Quran on it and others will not.
Not only that, There are a lot of different architectures like restaurants, restrooms
or hotels using the MENA architecture and no one ever complains about that.
If you see NCT's teaser images, you can see that there's no religious
writing written anywhere for it to be considered offensive.
Next stop, fans pointed out that the carpets NCT was dancing on were not the prayer rug as alleged
but instead just a common persian carpets that is used everywhere.
They then told the difference between how the muslims actually pray and how
NCT pray in the MV. When the musilims pray they have to kneel their both legs
and/ bow closely to the ground with their hands open and facing the sky.
In the MV, NCT just clasped their hands as a part of the choreography.
And the final difference is the necklaces they wore in the MV where they were mistaken for the
tasbih. Tasbih is a string of small beads commonly used while praying or meditating.
Muslims use this to keep track of counting.
And NCT were wearing this
which is totally different from the Tasbih.
So what is your opinion? Do you think these MVs are cultural appropriation or are netizens just
being extreme? Comment down below to share your thoughts with us. Also, don’t forget to like,
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