So some poor woman is in trouble for posting about giving her husband a didgeridoo for Father’s Day. Apparently she is guilty of the sin of ‘cultural appropriation’. And indeed, it is not the first time this ‘influencer’ has been found wanting in this area of modern morality, for earlier in the year she was forced to apologise for the awful sin of wearing her hair in two braids. Let’s put aside our opinions on her taste in gifts for a moment and focus on the charge of cultural appropriation.
How can this be cultural appropriation? It’s a glorified stick with a hole through it. What kid has not played with something similar in their childhood? How can any culture own that? And who’s to say that the Australian aborigines did not in the deep dark recesses of time appropriate it from another culture? Furthermore, how can aboriginal culture claim special rights and privileges over this particular stick with a hole in it, when other cultures have more sophisticated sticks with multiple holes in them as part of their cultural heritage. These have the advantage of being more pleasant on the ears and versatile – being tuned and all. The didgeridoo is hardly the pinnacle of woodwind instruments. It’s an extremely limited albeit interesting instrument. There’s a reason you don’t listen to Mozart’s Concerto for the Didgeridoo in D minor, and let’s just say that it’s not only because Mozart didn’t know about them.
As a connoisseur of human folly, I find there is something delightfully ironic about the way these things play out. Often we have a – shall we say ‘person of colour’ bemoaning the fact that some trinket from their culture has been inappropriately used. How do they bemoan this great sin? Usually while they appropriate the world wide web, an invention of a Westerner, using electricity appropriated from Western civilization, living in countries that because of Western culture have spawned freedom of speech and democratic rights for citizens. But of course, that is totally different. Delicious irony!
It’s pure folly. Were all non-Mesopotamian cultures wrong to appropriate the use of the wheel from them? What about non-Chinese cultures and their use of gunpowder and fireworks? Was it wrong for non-Germans to use the printing press and play or manufacture clarinets? Should all non-Americans hang their heads in shame when they use a lightbulb?
The fact is that cultures and civilizations grow stronger by learning from the strengths of each other. That is why cultures that were geographically more remote, were historically more backward. They lacked the opportunity to learn from other cultures. The New Zealand Maori, despite their cleverness in many areas, including warfare and navigation, because of their geographical remoteness were quite primitive when they encountered the British. They had no wheel, nor did they have iron. Naturally they were very keen to appropriate much of the cultural treasure of the British – particularly guns. Had Australian aboriginal culture been in closer geographical proximity to other music making cultures, I think we can safely assume their didgeridoo would have evolved to become a more sophisticated instrument.
If cultural appropriation had never occurred, we would all be living in squalor and absolute poverty. Our lives would be short, our houses and clothes basic, and our time would be spent finding food to survive. So thank goodness for cultural appropriation!
Cultures who shrilly charge others with cultural appropriation are just acting like a bratty three year old kid at a party who refuses to share his toys. Hardly likely to engender respect or love.