laughlikea:

tomhiddlestonswife:

please stop this fuckery

Here to collect.

I am going to be diplomatic and show you and explain to you why this is wrong, Nick Onken & OA+A. 

I implore you to look into the profound consequences of your actions.

This is offensive. This is hateful. Possibly you did not know this. Giving you that benefit of the doubt, I will now explain it to you.

This picture is an example of Cultural Appropriation, the adoption of some specific elements of one culture by a different cultural group. Before you say “BUT WE JUST APPRECIATE THE AESTHETIC BEAUTY OF IT…”

Native Americans have been victim of cultural appropriation for centuries. By placing this white model into a Native American war bonnet, you are appropriating Native culture. The bonnet is also only given to honorable Native Americans for recognition. (Sidenote: War bonnets are also only worn by Plains Indian men. You are practically screaming that you have no idea what you’re doing.) An item that is seen as one with great spiritual importance, you are reducing the war bonnet to something that some naked white girl can wear with no significance. Assuming you are educated, you know that white people have killed, raped, and absolutely committed a genocide against the Native American peoples. Wearing culturally iconic pieces is not a sign of solidarity, it is not a sign of understanding, it is not a sign of anything but absolute disrespect.

Don’t believe me?

Natives on the Internet have made a huge effort (x,x,x,x,x) to express their feelings about this, and have been largely ignored.

If you still don’t believe me, please refer to the following:

Tumblr Commentary On N.A. Cultural Appropriation

On Hipsters/Hippies & Native Culture

Native American Appropriation: Respecting the Struggle of Native American Liberation

My Culture Is Not A Trend - tumblr

Native Appropriations - blogspot

In the off chance that you pull a Paul Frank and actually care how this affects people, please do not just delete the photo and pretend it never happened. Do some research into how to apologize for offensive behavior, and you will be respected for it.

Reblogging for that commentary and links, also adding this in:

The tags on this post were: #Nick Onken #photography #model #fashion #indian #native american

I wonder if all of this is coming back in full force because it’s near Halloween time? Goodness people. You’d think you’d learn to stop.

There’s two MAJOR problems with images like this amongst the others. One’s the fetishization and hypersexualization of women, in this context, women of colour, particularly Native American women because this is meant to be a racist carticature of Native Americans (and tagged with Native American). So it’s both sexist and racist.

Hey OP who posted this, and anyone else who thinks stuff like this is a good idea- Did you also know that of every 1000 Native American women, 330 of them will be sexually assaulted, and 88% of the perpetrators will be non-Native men? Why is that relevant, you ask? oomachew:

• Racist and sexist stereotypes deny the dignity and worth of Indigenous women, encouraging some men to feel they can get away with acts of hatred against them.
  
  
• Decades of government policy have impoverished and broken apart Indigenous families and communities, leaving many Indigenous women and girls extremely vulnerable to exploitation and attack.
  
  
• Many police forces have failed to institute necessary measures – such as training, protocols and accountability mechanisms – to ensure that officers understand and respect the Indigenous communities they serve. Without such measures, police too often fail to do all they can to ensure the safety of Indigenous women and girls whose lives are in danger.

Right over here in this post. The other problem, the racism, is in the headdresses. Stop with the headdresses! Here’s a relatively long and amazing post by veganltw on the issue (headdresses are stereotypes deeply steeped in a history of racism and colonialism, not all Native Americans wear headdresses, for those who do, they’re highly spiritual, if you want to buy authentic headdresses to actually honor Native American tribes they belong to- because gasp! this one isn’t!- you can buy them from actual Native people). Over here.

Like Ainee said- can we please stop with the cultural appropriation and sexualization of women? It’s disgusting and demeaning.