This week, delegates from 189 different countries came together for a special meeting of the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organization. The reason: to try to hash out legal ramifications for the use of imagery and other expressions of indigenous culture. That’s right, they’re working to make cultural appropriation…
A short column titled “Winning the Appropriation Prize” published in early May has sparked a small but fiery debate in the Canadian literary community over race, representation, and, for some, free speech. The column appeared in Write, a small magazine produced by the Writer’s Union of Canada (TWUC); in it, Hal…
Each year, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show drops its scantily clad glitter bomb unto society and reminds us all that we’re mostly not six-foot glamazons who devote our lives to pilates and kickboxing. And each year, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show innovates new and exciting ways to trot out stereotypes like…
After three years battling in court, Urban Outfitters has finally settled a trademark-infringement lawsuit with the Navajo Nation for an undisclosed amount.
Gucci’s Spring/Summer 2017 runway presentation in Milan, as seen from an elaborate livestream, was over-the-top from the start. The crowd filtered into a huge mirrored room filled with smoke (get it?) and just barely lit with rose-colored light; the runway was one long, carpeted trademark Gucci stripe.
Marc Jacobs, responding on Instagram to critiques of appropriation after he wove wool dreadlocks into the hair of his majority white runway models this week in New York: “funny how you don’t criticize women of color for straightening their hair.”
At a keynote speech at an Australian book festival, the novelist Lionel Shriver was scheduled to speak about “community and belonging,” instead she donned a sombrero and spoke about the dangers of cultural appropriation.
A few months ago, I was at a concert when my friend, referring to one of the performers, turned to me and said: “That’s the blackest white man I’ve ever heard.”
I have great news for all you cool and interesting people in the market for a fashionable rainstick under $100. Free People has begun selling them for $68! Though some people believe the sticks were invented by the Aztecs to summon rainstorms by simulating their sounds, others believe they were invented for “impromptu…
Words are hard.
Bey’s collaboration with Coldplay, presumably to be debuted publicly at Superbowl halftime, is called “Hymn for the Weekend” and now has a video, shot in Mumbai, with a guest appearance from the beloved Punjabi actress Sonam Kapoor, of Bollywood fame. Directed by Ben Mor, it depicts street scenes and curious, probably…
Urban Outfitters has been in a legal battle with the Navajo Nation since 2012, when the tribe sued the clothing retailer for selling items labeled and marketed as “Navajo.” Urban Outfitters was accused by the Navajo Nation of trademark infringement due to items such as panties and liquor flasks being falsely sold…
After calling out Miley Cyrus in a now classic MTV VMAs moment, Nicki Minaj challenged Miley once again in a cover story for The New York Times Magazine.
Popsugar is trying to teach all the hip ladies out there how to do their makeup “African Tribal” style because we’ve created a monster that must be fed fresh new content daily no matter how inane or unnecessary.
“Burning Man is coming up!” a Topshop executive must have realized with a start, perhaps during an early-morning squash game against himself. “How” [thwack] “can” [thwack] “we” [thwack] “differentiate” [thwack] “ourselves?” [thwack]
Allure magazine has rightfully been dragged through the mud over the past few days for a hair tutorial in their August issue called, “You (Yes, You) Can Have An Afro,” which instructs white women on how to achieve an “Afro.” Unfortunately for Allure, the tutorial doesn’t begin and end with, “be black.”
Tonight marks the premiere of Stewarts & Hamiltons, an obvious Keeping Up With the Kardashians copycat that features the lives of Alana Stewart, ex-husband George Hamilton and their kids, including Kimberly Stewart, Alana’s daughter with other ex-husband Rod Stewart. It’s like a super-complicated and…
Andy Cohen needs to shut the hell up. The svengali of reality television has been speaking out of pocket just one too many times for my taste and now look what he’s made me do. Now, Andy, I have to drag you for continuing to open your mouth when you shouldn’t.
Over the weekend, Amandla Stenberg and Kylie Jenner got in a heated exchange on Instagram after Kylie Jenner posted an image of herself with cornrows along with the caption, “I woke up like disss.” After being dismissively told by Jenner to “Go hang w Jaden [Smith] or something,” Stenberg took the time to write out…
Kylie Jenner recently posted a photo of herself on Instagram wearing a crop top, sweatpants and her hair done in cornrows with the caption, “I woke up like disss.” The pic collected over 1 million likes and over 100,000 comments, including one from Amandla Stenberg, who called out the reality star for appropriating…
