Zico and the dreads

As fans, we have all the right to be pissed at the ones who placed together this petition against Block B Zico’s new do. At first glance, the petition looks stupid, and the people behind it are ridiculous. But according to one of the signatories, Zico’s dreads is a form of “cultural appropriation” and as a “Rastafarian”, she/he was offended. And that alone should give us something to think about.

Okay, so before I begin, let me just say that the sole purpose of this post is to shed some light on possible reasons as to why these ‘fans’ were upset -- to help foster some understanding about the broader issues of cultural appropriation. So no, this is not an anti-Zico-with-dreads post, and I’m not a troll. I’m just another Block B stan who wants to make sure we all understand what’s behind all this fuss. I’m not trying to convince you of what’s wrong or what’s right — I’m not going to try to convince anyone of anything. I’ll just provide some facts and different perspectives, and in the end, you can decide an opinion for yourself.

I &$%?!# love Block B, and I have mad respect for Zico. And I do understand the anger behind the dreads, but that doesn’t change my admiration for him or the group. And to be honest, despite everything, I personally think he looks hot.

But whether or not he can work the look is not the issue at hand. Not even his obvious talent has anything to do with this. Point blank, it’s how he’s being accused of appropriating from another culture. In other words, Zico is being called out for the following: 

borrowing a certain element (in this case, the dreads) and taking out of its cultural context as looks or ideas that merely “look cool” or “pretty”. They are considered nothing but trends in the borrowing culture, and both the cultural and historical weight defining the borrowed element is completely overlooked and ignored. There seems to be zero interest in the importance of the element in its original context, and is adopted for the sake of aesthetic appeal. 

But of course, this doesn’t make sense to us, let alone does it seem offensive, if we aren’t aware of the cultural significance behind dreadlocks. Take the history of the Rastafarians, for example.

The name “Rastafarian” encompasses a number of different religious movements which have developed on the island of Jamaica since the 1930s. It has primarily involved poor black men who have found inspiration in the Back to Africa Movement begun by Marcus Garvey. His basic idea was that freedom and redemption for blacks would only be found in Africa because European colonization and slavery had fragmented the African culture and spirituality.

As long as blacks remained outside of Africa, especially in the United States, they would continue to be afflicted by a “slave mentality” which would prevent them from achieving the true greatness which they deserve. This, of course, precluded any participation in social programs which were designed to aid poor blacks - doing so only served to perpetuate the “mental slavery” which still held them back.

To them, dreadlocks are more than just “a hairstyle”:

The wearing of dreadlocks is done to symbolize the roots of Rastafarianism and separation from the straight hairstyles of white Europeans. It was, apparently, inspired by the Bible: “They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in the flesh” (Leviticus 21:5). Thus, in a sense, the Rastafarians share something important with Orthodox Jews.

And in address to the whole thing around non-Rastafarians adopting dreads:

One problem for modern Rastafarians is that there are many young blacks (and whites) who have adopted the outward symbols of Rasta (including the wearing of dreadlocks) without also adopting their ethical and religious meanings. As a result, the Rastafarian faith is not only diluted, but it is given a bad name in the wider culture.

Discrimination against Rastafarians, usually due to misunderstandings but sometimes due to outright prejudice, has always been a problem. From the very beginning Rastafarianism appealed mostly to the lower classes in Jamaica, and those in power viewed any revolutionary movement which organized the masses as a potential threat. Today, the discrimination tends to focus on the prejudice that Rastafarians are drug addicts and unfit for work. There have been cases where employers or the government have discriminated against Rastafarians, in particular with regards to the wearing of dreadlocks.

(source: atheism.about.com)

So I guess part of the problem is also this: given the discrimination Rastafarians may face, how is it fair that non-Rastafarians can walk around donning dreadlocks and not be bashed whereas Rastafarians with dreadlocks do? Same applies with the case of the South Asian bindi (India) — South Asian Americans in the 80s were harrassed and abused on the streets upon being identified by the ‘dot’ on their foreheads. Just a few years later, gracing magazines are images of Madonna and Gwen Stefani sporting the bindi, and all of a sudden it’s a fashion statement. Is that right?

Other similar (and perhaps more familiar) forms of appropriation include that of Eastern Asian culture. Think about those times you would see people of non-Asian descent donning tattoos of Chinese or Japanese symbols, wearing “Oriental” patterned clothes, etc. There’s also stuff like yoga and belly-dancing… even Black American culture and the whole deal with hip hop and rap music. Heck, arguably even stuff like Pokemon and anime! (And we can even go on into the realm of food, but seriously, my head’s starting to hurt.) 

Putting it that way, you can start to see how cultural appropriation itself is so controversial. I mean, when you think about it, it happens all the time. We do it all the time. Even something as seemingly innocent as buying a small cultural souvenir while on vacation in a foreign country counts as appropriation. So, is it right or is it wrong? Then again, when is it right, and when is it wrong?? 

If you find yourself confused right now, don’t freak out (I am too). Everyone holds different opinions, and there honestly isn’t much consensus on the matter. There are those who argue that cultural appropriation and commodification is simply inevitable — a concomitant of our increasingly integrating world. I mean, everything comes from somewhere, right? As different cultures and communities continue to spill over borders, we have to start expecting (and accepting) the borrowing and adaptation of certain cultural elements in different contexts. Then again, there are those who are sensitive when it comes to cultural preservation and respect.  And they have the right to be — I mean, no one really likes it when others see their culture as merely ‘trendy’ (therefore disposable when people become tired of it), right? 

To add more levels of complexity, there’s also the aspect of ethnic privilege — it’s supposedly so that cultural appropriation is especially bad when elements of minority groups are borrowed by privileged groups, and groups with a dark history of relations at that (ie. Native Americans and white Americans).  

Many people tend to go by the following guidelines: if you don’t understand the history or cultural significance behind something, try not to adopt it as part of your image. Don’t play around with it just because it looks “pretty” or “cool”. Only until you have gained insight of what something means to a particular culture do you have the right to assimilate it into your own lifestyle. But of course, this is without exceptions. Like I implied before, cultural appropriation is defined differently between not only groups, but individuals, and there are some elements that are less controversial than others. (Because there should be some difference between the cases of, say, indigenous jewelry and manga, right?) For starters, check out this flowchart created by a fellow Tumblr blogger, as well as this list of tips.

For anyone reading this post, I hope you were able to get something out of this, whether they be answers or more questions. I’m not saying cultural appropriation is right, but I’m not saying it’s condemnable in every sense. Ultimately, you’re free to formulate your own judgments.

(On a side note, I did do a related post a while back concerning T-Ara’s Native American concept (from which I copied-and-pasted stuff onto this piece), and I must admit I was way more reprimanding then. But that was before I was aware of how many gray areas there were in the matter… if it was merely clear-cut, black-and-white, then someone would’ve found the answer to it by now, right? So yeah, that’s to address reasons why I may come off as ‘hypocritical’ in regards to both posts. It’s not hypocrisy — it’s just a change of mindset, I guess. And if I could go back and rewrite that post I would… I’m just too lazy right now.) 

However, if there’s one thing I am sure about, it’s how I’m not impressed with the way this petition was drawn up — bashing Zico with nasty words like “douche” and “hideous” is seriously uncalled for… ESPECIALLY since these signatories failed to provide a good explanation behind their anger. And to be honest, I personally think a petition is way too far. It’s an attempt to implement action for something not a lot of people understand nor are aware of. It’s unfair. (But then again, are some of the signatories themselves aware of why they signed the petition, or were they just trolls looking for an excuse to spread the hate?) 

To close, let me restate my stance: I’m not an anti, I’m a huge Block B fan, I love Zico, and my hands are literally shaking from all this typing. I don’t intend to stir up any more fights or animosity. I just wanted a deeper insight into the general issue at hand. This has nothing to do about my love for Block B and their fierce leader, and by no means do I hold anything against him. In a sense, he’s merely guilty of something we’ve all done once or twice or thrice (or 3 million times). All that is needed is a little bit of understanding about issues like this, and though there are no clear answers, we can all at least say we’ve learned a thing or two. 

Now let’s all hold hands and watch their newest MV together and love each other forever:

(BTW, here are some additional sources I came across worth noting: an explanation about the “semiotics (the study of signs and their meanings) of dreadlocks”; a post about cultural appropriation in general (and the difference between that and “cultural syncretism”; and a damn long scholarly article about the ‘globalization’ of Rastafarian culture, especially via Reggaeton music)