I know that this was talked about in class one day, but I recently saw this as a pin on Pinterest, and I clicked to. If you don't know what Pinterest is, it is basically a website that has pins that have to do with pretty much everything; food and drink recipes, workout exercises, make-up, nail polish styles, and hairstyles, inspirational quotes along with quotes that are sarcastic, and fashion. These fashion pins have to do with models, clothes, and jewelry. The pin that I saw was a pair of earrings. The comment that was left with these earrings was "This spring it is all about tribal inspirational pieces". (Here is a link to said pin http://pinterest.com/pin/175710822931708528/). I then clicked onto this pin to take to to the website that sells this "tribal inspiration piece". This took me to a website called Bubble Bar. It is all about "Tribal Quest". Apparently according to this website, "It's spring, it's all about the tribe vibe, from Maasai beading to Navajo charms". There is a whole set of jewelry that is supposed to be "Native American Fashion". What is so wrong with this is that they are taking what is perceived as "Massai beading and Navajo charms" and making it a fashion statement. They are making it a trend; so that it is popular today, and irrelevant in the near future. Do you realize how many Massai and Navajo tribes probably take serious offense to this? Not only is this demoralizing, it is just plain wrong. Not only is this in a way mocking these tribes, it is also extremely ignorant towards them as well. This is taking their culture, and trying to make it publicized and a trend. Along with this "trend" being ignorant, it is as well being racist. Just think about it; are there fashion lines out there that are publicized as "Ugandan trends", "Russians trends", etc. And the fact that the call it a "tribe vibe". That is really something that is extremely ignorant and racist, for all Native Americans, and more specifically for the Massai and Navajo tribes.
Below is the website for "Tribal Quest" that the pin on Pinterest took me to.
http://baublebar.com/index.php/fashion-shop-trends/tribal-quest.html
I'm really happy that you are starting to see things like this. Just noticing them and thinking about them is a huge step in the right direction. Telling others about what you see is another step. It's all about planting seeds that may eventually crest into change. :)
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