Cultural and Appropriate?

To whomsoever happens to be reading this: do you get offended by 'cultural appropriation', whatever the fuck cultural appropriation actually is?  It would appear SJWs tend to go all bugshit whenever there is a new fashion line, or a celebrity wears some accoutrement or hairstyle associated with another culture.  Apparently this is seriously wrong, and it's on par with shitting on a grave.  Case in point: that time Justin Bieber did his hair in dreadlocks.  SJWs lost their shit in droves.  I didn't care.  The little twerp can do his hair however he likes; it's HIS hair.  I'm more concerned that he's supposedly spat on people than appropriated a hairstyle favoured by the ancient people of Judea.

I can recall - I believe some time in the Nineties - for some odd reason celebs thought it the height of fashion and awesomeness to wear Hindu caste marks in the middle of their foreheads.  Look, the only people this really suits is Hindu women.  I know.  I've worn one.  Not because I thought I'd look cutting edge fashionable, but because a friend and I attended a Hindu festival on the outskirts of Kathmandu some years ago, and a stall holder stamped our foreheads thus.  Washed it off back at the hotel that night.  But for a brief time, Kate Winslet and Madonna favoured this look.  Fuck knows why.  When I saw pictures of them, I didn't think, 'Heavens to Murgatroid, this is just offensive cultural appropriation.  Where can I round up an outraged mob armed with torches and pitchforks with which to chase these foul beldames through the village?'  Nah, I just thought, 'Christ, you look stupid.'  And they did.

Anyway, why I'm wondering about cultural appropriation, and why everyone jumps up and down screaming, is I read an article about Stella McCartney's latest runway collection wherein she has been inspired by African dress, and used bright bold prints in her designs.  And you guessed it: people are offended by what is deemed cultural appropriation.  Look, all I saw was she got inspired by the prints and other aspects of the traditional dress, and used them in her designs.  I'm sure she's not trying to denigrate the people of Africa.  Paul Simon was apparently very influenced by African music when he devised the 'Graceland' album.  Should he have not done this?  I'm inclined to think perhaps not.  Not because of any cultural insensitivity, but because the songs on that album are annoying and I was subjected to them by a flatmate who played that album ad nauseam.  Artists get inspiration from different things.  Hell, I was inspired by the novel 'Trainspotting' with my first ever novel.  I make references to that novel as a motif in the book, but I don't have a bunch of bad tempered Scotsmen coming after me.  Thank goodness.

The only thing that really struck me about the McCartney collection is they appear to my admittedly untrained eye to be very unflattering in shape. The models in the pictures I saw resembled sacks of spuds.  Owing to a diet consisting of filtered water, cigarettes, and lettuce, catwalk models are about 6' and size 8.  If the couture makes THEM looks like tubs of tubers, how will the average woman present when dressed in one of the creations?  Think about it.