Pop culture bloggings

In class we explored the pop culture timeline (Chapter 2 and 3: culturalism) which begins largely with the Victorian era where industrialization and mass production create the climate for the collection of culture. The introduction of human rights movements in the 1950s and later the introduction of the internet, sparked the expansion of social justice movements all over the world. These factors have all created a new social justice phenomenon today: cultural appropriation.  Wikipedia‘s definition is “the adoption of some specific elements of one culture by a different cultural group”, usually that of a minority. This is especially interesting when compared to last week as well when we watched a clip from The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema and Zizak stated “The other is the one who tries to steal our cultural enjoyment”, now Zizek was discussing racism specifically, but the same idea clearly prevails. There is no argument that stealing important or even sacred objects and imagery is wrong; however, many cultures have naturally overlapped in ideologies and traditions due to close proximity and trade which is not accounted for in the colloquial use of this terminology. Globalization has simply accelerated this process significantly and allowed for discussion of even some more taboo subjects of various cultures; this is not always a negative but usually a positive as everyone can learn from world events and problems. However, it is interesting to note that this concern over cultural appropriation, while stemming from good intent and political correctness, now is being used to spread racism (“reverse racism” is in fact just racism) and isolationism or the separation of all cultures and, subsequently, knowledge. It is impossible to undo the effects of globalization or looking back further, colonialism. Are there any solutions to both preserve various cultures and continue their trade today or is there any benefit to attempting isolationist tactics?