Co-opted Culture
Recently, the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was televised, and great controversy arose from a specific outfit in the show modelled by Karlie Kloss, as pictured below:
(courtesy of Fashionista.com)
The Native American inspired outfit was deemed by many both in the Aboriginal community and others to be offensive and patronizing. This reminded me of a blog by Rachel Warner on the outcry caused when McDonald’s announced their intention to open a restaurant at the base of the trail to the Golden Temple in India. Rachel quotes a protester as saying “It’s an attempt not only to make money but also to deliberately humiliate Hindus.” Many of Victoria’s Secret’s dissenters feel similarly with outrage reaching such levels that the brand has issued a formal apology, and announced that the image and outfit will be removed from all promotional material.
This clothing was especially controversial not just for its appropriation of Native traditions and culture, but because Native American women have the highest rate of sexual abuse among women in North America, a fact which apparently escaped Victoria’s Secret’s notice when designing the racy outfit. As Milton Friedman stated, “the only social responsibility of business is to earn profits while following the law and basic ethical customs.” In my opinion, much like McDonald’s inconsiderateness towards local Indian culture, Victoria’s Secret clearly shows a violation of business ethics in that they are supporting a narrow, stereotypical view of a culture. A business practice doesn’t always have to be as “big” as child labour or hazardous material use in manufacturing to be unethical, sometimes it can come down to more socially constructed conflicts like respecting culture.
Links for Reference:
http://www.umich.edu/~thecore/doc/Friedman.pdf