I don't want to jack the discussion either by I honestly don't understand what's the problem with wearing an indian disguise.
The difference is that native Americans in this country have made a concerted effort over the last several years to educate people about why white people wearing the garb of their culture for fun on Halloween makes them feel marginalized.This isn't akin to dressing as a cowboy
Why? Both indians and cowboys are part of american history. For a european both are equaly exotic, and they both remind us of the movies we used to watch when we were children. The are part of the Far West, both are equally remote and culturally foreign for us. Why should we treat them in a different way? Because cow-boys are white and indians are not? That would be racism.
it's more akin to wearing blackface or dressing up as a Muslim.
Again, I don't understand. What's the problem with wearing a blackface or dressing up as a muslim? Plenty of people do it during the carnival. Why should anyone feel ofended?
If a black guy puts on a blonde wig and a helmet with big horns to dress-up as a viking, should the swedish and norwegians feel offended?
it's worth your time to read some posts from natives about why their culture needs to be treated with more respect than that.
I don't see any disrespect at all in dressing up about anything you are not. That's the point of a disguisement.
We all have seen pictures of Charlotte when she was a child dressed up as an andalusian girl, with a red and white long dress, with flounces and polka dots, and carnations in her hair. I didn't feel she was disrespecting spaniards because of that!
VIDEO - Style and competition for Amade: Charlotte appears at 13'45.
It's a replay video from Equidiawatch: I don't think that it will be available a long time, watch it now!
EDIT: as an Anonymous noticed it on Pomeline's blog, there is an interview of Charlotte at 22'00.
Thanks, LovelyKate! Sadly the video is only available from France :-(
Native American designers fight cultural caricatures - CNN.com
The ancient Greeks were never an ethnic minority. Caucasians never are.
You don't go around painting your face black as a white person, that is wrong in every possible way. It promotes racism.
And you or she may not intend to insult nor offend, but it still is.
Every country/culture/people has been dominated by another people/country at some point. Greece was invaded and dominated by the Turks for centuries, until the 19th century, and I am sure no greek would feel offended if a turk dresses-up as a greek.
We spaniards dominated and ruled the Netherlands a few centuries ago. And we killed A LOT of innocent dutch people for religious reasons. Would you feel offended if next carnival I dressed up with a traditional dutch costume?
What I think is really offensive is treating certain people with special care and exagerated fear of offending them. We are all equal and we should all be treated the same.
And frankly, in Europe, we all know about the indians issues and how they were robbed of their land and all that because we all have seen it in the movies, but it is not part of our history, we don't study it. It's something sad, but foreign and remote.
Thanks to this forum, I've learned that dressing up as an indian is considered offensive in America. So be it.
But Paris is not in America. We are in another continent and here nobody consideres such a disguisement insensitive, offensive or poor taste. It's simply not an issue.
Another example: a couple of carnivals ago, I dressed up as a cow. Now that I think about it, maybe that was offensive for hindus in Bombay and Calcuta, who knows?
By the way, every carnival there are hundreds of people dressed as nuns, monks and even the Pope. And nobody raises an eyebrow.
