Trigger warning for mentions and discussion of racism, sexism, transphobia, violence, and rape. (Thanks to afrogeekgoddess for reblogging with warnings and thus reminding me to put them at the beginning of the post!)
We received a great question from Myheartinhiding, and the answer just got too long and complex to answer directly in message format, so we’re posting it here, instead!
Myheartinhiding asked:
I’m not sure what you mean by avoiding “cultural appropriation.” To offer an absurd example, this might mean that anyone born and raised outside the UK would not be permitted to write a story or create a work of visual art based on the characters originated by Arthur Conan Doyle. As I said, absurd. Cultural assimilation brings vibrancy to the way we live, as well as the way we create and share ideas. Would you mind elaborating?
Sherlock Rare Pair Fest:
We’re so glad you asked. Your example is, as you said, absurd. This is not what we mean when we say cultural appropriation. What you’re referring to is called cultural assimilation—also known as Syncretism—by anthropologists as well as experts in the fields of culture and race studies. Syncretism, the melding and reconciling of two or more separate cultural beliefs, is generally thought of as a good thing. And it’s easy to see why—where would Americans like your mods be without our Sherlock fic?—but there’s more to it than that.
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