My Culture is Not Your Costume

This is Who I Am, and This is not Okay

BY RILEY CLARK ILLUSTRATIONS BY CARLY HART PHOTOS BY PROVIDED

On Halloween in Athens, especially on Court Street, people are dressed up as all different kinds of characters from different parts of pop culture. Oct. 31 is everyone’s moment to be someone they are not. Halloween is a night full of booze, terror, and fun. Yet for some, this holiday is not about dressing up. Minority groups are mistreated by the cultural insensitivity of many racially motivated costumes. As cultural awareness becomes more of a discussion, there is simply no excuse not to think before choosing a Halloween costume.

What is cultural appropriation?

Cultural appropriation occurs when members of a majority group adopt elements of a minority group in a stereotypical, disrespectful, and blatantly exploitative nature, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. In the instance of Halloween, this can include styling hair, wearing clothing, or impersonating a dialect to fit another persona.

How has Ohio University taken initiative?

Founded in 1988 by Dr. Sheila Williams and Louise Annarino, Students Teaching About Racism in Society, or STARS, is a peer education organization that has evolved from a class into a movement. Their mission statement states that the organization “aim(s) to raise awareness about social justice, and promote racial harmony.” STARS launched a campaign designed to educate and bring awareness to cultural appropriation associated with costuming. The “We’re a Culture Not a Costume” campaign launched in 2011 and is entirely student run. The campaign, which received national recognition, consists of a series of posters showcasing appropriative costumes. Former President of STARS and Ohio U alumna, Alexis Evans, largely influenced the My Culture is Not Your Costume movement in Athens. Being impacted by cultural appropriation herself, Evans yearned for a sense of belonging at a predominantly white institution. “STARS felt like a safe place where I could discuss issues on race and feel understood,” said Evans. Upon finding a place for her voice to be heard, Evans did not waste a minute. As the campaign progressed into its second year, Evans came up with the tagline, “You wear the costume for one night, I wear the stigma for life.” This phrase encapsulates the entire movement. Emulating another race for a night is not worth the turmoil forced upon those who are negatively impacted. As more and more people open their minds to the idea of equality and equal representation in this modernized world,

PHOTO CREDIT: “WE’RE A CULTURE NOT A COSTUME” CAMPAIGN

more voices come together to create a power unknown to generations prior. Evan suggests ways to progress toward change by “exposing yourself to diverse online creators, reading books from authors that have different backgrounds, or expanding your friend groups to include people outside of just your own race.” Change can start by being mindful.

“You wear the costume for one night, I wear the stigma for life.”

ALEXIS EVANS

Nature’s Spirit in Studio Ghibli

Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation company, has been critically acclaimed for its films. With popular titles like Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and My Neighbor Totoro, many of the thematic elements found in the stories can be tied into nature and humanity. Hayao Miyazaki, one of the founders of the studio, creates stories that expand on environmentalism and its connection to humans, and what could happen if we do not treat nature the way it should be.

back of the closet In Japan, nature is important for historical and cultural reasons. According to editors from About Japan, “Japanese culture is suffused with a profound aesthetic appreciation of nature, traditional value systems and place great emphasis on respect for the natural environment.” This is an important factor as to why nature is such a big part of Studio Ghibli films. Japanese culture has praised nature for thousands of years with religions like Shintoism, and it is necessary to make this appreciation for nature prevalent in the films. While many of the films are older, they relate to the changing times that occurred when they came out. In the film Princess Mononoke, the main character Ashitaka, tries to protect the Great Forest Spirit from the citizens of Iron Town and their leader, Lady Eboshi, who wants to destroy the spirit. Princess Mononoke is one of the clearest examples from Studio Ghibli’s roster that focuses on environmentalism. It explores the dynamics among the humans of this mining town where they can live in peace and in the forest of spirits and gods. The titular character, Princess Mononoke, is the in-between character, meaning she was

raised by wolves yet she is human. She despises humans and wants to save the forest, the humans in the town want to destroy the forest so they may live in a prosperous town, and Ashitaka wants both sides to stop the fighting. The story shows how the destruction of the forest has repercussions not only for the forest inhabitants but the townspeople as well. In the end, the forest and town are both destroyed. However, the film does not villainize the people of Iron Town, as it explores the human element as well. This conflicts with what the nature spirits want but also shows that humans need to progress somehow. Humans must learn how to coexist with nature. What makes Studio Ghibli so distinctive is that the characters and relationships are not portrayed as black and white. The forest and the humans both desire to grow with each other. According to Big Think, the thematic elements of these films tie in with Shintoism because the religion believes the natural world is inhabited by spirits. As mentioned before, spirits live in the forest and make up the nature of the world that Miyazaki has built. Infusing nature, humanity, and religion together creates a compelling story that does not have a clearcut ending. There is one thing that is clear to viewers though: the destruction of nature will also destroy humanity.

My Neighbor Totoro has a different perspective on the human relationship with nature. The story follows sisters Satsuki and Mei, who are staying in a village while their mother heals from an illness. They befriend a spirit, Totoro, and the other spirits who are with him. Rather than a story depicting the clash between nature and human progression, it

focuses on the peacefulness of nature. The film just shows the two children being friends with Totoro. Once again, the themes of Shintoism come into play with the significance of the tree where Totoro resides and the forest that the girls want to plant for their mother. Again, Shinto believes that the natural world is inhabited by spirits, depicted as Totoro in this story, and we see spirits living in nature through Ghibli films. In My Neighbor Totoro there is a beautiful relationship between humans and nature. They exist peacefully with each other and the film shows that nature is crucial for humanity’s survival. The contrast between Princess Mononoke and My Neighbor Totoro

exhibits two ways humans can exist with nature, one violent and one peaceful.

Spirited Away, one of Studio Ghibli’s most popular films, mixes the ever-changing landscape of Japan with environmental issues. The main character, Chihiro, finds her parents turned into pigs after going through a mysterious tunnel to another world. As Chihiro tries to change her family back, she ends up working in a bath house for spirits and other supernatural entities. A very prominent scene in the film occurs when a “stink spirit” arrives at the bathhouse and Chihiro pulls out pollution, revealing it to be a river spirit corrupted by the pollution left by humans. There are various other allusions that represent humans’ destruction of the environment and corruption of nature. According to Hashchand, these environmental issues and greed also reflect

ILLUSTRATION CREDIT: HAYAO MIYAZAKI

Japan’s struggling economy during the ’90s and early 2000s, and Miyazaki relates them to each other. The economy was struggling because of people’s greed and overconsumption, which left them no longer caring for or respecting the environment. There was overdevelopment, represented by the abandoned amusement park Chihiro’s family finds, and how they have all been created in place of nature. Haku, one of the main characters, was also a spirit and humans destroyed his home to build apartments. All of these films, among other Studio Ghibli films, send a very poignant message of human destruction done to the environment. These messages are not presented directly in front of your face; instead, the religious and cultural

ILLUSTRATION CREDIT: HAYAO MIYAZAKI

themes of the film help push the narrative of how people must respect the environment. Studio Ghibli’s repeated environmental themes showcase nature’s beauty, importance, and the necessity to care for it. The films have always had a strong connection to nature, and the cultural parts show that it goes beyond just not cutting down trees, it is the philosophy and belief that nature is sacred. The tie-in with Japanese culture helps viewers interpret the messages on their own and allows them to really think about how people treat nature.

ILLUSTRATION CREDIT: HAYAO MIYAZAKI