Thursday, November 26, 2015

Appreciation becomes appropriation: Is deeming yoga politically incorrect a complaint too far?

“In the case of something like yoga, it is not possible to return economic control and ownership to the originating culture,” one professor says
  

   Pundits from around the globe weighed in on the death of a yoga class for students at the University of Ottawa over questions of cultural sensitivity, often awkwardly squeezing in “bending over backwards” or “tying themselves in knots” puns in lampooning out-of-control political correctness.
   Student yoga joins a long list of art, fashion, music, sports and activities chastised as insensitive or racist acts by a Western or white majority cultural appropriation from minority communities.
   Cultural appropriation, as a term, was once largely confined to academic critiques of colonialism, but has become an increasingly popular watchword in social media and among activists.
   But is yoga one complaint too far?
   It leaves campus administrators, public relations experts and, perhaps, almost everyone else pondering when appreciation became appropriation, mimicry exploitation and cultural interest insult...Continue reading, story in the comments...

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