Betty Brunfaut

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N º08

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About Work

A way to define the line between appreciation and appropriation to me, would be in the amount of knowledge a person has on the culture they are appropriating or appreciating from. One could argue that if a person appreciates a culture and understands it, they wouldn’t “appropriated” it. But it’s even more subtle than that, is the responsibility in the hands of the, let’s call him “seller” or in the hands of the “purchaser” or both? If I buy an item that appropriated elements from another culture, am I also responsible or not? Another important aspect of the difference between appropriation and appreciation is economical. Who profits from the appropriation or appreciation of the culture? Is it the people the culture originated from or is it an outsider? Overall, a lot has to do with respect and understanding. Through my piece, I wanted to reflect on the impact that the media have on moral and values in our culture and how it shapes what we think and in what way the general public’s opinion matter on this topic. There is a lot to be said on mis-informed work, but also a lot on misinformed information transmitted in medias to make the headlines.