Jeremy Vuolo Accused of Cultural Appropriation by His Own Fans

As much as we enjoy photos of Jinger Duggar’s family, this latest photo was weird … and controversial.

Jeremy Vuolo shared a strange image of him with baby Felicity and a Native American tipi.

Followers are accusing him of cultural appropriation.

Jeremy Vuolo shared a curious picture on Instagram.

In the snap, he is holding baby Felicity while being obscured by what looks like fog.

Before them is a miniature tipi (also spelled teepee).

“Time for reflection,” Jeremy captioned the post, as if that explained anything.

It’s unclear if he is referring to the presence of a mirror in the photo.

He may have instead meant, on a more serious note, that he’s reflecting upon Native American culture.

Some fans were confused.

“What is this supposed to mean?” one commenter asks.

Others are worried that he’s misusing another culture’s symbols and traditions.

“If there is a deeper meaning behind this post please do share,” another commenter implores.

“If not,” they continue. “Please know that taking elements of another culture (especially one that has been as mistreated as Native Americans).”

That commenter concludes: “and using them flippantly for your own artistic design is completely inappropriate.”

Followers continued to try to figure out what Jeremy’s post was all about.

“I googled it, guys,” one commenter shares. “And some places are saying November is Native American month.”

“Perhaps as ‘Thanksgiving’ comes it’s a moment to reflect on the atrocities inflicted on the first nations people,” another suggested.

That would be very seasonally appropriate, folks. But others were concerned.

“It’s fairly regularly accepted that cultural appropriation is insensitive,” writes another.

“Benefitting from someone else’s culture,” another writes, is “not OK.”

Some jumped to some very different conclusions about Jeremy’s post.

“Why teepee?” one asked bluntly. “Are you racist too?”

Another jumped to a conclusion on the opposite end of the spectrum.

“Are you Native American?” one asked.

“Hard to understand the meaning of the pic,” another noted. “I am Apache though, so if you are that’s great.”

The Apache nation is not known for tipis.

Tipis are sometimes mistakenly attributed to all Native Americans, but were and are in fact unique to people of the Plains region of North America.

(Tipis are still used for some ceremonies, if no longer used for dwellings)

Native American cultures in other regions used different types of dwellings, including elaborate structures.

It’s understandable that people would be on their guard about Native American cultural heritage being misused by white people.

But one follower commented that this is not what is happening.

“Ya’ll, he is in Oklahoma at a Native American history museum,” the commenter writes. “Chill!!!!”

Tipis are often the subject of misunderstanding.

While tipis are conceptually similar to the European lavvu, they are part of a few Native American cultures and are not for anyone else to misuse.

The Native American cultural heritage more likely to be misused are things like war bonnets and terms like “spirit animal.”

But it doesn’t look like Jeremy Vuolo is doing any of that.

We’re happy to call out cultural appropriation or other wrongdoings when we see it. But that’s not what was happening here.

With context, we see that he was practicising cultural appreciation in a museum.

Let’s save our outrage for the people and actions that deserve it.

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Jinger Duggar: Accused of Cultural Appropriation Over Felicity"s Head Wrap

Just a couple of weeks ago, Jinger Duggar was mom-shamed for making her baby wear gloves, which fans believe will hinder Felicity’s motor development.

This time, however, they’re getting parent-shamed for something else.

Are Jinger and Jeremy guilty of cultural appropriation?

Felicity and Jeremy shared this sweet photo on Instagram.

The parents captioned it: “Took Felicity out to the @cubs game.”

Felicity’s hands are once again entombed within mittens, which her parents put on her to keep her from scratching her face with her sharp nails.

That was not the primary focus of the mom-shamers this time.

This time, the concern is over a couple of things — first and foremost, that head wrap. Is it cultural appropriation?

“This is racism,” wrote one commenter very bluntly.

Another wrote that putting Felicity in the hair wrap was a “microaggression.”

A microaggression, folks, is a subtle jab against marginalized people that they experience every day.

(Like asking an American of Asian descent where they’re from, and not being satisfied with an answer like “Virginia”)

Some also shamed the parents for taking Felicity to a loud public space, but that took a backseat to the head wrap.

(Here is Khloe’s daughter, True Thompson, for comparison, since a fan brought it up)

When one fan asked why it’s okay for Khloe Kardashian’s baby True to wear one, another fan explained.

“The difference is,” the other fan wrote of Khloe. “Her baby is African American and entitled to wear one.”

Another just thought that it wasn’t fashionable, and wrote: “I really think a French beret is more baby appropriate and fashionable.”

It looks plenty stylish, but the appropriateness of it is in question.

Some fans rose to Jinger and Jeremy’s defense.

“Women of many cultures wear head wraps,” wrote one. “There nothing specifically African-American about it.”

That same commenter even cites an example: “Rosie the Riveter had a head wrap.”

“I think the baby looks adorable,” another writes. “Nothing to do with race. chill out people.”

“I hope you do not listen to these negative people,” that fan continues. “What is the problem that head was cover and she looks great.”

“They are not the problem you are reading into it more than needed,” the commenter claims. “Fashion is for everyone.”

Cultural appropriation is a complex subject, in part because a lot of people don’t realize when they’re doing it.

What’s more is that there can be real debate, even within marginalized communities, over what is and is not appropriation.

African head wraps are from sub-saharan Africa and predate the horrors of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

In fact, head wraps were one of the few cultural symbols that African slaves were able to take with them to the Caribbean and to North America.

Unfortunately, some slave owners would force slaves to wear head wraps, which turned this cultural symbol into a symbol of oppression.

It is only in relatively recent decades that the natural hair movement has begun to reclaim the head wrap for black women in America.

As we said, this is such a complex subject. We are certainly not qualified to be the arbiters of what is and is not appropriation.

We will say that it’s definitely true that multiple cultures have used head wraps.

We tend to believe that claiming something as one’s own — for example, having a bunch of mostly white runway models wear hair wraps — would be appropriation.

Putting a baby in a stylish hair wrap, on the other hand? That seems a lot more benign.

Quite frankly, it’s kind of nice to think that any members of the Duggar family are willing to learn from any other cultures.

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Kim Kardashian Hit with Backlash for Cultural Appropriation Pic

Once again, Kim Kardashian is accused of cultural appropriation. After her Bo Derek dreadlocks and her Aaliyah costume, some fans are concerned that she still hasn’t learned her lesson.

This time, she isn’t accused of stealing culture from black people and claiming it as her own.

No — her latest photo and caption are seeing her accused of appropriating and fetishizing Japanese culture.

Cultural appropriation might not carry the obvious hateful intent of, say, blackface or a physical attack against a minority, but appropriation is part of the complex social forces that keep minorities marginalized. 

But … is Kim’s photo in which she poses with a geisha an example of appropriation … or is it just appreciation?

Take a look at this picture and decide for yourself.

Kim decided to share a snap from her recent trip to Japan. Fans can clearly see that Kim is pushing out her lips for the camera while seeming to apply makeup to a geisha’s cheek.

Kim Kardashian captioned this photo: “A dream come true.”

While not all responses were negative, some immediate comments accused Kim of cultural appropriation.

“HOW ARE U SO PROBLEMATIC?”

That all-caps comment shows how frustrated some fans can be when their favorite celebrities say or do things that disappoint them.

(It’s worth noting that Kim’s fans find what they see as racial insensitivity particularly troubling, because Kim’s three children are black)

Some, at least, made jokes about it.

“Kim posing with the next culture she’s about to appropriate. [Just kidding], love you Kim.”

Other fans rose to Kim’s defense.

“Lmao people saying cultural appropriation. Get educated. Kim you’re doing great sweetie.”

And it never hurts to ask questions, as one fan did, wanting to see if Kim was crossing any boundaries.

“Is this cultural appropriation? Actual question. Is she wrong for this? I feel like she might be but I’m not sure bc it’s not my culture. Any ideas?”

It was another fan who offered an answer with a very nuanced reply.

“Not really. What culture is she appropriating? None … stop lighting fires. People are allowed to protect their cultures from appropriation too [by the way] without an eye roll.”

It’s important to note that Japan’s relationship with the West is not the same as that which black people have endured.

For example, while a white American wearing culturally sensitive clothing of a Native American (such as a war bonnet) would be pretty horrifying, Japan as a rule has no issue with outsiders wearing, say, a kimono.

In the 16th Century, Japanese imperial regent Toyotomi Hideyoshi cracked down on European influences, both cultural and political, having seen what the Spanish had done in the Philippines and not wanting to see that repeated in Japan.

As a result, Japan has only very recently begun to see their culture emulated and fetishized by others on any broad scale, and they tend to view that differently because they did not endure centuries of enslavement by European or American powers.

At the same time, Americans of Japanese decent are a minority group and often view white peers claiming Japanese culture in a very different light. Especially when they face racism for being perceived to “act Asian” (or not “act Asian”).

So, like everything regarding the social construct that is race, this is a complicated topic.

I’m by no means Japanese and would never claim to have the authority to decide whether or not this is appropriation.

But both my initial reaction and my conclusion after a lot of careful thought is that Kim is just practicing cultural appreciation.

If Kim starts up obnoxious antics that reduces Japan to a stereotype in the douchiest way possible, like in this photo of Logan Paul in Japan, that would be a very different matter.

The photo just shows Kim consensually applying makeup to a geisha’s face. She’s not pretending to be one on a magazine cover or claiming geishas as part of her brand.

This looks like appreciation. Just because Kim can be problematic at times doesn’t mean that there aren’t false alarms.

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