You're listening to the Stoic Solutions Podcast - practical wisdom for everyday life.

I'm Justin Vacula and this is episode 54 – Prom Dress Cultural Appropriation

I respond to the charge of cultural appropriation leveled at teenager Keziah Daum who wore a
traditional Chinese dress to her high school prom event. I focus on Stoic themes of cosmopolitanism,
humility, and valuing wisdom no matter where it originated to argue, in this case, that the controversy
is much ado about nothing.

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Some quick podcast updates: I have many guests scheduled to appear on upcoming episodes
including author Ward Farnsworth who graciously sent me a pre-release copy of his book 'The
Practicing Stoic: A Philosophical User's Manual.' Audio quality of my podcasts will continue to
improve! I purchased a Blue Yeti microphone and pop filter with pledges from Patreon and Paypal
supporters. A podcast listener, a music composer and writer, has volunteered to edit sound files
for upcoming episodes to further improve audio quality. This is the first episode recorded with the
new equipment and edits.

Let's move on to today's episode.

A critic, responding to pictures of the traditional Chinese prom dress posted on Twitter, posted, “My
culture is not your prom dress.' He also wrote, 'for it to simply be subject to American consumerism
and cater to a white audience is parallel to colonial ideology,' and 'gain permission from multiple
people from that culture to wear it in certain settings.'

Keziah, the teenager who wore the Chinese prom dress, was charged with cultural appropriation.
According to Wikipedia, cultural appropriation is “a concept in sociology dealing with the adoption of
the elements of a minority culture by members of the dominant culture distinguished from equal
cultural exchange due to the presence of a colonial element and imbalance of power.”

This controversy, not limited to the recent prom dress discussion on social media, drew the attention of
international news and influential thinkers. What might Stoic Philosophers have to say about cultural
appropriation? Should we refrain from utilizing practices or fashion from other cultures?

A common theme in Seneca's letters is truth being common property – he imports ideas from other
philosophical schools, works of fiction, and influential thinkers including those of rival traditions and
encourages people to appreciate wisdom no matter where it comes from. This attitude of humility is
also sprinkled throughout Stoic thought – in this case, one culture doesn't always have the best
practices or the best ideas. There's a constant refinement, an interaction with the world in which we can
improve ourselves and our communities through wisdom others hold.
Cosmopolitanism, the idea that people are of a shared humanity, one large community, is also present
throughout Stoic texts. Blogger The Immoderate Stoic writes, “The ancient Stoics were the first known
Western philosophy to advocate cosmopolitanism, the idea that we are citizens of the world. They
insisted that rational beings are bonded through our similar needs and goals and, therefore, we should
live for the well being of all.”

In viewing humanity as one large community and seeking to benefit from the ideas of others
appreciating their contributions to humanity, we can welcome incorporating aspects of cultures other
than our own or at least those we commonly think of as limited by geography, skin color, or shared
traditions.

We can object if someone is seeking to denigrate others, but surely this is not the case with a high
school student wearing a traditional Chinese dress to a school function and doesn't appear to be the case
with many other controversies including people wearing geisha dresses, styling their hair in certain
ways, serving food for holidays, wearing hoop earrings, or including artistic themes in school projects.
Sadly, outrage, anger, and being offended – concepts distant for the Stoic – seem to take hold over
people in a vicious call-out culture in which people take the worst interpretation of someone's intent.

Let's look to the letters of Seneca for thoughts related to cultural appropriation.

In his letter titled 'On reasons for withdrawing from the world,' Seneca responds to a query from
someone who asks about the origin of an idea. He writes, “what difference does it make who spoke the
words? They were uttered for the world.” Relating to this idea of cultural appropriation, why should
elements of one culture be restricted only to certain people – that permission needs to be granted in
order for someone to wear a dress or that someone should apologize if someone is offended because of
a fashion choice? One can appreciate fashions from all corners of the world and proudly or even non-
chalantly display them.

In his letter titled 'On travel as a cure for discontent.' Seneca echoes the Stoic theme of being a citizen
of the world disputing barriers between cultures, instead thinking of humanity as a whole. He writes,
“we should not make the mind a bondsman to any one place. Live in this belief: I am not born for any
one corner of the world; this whole world is my country.”

In his letter titled 'On the futility of learning maxims,' Seneca encourages us to look for truth wherever
it happens to be not resting on one particular discovery or interpretation, to continue investigating and
adapting ideas from others improving on wisdom of ages past.

In the realm of fashion, we can draw upon discoveries others have made and not be limited to our time
or geography. Seneca writes, “Shall I not follow in the footsteps of my predecessors? I shall indeed use
the old road, but if I find one that makes a shorter cut and is smoother to travel, I shall open the new
road. Men who have made these discoveries before us are not our masters, but our guides. Truth lies
open for all, it has not yet been monopolized.” Here, we see that, on Seneca's view, the wisdom of the
past should not be restricted to those who made discoveries – we can, I must say, appropriate their
wisdom and be better for it – dare to be different even, not conforming to the crowds and giving in
when others heap scorn upon us.

Is not our modern culture a product of past discoveries and importing? Language, customs, technology,
calendars, music, art and so much more coming from many ages and places enriches our culture. Of
course not all elements from every culture are positive - practices like slavery, honor killings, and
certain political ideologies rightly ought to be rejected, but many good things can be applauded.

Instead of being outraged because a teenager is wearing a traditional Chinese prom dress, consider
appreciating that a cultural symbol can be considered, in the modern era of the United States, to be
included in a high school event, that some can be exposed to elements from cultures they may ignore.
An attitude of gratitude would be helpful here.

Consider too replacing outrage with a more productive use of time. Shall we really consider lamenting
a teen's choice in fashion to be a good use of the limited time we have in our lives? Can we challenge
our impressions, the ideas that we have about the external world, by considering alternate
interpretations of fashion choices and not thinking that wearing a dress signals oppression,
consumerism, and disrespect?

Cultural appropriation, I see, at least in this case, is much ado about nothing. I see it as yet another
failed attempt at social justice, fairness, and inclusivity from a crowd which appears to be anything but
– their way or you are the enemy – with them or against them – the saviors or the oppressors – a far
stretch from the virtue of justice central to Stoic thought. Those who wish to see positive cultural
change fail to model the behavior they wish to see when denigrating others and having an all-or-
nothing attitude of assigning ill-intent to others when it's hardly deserved.

Hats off to Keziah Daum for standing her ground tweeting, “To everyone who says I'm ignorant, I fully
understand everyone's concerns and views on my dress. I mean no harm. I am in no way being
discriminative or racist. I'm tired of all the backlash and hate when my only intent was to show my
love.” She's also said, explaining her intention, “I wore the dress because I really respect the culture
and I believed it was very beautiful.”

Thanks for listening and stay tuned for more content.

____

Visit my website at stoicsolutionspodcast.com where you can connect with me on social

media; find past episodes on many podcast platforms; and join my Discord chat server for
interactive discussion. Support my work by becoming a donor through Patreon or Paypal to
access special rewards including the ability to have upcoming guests answer your questions,
custom podcast episodes, and personalized one-on-one discussions. Share, comment, like,
subscribe, and leave reviews to help support my efforts. Email me with your thoughts –
justinvacula at gmail.com.

Podcast music, used with permission, is brought to you by Phil Giordana's symphonic metal
group Fairyland from their album 'Score to a New Beginning.' Find more information in the
show notes.