Week 2
Reflecting on "Social Empathy and the Power of Stepping into Someone Else's Shoes"
In "Social Empathy and the Power of Stepping into Someone Else's Shoes" from the The Korea Times, Michael Hurts writes about how people feel the need to mirror other people and can create greater social empathy by imagining themselves in other people's shoes. He uses this as an explanation for how tourists love to try on ethnic clothing of the places that they go to.
Hurts begins his article explaining that there is power in stepping in one's shoes, but it must be done "without stepping on the toes of those who own them." With terms like appropriation, gatekeeping, and the desire for political correctness, I want to question how he would define this. I believe that in this day and age, people are often quickly offended when they see someone wearing the ethnic clothes of a group that they don't belong in. Tourists can also get a bad rap for making other cultures into a "touristy" thing that they exoticize. It can be seen by some people as another way of commercializing a culture.
Yet, I also do see what Hurts means that this form of "stepping into someone else's shoes" can also be empowering. Growing up, my parents had to struggle to get me into any kind of Chinese traditional clothing. I wanted as little to do with my culture and felt embarrassed of it. I feel like seeing people (who are not a part of my ethnic group) show appreciation and a desire to get to know more about the culture that I have always been afraid to take ownership of in my identity, can be very empowering and create more unity between different groups. I also think that it is good for ethnic groups to be able to show off their culture, but rather than just providing a photo booth for tourists to play dress up, they could also provide education on the history of the clothing. That way, the ethnic clothing can be less so commercialized, but more so educational.
As always, I would like to ask what is the difference between appropriation and appreciation? How can we build the social empathy without stepping in other people's shoes?
No comments:
Post a Comment