crash and burn, all the stars explode tonight (part VII)

Hoo, boy. Template crash and burn on the blog, and I lost a folder of files, so things are definitely back to being 'in process' for a bit. Damn it.

We're starting off with Grasshopper Street:



(Because these are accessories, I'm wearing Ayashi's "Masumi" braids with them.)

This is the "Bergere" hat, a lovely 17th-century summer straw hat. Perfect for hair piled high on top and powdered.



This is their "Panama" hat, and it's adjusted sort of oddly on me--it's designed to be unisex, but I think it will work better with hairstyles that don't have as much upper 'floof'.



And this is the "Primrose" hair comb, another designed for more vintage, piled-high-hair styles.



And now, the one I was dreading....so....This one is actually Grasshopper Street's gift for the Hair Fair. Let me make sure I get the name right: it's the "Grasshopper St Lakota Feather Headdress". Let that sink in.



And this is the back.

I have questions. Namely, what makes this Lakota, specifically? Second, a fairly in-depth Google search didn't turn up anything specifically for this six-feather style (and I blame my search parameters, I'm sure there's something more similar that exists). But did turn up a few links for a Nez Perce war headdress (which actually makes it worse), a three-feather Zuni dance headdress, and a shot of an Aztec dancer in traditional outfit and headdress/back piece (see here for more shots of the same event; the single image is listed as 'Native American' but the larger collection says Aztec dancers at the Evergreen State Fair).

So why is this a deal? Because, unless we're Lakota (or another tribe in question that wears similar feather headdresses), and we're the proper performer/gender to wear them, we should not wear them, end of.

Perceive. Black people will have straightened hair. Fine. White people will wear dreads. Great. Whether it looks 'good' on them or not is up to the individual, ultimately--it's just hair. (For that matter, dreads are actually more universal, seen on cultures from the Cree to people in Egypt.)

But cultural appropriation is a thing, and we need to be aware of it.

Let's take a more modern example. Let's say I want my hair styled in a faux 'hawk. (Several, several years ago, there was a year I actually did this, so.) I can go out and go wild and no one's going to bat an eye (beyond the folks that think Mohawks are 'unfeminine').

But if I wanted to go out and get a specifically Lenape-tribe Mohawk, complete with porcupine roach headdress? Then I'm stepping into shoes that aren't mine, to walk a path that I don't have.

Ultimately, clothing is clothing. Wearing kimono doesn't mean I'm trying to be Japanese. Wearing double braids doesn't mean I'm trying to be Native American. But specific styles can be seen as base cluelessness, at best, and racism at worst, and I'd rather not be involved in either, thanks.

I'm going to throw this away now. More coming soon. You can find Grasshopper Street on the Redhead sim at Hair Fair.