Many people who disagree with the idea that cultural appropriation exists do so because they believe that by taking part in aspects of other cultures or religions, they are simply appreciating and honoring these cultures. Take for example the two women pictured below.

                                    

For the woman on the left, the bindi she wears is a part of her culture and to her it represents "religion and heritage". The other woman wears the bindi as a fashion accessory and claims to be "appreciating the culture". There's nothing inherently wrong with admiring and wanting to experience another culture. The problem is that so often Westerners - under the guise of "appreciation" - take things from other cultures and religions for ourselves but know very little about the actual significance and meanings behind them. 

 

Native American headdresses (discussed in a previous page) are a good example of this concept. When non-Native people wear these as fashion statements or costumes, they are are stripped of their symbolic meaning. As Cherokee Nation member Adrienne Keene says about the cultural significance of headdresses, "That's completely lost when it's this chicken-feather thing that you bought at a costume shop. That deep sacred meaning is eclipsed by the desire to just dress up and play Indian."

 

Though Christianity is a Western religion, it is not entirely safe from appropriation, as seen in the page exploring the use of the cross in popular fashion. The Archbishop of Canterbury expressed his distaste for this in an article for Vogue, proclaiming that fashion devalues the cross (Vogue UK). As the cross is religiously the symbol of Jesus Christ's sacrificial death, he believes that using it as a symbol of beauty takes away it's significance. He goes on to say, "a cross that has no weight is not worth carrying." This further exemplifies the argument that a person should not use the symbols of religions or cultures that they do not belong to. There are ways to appreciate and take part in a culture or religion that do not involve trivializing its symbols and practices.