Cultural appropriation is a hot topic of discussion these days, and it’s mostly centered around white women styling themselves with the “cool” fashions, hairstyles, and lingo of minorities without acknowledging or appreciating their struggles. But 21-year-old Kellie Ahlin has flipped the script, even if it wasn’t on purpose: This young white woman accidentally appropriated the culture of her own family!
“I found this adorable high neck frock at Buffalo Exchange,” said Kellie. “It looked like it was maybe Mexican or South American or something and I just had to have it. I altered it so that I had a bit more cleavage and hemmed it up so I could wear it with bicycle shorts. But it turns out, it’s just a traditional Swedish dress, like my own ancestors would’ve worn.”
Uh oh! Looks like this culture vulture has preyed on her own kind!
Kellie, who frequently speaks with a blaccent, gets henna tattoos, and shows up to her college classes wearing a kimono or dashiki, went on to explain the mishap.
“I was taking notes in my Nordic History class when I noticed that the dresses that were up on the screen looked a lot like the one I was wearing,” said Kellie. “I was mortified!”
“I would’ve never made all of the edits I did if I knew it was disrespectful to my own ancestors,” she added.
Kellie’s classmates are amused.
“Kellie goes out of her way to culturally appropriate whenever she can,” said Imani Powers, a black classmate of Kellie. “I’m glad she finally just did it to her own culture.”
But Kellie is truly feeling bad.
“I’m okay with celebrating other people’s cultures by embracing their clothing, mannerisms and speech,” she said. “I just can’t believe I did it to my own people.”
Oops! Better luck appropriating next time, Kellie!
