Sometimes I wonder if there are sociology blogs in Japan asking them not to appropriate our fast food imagery...

Apparently "privilege" is the ability to not get your knickers in a twist when someone who doesn't know you thinks some of your ideas are cool. When the Japanese and Chinese do it to American imagery, the response is to just laugh at them for getting it wrong.

Ironic, given I would assume most of what young, white America knows about dia de los muertos was learned in entry-level spanish-language courses trying to be culturally inclusive.

It's certainly where 95% of my knowledge on the topic came from.

Non-rhetorical question: Is there a context in which a cultural costume can be a respectful homage, or is it always an appropriation if the wearer is not of that culture?

we celebrate it in texas too! :)

Is there a parallel to committed Christians complaining about the secularization of Christmas and its adaptation into a non-religious form?

Or to Halloween itself having adapted from some kind of religious or spiritual observation into its current "just for fun" form?

Like, at what point do we just say that adaptation and change of cultural traditions is a constant through human history, and often in a way that previous adherents consider trivialization, or do we forever try to stand athwart that tide?

I don't know the answer.

I agree, a lot of the costumes featured in the link are offensive, there's no question about that, but talking specifically about Day of the dead, this isn't like wearing a headdress. Sugar skull make up is not a sacred, religious symbol. Also, while the holiday has a small connection to Catholicism it's mainly cultural. I don't understand why this would be considered offensive. Honestly, is cultural appropriation always bad? Do we have to worry about being PC so much that we can't observe or celebrate a holiday as we like?

I understand some of those costumes being offensive, and I understand the difference between Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos. 

I love the traditions of Dia de los Muertos and I have an altar to my own family dead in my home. I am a white USian. I have not considered it appropriation: as a lapsed Catholic Ilove those social/theatrical traditions too. Hoping one can honor and celebrate without appropriation.

As someone who lived in Los Angeles for 15 years adn went to several Dia De Los Muertos celebrations, I'm not to sure about this post.  I'm not Latino, so I guess I'm not one to say, but I don't think taht dressing up as a Dia de los Muertos doll is the same as dressing up as a "squaw" or a "geisha".  I have several friends who go to Dia de Los Muertos celebrations each year dressed very elaborately in the style of living dolls of the dead.  They also have alters for their family members and celebrate the holiday as closely to how it was "intended" as possible.  For them it is not an alternative to halloween.  It is a very serious and cherished holiday and a part of their culture.  Looking at the picture I'm not really sure that I'd even qualify the guy on the far right as anything other than a skeleton, same goes for the girl in the middle.  The two on the left aren't offensivly stereo-typical, at least in my view.  The only one that I can see as being offensive is the sort of "sexy senorita" 2nd from the right.  If I saw these guys at teh dia de los muertos celebration at the hollywood forever ceremony I wouldn't bat an eye.  Can someone help me understand why I should be offended here?

someone on twitter had a similar dislike for calaveras as halloween costumes. I respectfully disagree. especially when it comes to a non latin. if someone actually knows enough about the culture and wants to acknowledge it (even during halloween) then, I say, go for it! most people don't know about dia de los muertos.

 I think we should encourage everyone to learn more about different cultures and encourage everyone to express their interest regardless of the day. (just don't go as a 'sexy' calavera cause you just trivialize everyone.)

My feelings are:
1. There are a LOT of potential costumes in the world
2. There's a lot of racism in the world; white folks have a lot of advantages that we did not actually earn, and we have access to a LOT of stuff.
3. So for pete's sake, can't we skip the racially tinged costumes and the religious-costumes-from-cultures-historically-marginalized-by-white-people-in-the-global-north?  It's not exactly as though there's a giant costume-idea shortage and I have to stay at home weeping into my rootbeer if I can't dress up as a calvera.

3.5.  I have observed that white folks often have this attitude that if we really honestly want to do or have something then it must be okay, and it will all work out in the end - so if we really, genuinely like and admire Day of the Dead stuff then it must be okay to buy it or imitate it.  I often have these feelings.  I've found that acknowledging the wish - "I wish I could paint my face like a sugar skull because it looks really neat!" - and then accepting that I can't - "but I can't do that because dressing up as a religiously-significant figure from a POC religious tradition isn't appropriate for white folks at this historical moment" - is really helpful.

4.  I can't imagine why I'd want to dress up as a nun, but in my day to day life I do not have privileges at the expense of nuns or even of Catholics generally, so if I did dress up as a nun the social meaning of my costume would not be the same as if I dressed up as a sugar skull, since as a white US citizen I have lots of privilege vis-a-vis most folks who celebrate the Day of the Dead.

5. Fundamentally, my fun costume is not more important than other people feeling like I'm mocking, trivializing or profiting from their race or religion.  Lots of things are fun to me; I have lots of choices. So I elect to be a little bit humble and not be a big jerk about it, even if I miss out on a neat costume.

For the purpose of comparative cultural sharing, I'd like to also note that the Nigerian (Yoruba) Egungun fests of Nigeria, West Africa and the  Zangbeto traditions of Benin,
West Africa are similar to All Souls' Day, Halloween (Holy Evening), and the Dia de los Muertos.

Egungun and Zangbeto are ancestors who come back to earth for various reasons.  Egungun & Zangbeto dress in masquerade "costumes" and are celebrated in various festivals.

I don't find "sugar skull" costumes to be offensive, unlike all the other racial/ethnic costumes you've written about. I'm not Latin@, and if I heard from many Latin@s that they were offended I would change my mind -- but of the two people I know who dressed in Dia de los Muertos costumes this year, one is Latina, so I don't think it's a universal opinion. Sugar skulls, while they are a cultural reference, are not people. To me, dressing up as a latin@ _person_ is offensive because it inevitably refers to stereotypes. Dressing as a piece of candy or Dia de los Muertos doll is about as offensive as dressing as a Matroyshka doll, a piñata, or a bottle of tequila. Or as, say, Moses, who is a specific person (not stereotype) and a religious figure for multiple minority religions in the U.S., and which I personally don't think is an offensive costume. As a non-religious person, I try to have respect for religious people but there's a limit to my reverence for religious icons.

Uh, I got a scoutmob notice for some Dia de Los Muertos celebration involving cornhole and some other similar nonsense and my first thought was "oh God, do we really need another white drinking holiday?"

Some things to consider: 
1) Before dressing up, do your research. Even the most harmless of ideas can be truly hurtful. I dressed up as a pirate only to remember that pirates are shamelessly stereotyped (maybe a bit extreme of an example).
2) Think about who will be seeing you. If a person who is of that cultural origin were to see you, how would s/he feel? Also, if someone else saw you would s/he think you were mocking someone else? 

Hi, yeah, I don't appreciate self-righteous Americans telling me what I can and can't celebrate. I also don't appreciate you patronizingly trying to sujest Dia de los Muertos is some kind sacred holiday, that's exaclty like saying the forth of July or Halloween are sacred, and shouldn't be celebrated by non-Americans.

Sincerely, a White Mexican.

Mmh, I'm confused. What better day to dress as a Catrina than on the eve of "Día de todos los santos" (All hallows eve)? Also, it's not stereotyping a culture, it's not ridiculizing it, why would it be wrong? This gives me mixed feelings.

Hi, I have a question: If a non-religious Mexican white person is wearing the death-paint, does it stop being disrespectful ?

I've thought about this and I've thought and considered... "Do I want to comment...." cause everyone these days seems to be racially and culturally sensitive. Specifically this Halloween has been targeted and it's getting ridiculous. I'm white... German, Celtic and Welsh bred to be specific. My step-grandfather married to my grandmother, is Latino. At some point he celebrated day of the dead in his youth, and was Catholic from his mother and became a born again Christian and didn't celebrate his heritage with us, his adopted white family. Being white, it was always horribly awkward visiting his side of the Atencios, I was always an outsider to them. But I love them regardless and I want to share in their culture to be closer to my family. Also, I asked google if a white person should celebrate Dia de los muertos (that's how I got here) because my dear partner is also Latino, raised Jehovah witness he never got a chance to know the culture from his birth father and his daughter is very much into finding her roots, especially focused on her Hawaiian and Filipino side from her mother with no focus on the heritage from her father. I want to help with that. I want to learn so that I can piece together my racially mixed family... is that wrong or racist to want that? No. However, I understand the pain and fear of having their holiday and celebration adopted by a culture like the US. Halloween ended up sadly commercialized and turned into a celebration whore...and I don't like that. But, it's the only form of the holiday it once was that my ancestors celebrated years before it became the perverted celebration it is now. And I think... it's that the white people who look to other celebrations like Dia de los muertos want. Real culture because all they have is something hollow and emptily suppressed and controlled by corporations. Whether they know it consciously or not that's why I think they try to imitate the holiday with the candy skulls and la Catrina outfits and what have you. should it be condemned and be the source of offense? No, I don't think so. I think a lot of people look to whites and what they do as a form of privilege or snotty bout because there is resentment between the cultures or race or what ever. But you should really look at those people as petulant, lost children, not snubbing racists with a message. I apologize if I offended with my curiosity.

I feel you all have lost any sense of fun and sense of humor. I say this with love, lighten up.I am a gay Irish Catholic and I nor anyone I know is offended by priest or nun costumes, leprechauns, or Elton John costumes If it is done with fun with no racial stereotypes (i.e. accents, fake asses, noses, fronts, or backs) then I say have a good time. There is genuine racism out there that needs to be fought,

Dia de Muertos was originally practiced in the early summer and was moved to October as an appropriation of All Saints Day which was created in an effort to usurp All Hallows Eve from Pagans. As a sociologist you should know that none of our holidays are sacred trusts of our history and our culture is not contained in our past but a part or our present.

Many Mexicans incorporate Halloween decorations in their Die De Muertos celebrations. You don't hear Halloween celebrants railing about racism. They also use traditional Christmas decorations for Three Kings Day and we don't flip out over it. The holidays have very similar iconography, sharing imagery and style isn't somehow a cultural attack. It's embracing merits of the other culture.

I can't see an argument of people putting on Sugar Skull make-up for 30 minutes to 2 hours in an effort to make a statement about race. People who do this are in love with the artistic imagery of the Mexican Culture. How you can connect that to racism is confusing at best.

I think it's nice. I guess it depends if people are just wearing a costume. Or celebrating Halloween and dia de los muertos. Now days people are of mixed cultures. Its kind of judgemental to be offended by someone's beliefs just because they are not the same as yours. Maybe if everyone woke up and realized it's 2015 we now have mix Chinese Mexican white black Latino India Indian babies. And thier so cute. Bla bla

All I know is I'll wear what I want when I want. I quit caring about people's judgements. So either shoot them or look away. Its really not anyone's business: * <3

I have a question about this. I am Colombian, and in Colombia we do celebrate both Halloween and The Day of the Dead. Halloween is not as commercialized as in the United States, but there are costume parties and children do ask for "confites" or candies. As for the Day of the Dead, we do more of a solemn and religious celebration when compared to the popularized festivals of Central America. However, this Halloween I would like my boyfriend and I to dress up as sugar skulls with decorative flowers. It is nothing stereotypical and in no way a mockery, I would wear a tasteful dress, skull makeup and a flower crown. My family and I will celebrate the Day of the Dead by attending church on November 1 and remembering our ancestors who have passed and pray for their entrance into heaven. Do you think that this is Cultural Appropriation because although I am Hispanic, I am not specifically Mexican? Also, my boyfriend is Irish but he speaks Spanish and participates with my family's traditions. Also, I spoke to my parents and grandparents and they think it's a wonderful way to blend my Colombian culture with my current situation of living in the United States. I am having hard time understanding Cultural Appropriation and want to be sure I am not offensive.

How is La Catrina a religiously-significant figure? The stylized skeleton is from the earlier 20th century as a caricature of the rich, from what I recall. Dia de los Muertos, of course, is a very significant tradition with deep spiritual roots. You could say the same about Christmas. But if a Japanese person dresses as Santa Claus... is anyone likely to have a problem with that? I understand that the bigger issue has to do with power dynamics, and the historical and ongoing power differential between white people and people of color. If some person is garishly dressed as La Catrina, with little to no knowledge of the traditions associated with the the image... it could be offensive. If someone truly does feel connection to Dia de los Muertos, then dressing as La Catrina could also be viewed as a sign of respect and admiration. I spent two consecutive years on the Noche de Muertos in a Panteon near Patzcuaro, Mexico. The first year my grandmothers had both died as well as my uncle. I built an altar and ofrenda right there in the graveyard, in a corner. The local people admired my participation, and many came by to see my altar, and several took pictures of me simply because they were thrilled to have me there participating and honoring my dead, not just breezing through for photo ops. I spent all night around a fire, singing songs, drinking with new friends, and remembering our beloveds. I went back the next year. Same people! Same fire. Welcomed back like an old friend. I sit, tonight, candles burning at my altar, all the pictures of my lost friends and relatives, my offerings there... and I tell you, if I were to dress as a stylized skull in the manner of Dia de los Muertos, I know who I am and where my heart is. And I would know all my friends in Mexico, of which I have many, would be humored and honored to see me paying my respects to the dead, in a way we both relate to.

Things aren't all black and white. Cultural appropriation is a real problem. Assuming everyone is being offensive or doesn't understand what they are doing is also a problem.

I don't consider myself Latin, but I do have Latin people in my family, and some who celebrate Dia De Finados. And myself, I am a pagan and animist and we share the sabaat of Samhain. Just like Dia de los meurtos, we remember our departed loved ones on that date and the Pagan roots of the Catholic holiday do equate the idea that on that night the veil between our world and the next is at its thinnest so we may feel close to those we love. I do like to make things with calaveras, or catrinas patterns on them. I feel because I'm observing the departed in the same way, I'm serious and respectful and I'm not doing it to be funny. I don't celebrate Halloween as such and tricking or treating or dressing up as an ugly witch etc is actually a cultural appropriation of Samhain and my beliefs. I'm a witch but every year people are dressing up as me and giving me a hideous nose and warty face and implying that I'm evil. Dia de Muertos has roots in pagan or animist traditions ( the Goddess Mictēcacihuātl) and I've met Catholics who have not realised that colonisers of the Americas have already culturally appropriated this festival from a belief system that existed precolonising into the church and the origin is more akin to my own belief than Catholicism. Although Halloween is offensive to me as a witch, I'm not going to attempt to stop Americans from celebrating it as a fun day. But I am still going to respectfully mark the day of the Dead in my own way and use the imagery (not on my own face but in craft objects I've made for the day. If Mexican Catholic people take offence with me, I'd listen and understand, but I'd try to explain that its already adopted as a holiday from another culture into their church, and who knows where it really came from before then. I think if someone tries to link it to a stereotype and comical costume then I can see it might be more offensive. Or just using it without even bothering to read up on it. Much like everyone goes out, buys a pumpkin, wears a fun costume on a day I use to respectfully remember my family who are all dead.