Even us Filipinos don’t want foreigners (and even fellow Pinoys who aren’t well-versed in our mother tongue) to botch our language. Going back to the simple misspelling of her tattoo, it gets problematic when someone is putting “what looks cool” over accuracy, especially when this is someone’s language and alphabet. At the same time, she thinks what Ariana’s doing seems like she’s mimicking a culture that she wants to be a part of for a long time “now that she feels comfortable and knows enough.” It’s also a case of whether Ariana knows the background and history of the certain aspects of Japanese culture (example: kawaii and the infantilization of women) and how she’ll utilize it respectfully. She told me that it’s a funny and stupid incident to begin with. I asked a friend of mine who’s half-Japanese if what Ariana did was personally offensive for her. It’s an obvious form of subversion as a minority will most likely be ridiculed for their own culture, while others will be praised for merely recycling and reusing for aesthetic’s sake. The definition of the concept is when a dominant person or group is using someone else’s culture and claiming it as their own. Meanwhile, the subject of cultural appropriation is a grey area (for now). But I also can’t help but wonder if she’d do it if the public uproar wasn’t this wild. Props to her for deciding to consult her tutor, Ayumi, on how she can fix the faux pas. Not to mention that the correct kanji spelling of “7 Rings” is on her music video. However, Ariana herself admitted that she opted to omit certain characters.
After all, she’s not from that country either.įans would defend that learning a language isn’t easy and mistakes are normal. But since Ariana has been proudly sharing that she’s studying Japanese, the responsibility of arranging the characters correctly is on her shoulders. If you’re not Asian and you can’t read their language, don’t do it-simple as that. Regarding the tattoo: There’s an unwritten rule about people (mostly Caucasians) getting foreign characters inked. This then begs the question: Is she really exploiting a culture or is she merely appreciating it? She’s also expressed her love for Japanese culture on numerous occasions and has showed her speaking skills at one of her shows in the country. It’s also important to note that Ariana has been studying hiragana since 2015.
She also used kanji characters and imitated mangas to promote “7 Rings,” and fans discovered that a new Thank U, Next (the name of her upcoming album) sweater has “ arigato” (thank you) printed on the front.
This isn’t the only incident that’s sparking discussions on how Ariana is allegedly using the Japanese language and culture as part of her aesthetic. Not to be rude but could ariana pls stop using asian language as an aesthetic? pls and thanksĪTTENTION WHITE ARTISTS! (yes i’m talking to you stop fetishizing and falsely portraying asian culture in your music videos to get more views! stop putting asian women in your mvs to use them for sexual exploitation and objectifying them based on race! thank u Fans also took offense at the fact that she didn’t seem to care that it was spelled wrong because “it looked tight.” Basically taking the characters for “7” and “rings,” and omitting the ones in between. In a now-deleted tweet, Ariana admitted that she took a shortcut for the tattoo. According to the singer, the characters were supposed to read “7 rings” but fans pointed out that it actually translated to “ shichirin,” which is a type of charcoal grill in Japan. This time, it’s for getting a kanji tattoo on her palm. Ariana Grande is being accused of cultural appropriation and exploitation again.