Post #750444 by KonaKaiBaby on Mon, Sep 7, 2015 8:57 AM

Hey everyone. As some of you know, my family is throwing me a big Rockabilly Luau birthday bash this coming Saturday. We have a Facebook page for the event, so that friends can access the info and directions etc. I did not make the event page private when I created the event, and now I'm regretting it, as I'm told there is no way to change the privacy settings on an event after the fact.

I'm regretting it because there is an individual who is now accusing me on Facebook of cultural appropriation and racism for having a luau, since I am not of Hawaiian/Polynesian origin. She is urging me to cancel the event (which we are not going to do, of course), and unfortunately she is apparently in my local area, so it sounds like she very well might show up at the event and make a scene. Has anyone else had to deal with this issue in their tiki-related events or tiki culture pursuits? I'll paste below how I responded to her comments (several of my remarks re: feminism and hula girls were in direct response to her comments to me), but I'd be really happy to hear from anyone who has had to deal with this and how they've diplomatically responded to it. I don't want any drama at our event, and I'd really just like to have a nice, relaxed, stress-free birthday. But it looks like I might not have a choice in the matter. I would also really, really love to hear from Sven or anyone on the scholarly/historical cultural appropriation/colonization aspect.

Thanks so much,
Tara

Sep 7th, 10:57am
Hello. I'm not going to get into a big back and forth with you on this. I am a scholar of world religions and ethics and well aware of the cultural appropriation discourse. I have been involved in many PoMo womanist v feminist v pluralist debates. But if you'd taken the time to actually look at the event, it is a Rockabily party (and a private party, not a public event for public comment), which is distinctly and clearly American. The vintage hula girls on my page and invitations are American Rockabilly images, not Hawaiian women. Tiki culture was a large part of 1940s-70s American culture, closely related to Rockabilly roots, and a large part of my own personal history. I am celebrating my own personal history and culture. I would suggest reading the works of Sven Kirsten, a German scholar, who has studied the history of the spread of tiki culture across the world, to get a fuller picture of what you speak. As a side note, if you eat pasta or pizza or almost anything other than plain native fruit & veg, you are appropriating another culture. But it is eminently possible to do it with appreciation, respect, and an eye to the genuine historical roots.