Cultural appropriation has been a problem for many artists. While it is notable that these artists are trying to incorporate different cultures or styles in their own works of art, others may feel this incorporation as a blatant insult on certain cultures. The claim that a certain act or incorporation of a culture other than your own is considered cultural appropriation is a grey area. By formal definition, cultural appropriation is simply a dominate cultural group borrowing or using elements from a minority cultural group. The implications of the borrowing are very clear. This borrowing is portrayed as mockery or insult towards the minority culture. Usually, this dilutes the original culture as the dominate culture tries to take certain elements of the minority culture.
Culture appropriation is similar to the debate of ownership of intellectual property. A person can own a certain intellectual property. Likewise, a group of people can own a cultural identity. When another cultural group, usually a dominate one, comes and borrows or use elements of another minority group, it is perceived as stealing one’s identity. For many, this mindset is one of the reasons why people are against cultural appropriation. The idea that certain cultural elements belong to certain groups is natural. Just like how intellectual property belongs a to one person, culture belongs to a certain group.