Adele’s Carnival Outfit – What Was She Thinking?
On August 30th 2020, Adele caused quite the stir on Instagram by uploading a photo of herself wearing Bantu knots, a bikini top featuring the Jamaican flag, gold jewellery, and yellow feathers strapped to her back, all in honour of Notting Hill Carnival. The decades-old annual carnival was meant to take place this year but, like many events, was cancelled due to coronavirus, so the singer wanted to pay tribute in her own way. What probably seemed like an innocent post to Adele triggered many to call her out for cultural appropriation - not the first time a white celebrity has been tarred with the same damning brush (Katy Perry, Kim Kardashian, and Miley Cyrus just to name a few).
So, what does cultural appropriation mean? There are many definitions and it varies depending on who you speak to, but Cambridge Dictionary defines it as ‘the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture’. When I was a Tumblr regular in the early 2010s, this phrase was thrown around like deadly ninja stars, ready to maim the next thoughtless white person who needed to check their privilege. It was usually aimed at white people wearing Native American headdresses, jewelled bindis, or dreadlocks.
Anyway, with that definition in mind, I can see why someone would accuse Adele, a white person, of cultural appropriation – most notably because she’s wearing a traditional African hairstyle. Whilst I can understand the accusation and feel a bit uncomfortable, as a black woman, that she’s wearing such an obviously black hairstyle for aesthetics, I wouldn’t call this cultural appropriation.
Wearing or doing something with strong roots in another culture can be offensive, but it isn’t like she decided to dress like that just to be fashionable or claiming the style as her own. After speaking to someone who has been to Notting Hill Carnival several times, I found that non-black people are even encouraged to have their hair done in styles you would normally see on black heads.
When you get permission from a community to indulge in their culture, surely that should be enough of a green card. Me and my partner were invited to a Pakistani woman’s wedding and were told we’d be allowed to dress in clothing from her culture, it’s the same thing. It would be different if we assumed it would be okay without clarifying.
It’s important to listen to members of the black community when it comes to sensitive topics like these, and don’t use one example of someone calling it cultural appropriation and decide that that’s what it must be or vice versa. Some black people have criticised Adele, whilst others have offered praise and heart emojis (Naomi Campbell, for instance): there isn’t a consensus, but every opinion – especially from a black mouth – is valid.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to context and/or permission: if Adele dressed like this with no reference to the black community, or did so just to be trendy or different, we’d have a problem. As it stands, I see no problem here.
Written by Shanade McConney
My name is Shanade and I’ve been passionate about writing for as long as I can remember. I've been known to play Fortnite for an obscene amount of time, I love putting a good outfit together, and I process life insurance applications near Bristol, where I’ve been based for 2 years. I’m trying to live my best life, whatever that might look like, and hope I never lose sight of the things that bring me joy.