Harper’s Bazaar recently deemed the neck scarf Kendall Jenner wore in her pre-Oscars appearance an “elegant styling trick” rather than calling it by its proper name: the dupatta. Bella Hadid and Gracie Abrams donned red carpet looks with the same scarf, along with cropped blouses and long skirts — both of which were obvious replications of the traditional Indian dupatta scarf, choli blouse and lehenga skirt. Yet, no credit was given to the culture where these garments originated.
The fashion world seems to treat South Asian culture like a brand-new invention, stripping the bindi, dupatta and lehenga of their context and adopting these items as part of Western fashion.
At the University of Mississippi, everyone has an opportunity to engage in South Asian culture. Student groups such as the Indian Student Association and the Pakistani Student Association let students engage with the culture beyond the so-called aesthetic to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation for South Asia’s admirable traditions and garments.
Showing up to campus Holi celebrations or attending a club-sponsored henna night are authentic ways to engage with South Asian culture. These events allow students and faculty to recognize and learn about the depth of cultural history that is alive in Oxford.
Nishi Patel, a sophomore biochemistry major from Vicksburg, Miss., serves as the dance coordinator for the Indian Student Association. She said people and organizations at the university help bridge the gap between different cultures.
“We do a pretty good job connecting these various groups with organizations like the Indian Student Association (and) the Nepali Student Association and Holi celebrations,” Patel said.
Though student organizations work toward improving cultural awareness on campus, there remains a glaring double standard throughout the nation when it comes to items of spiritual significance, such as the bindi. When the bindi is worn at music festivals as a decoration or accessory, it is deemed boho-chic or avant-garde, yet Indian women who wear bindis daily are often ridiculed as being too traditional or not American enough.
Patel shared that others’ appropriation of the bindi feels a bit like a mockery. Rather than being merely an accessory, it is meant to represent a deep, personal connection.
This erasure extends to spiritual practices, too. Yoga, originating in South Asia, is a spiritual and philosophical practice meant to unite body, mind and soul. However, in America, it is being rebranded for the Western market.
In particular, Lululemon has capitalized on this by using terms that are spiritually-meaningful in South Asian cultures like “Namaste,” for marketing puns, such as “Namastay at the beach.” Essentially, Lululemon is using South Asian spirituality as an aesthetic selling point.
The same can be said for the dupattas, which have been an integral part of Indian culture for centuries. The exact same piece of fabric gets marketed in the West as a boho shawl or a Scandinavian scarf.
Embracing a culture means valuing the people behind it, not just the garments or trends they create. Appreciation that only shows up when the culture is stripped of its people is not appreciation at all — it is hypocrisy.
For many South Asians living and working in Oxford, these contradictions sting because they turn our heritage and culture into a trend that only has value during festival season. It is exhausting to explain that a bindi is not a sticker and that a dupatta is not simply a Scandinavian scarf.
South Asian culture is not a costume, a workout or a red-carpet accessory to be discarded when the season changes. It is a vibrant and beautiful legacy found in university labs, student unions and all spaces in between, and it is a legacy that deserves to be respected and embraced.
Vidya Adlakha is a junior biological sciences major from Ocean Springs, Miss.
