Why “cultural appropriation” isn’t real and what’s happening instead

I’ve yet to hear of a real instance of cultural appropriation, namely because there are much better words for what’s really going on.

If it’s someone claiming to have, practice, or sell something from another culture or religion that’s not actually legit, they’re a poser or a fraud, or perhaps using the name for something inspired by or an obvious parody of it. Even if a tradition is closed, they still wouldn’t be stealing anything, just poorly imitating.

Use a word like “cultural appropriation” to describe such things though, and it sounds fancy and important because leftists want them to be considered tantamount to committing a crime. They love to hurl it at people who are actually engaging in cultural appreciation, something that happens when different cultures are in contact with each other and exchange information. Meanwhile, social media is full of posers claiming to practice “queer” vodou (e.g. a “transmasc” woman claimed she was initiated as a houngan, a priest) the like with spiritual traditions that are conservative by nature…conservation preserves tradition.