Canadian-American actress Pamela Anderson has received backlash for cultural appropriation after posting photos of herself wearing an Indigenous headdress with the caption “Happy Halloween”.
The Vancouver Island-born celebrity shared these photos of herself on Twitter on October 31st, prompting many to comment on how the costume was racist and constituted cultural appropriation.
“Hi Pam, I am an Ojibwe woman and I would ask that you not treat indigenous peoples as costumes. We’re actual living people, not something for you to dress up as on Halloween,” reads one tweet.
Hi Pam, I am an Ojibwe woman and I would ask that you not treat indigenous peoples as costumes. We’re actual living people, not something for you to dress up as on Halloween.
— Danielle Parish (@DanielleParish3) November 4, 2019
“Warbonnets are not props or accessories they’re sacred, they’re earned. Culture isn’t a costume, it’s not disposable, it’s not an aesthetic,” writes another user on the platform.
“This is degrading & insensitive to #MMIW due to hypersexualized imagery. In doning a headdress you’ve also participated in stolen valor.”
Warbonnets are not props or accessories they're sacred, they're earned. Culture isn't a costume, it's not disposable, it's not an aesthetic. This is degrading & insensitive to #MMIW due to hypersexualized imagery. In doning a headdress you've also participated in stolen valor.
— Scream of The Butterfly (@odetomedusa) November 1, 2019
Happy Halloween Pam! Way to appropriate another's culture! pic.twitter.com/sj6bLjkxAF
— Angela Dawn (@Angiebabiez) November 1, 2019
The tweet remains live on her account as of Monday, November 4th, and Anderson has acknowledge the backlash by simply posting a link to an article titled ‘The Illogic of Cultural Appropriation’.
, published on lawliberty.org, cites a Wikipedia article and personal opinions to argue that the idea of cultural appropriation is a juxtaposition to “essential aspects of the greatness of a free society.”
— Pamela Anderson (@pamfoundation) November 3, 2019
