Borrowers of India’s culture

By Caitlin Johnston

Indian traditions reduced to mere beauty shortcuts thanks to social media trends.

In the world of beauty and fashion, many trends have transcended cultural boundaries, making their way from long practiced customs to the new face of beauty hacks. The practices of hair oiling and nontraditional henna use have taken center stage, originating from rich and long-standing Indian culture. These age-old rituals, once deeply ingrained in traditional ceremonies and everyday life, have undergone a metamorphosis evolving into popular beauty trends embraced by individuals worldwide. However, as these practices cross cultural borders, questions grow about cultural appropriation and the significance of preserving the authenticity of these ancient customs amidst their modern rebranding.

Indian culture, like many other minority communities, have long been the victim of gentrification and appropriation. Cultural appropriation has swept through Indian culture revolving around clothing, jewelry, henna, and spirituality. In the mid two-thousand and tens bold prints were very popular, this caused Indian textile patterns and embroidery designs to be mass produced and slapped on an array of articles of clothing. Many western jewelry designers and fast fashion corporations replicated traditional Indian jewelry designs without any appropriate attribution to the original designers or its cultural significance. Many sacred and culturally significant symbols have also appeared incorrectly in jewelry or dawned in the form of a tattoo with no knowledge on its meaning and significance.

The gentrification of Indian beauty practices has weighty effects on Indian women and their culture. As traditional practices are commodified and repackaged as trendy beauty hacks, the authentic cultural significance and knowledge behind these rituals often get lost or diluted.  These hacks include a new adaptation of hair oiling to their beauty routines or using henna, traditionally used to celebrate and honor during gatherings, to a way to dye your hair with ease or create faux freckles. This reimaging has detrimental effects on not only Indian women but their culture.  Indian women may feel disconnected from their own heritage, witnessing their cultural practices reduced to mere superficial trends rather than cherished traditions passed down through generations.

Indian hair oiling holds immense cultural and traditional significance in India and neighboring regions. It is a time-honored practice that has been passed down through generations, deeply rooted in Ayurvedic

principles and ancient knowledge of natural remedies. Hair oiling involves massaging specific oils, such as coconut, almond, or sesame, into the scalp and hair strands to nourish, strengthen, and promote overall hair health. Beyond its practical benefits, hair oiling is a ritual of bonding usually shared between family members. Mothers and grandmothers often apply the oil to the scalps of their kids providing a feeling of connection and honoring a tradition.

Saeeda Quaisar, from Udaipur,Rajasthun came to the United States just at nineteen and now resides in Boston, spoke on how oiling has been a longstanding practice in her family. “Indians practice oiling hair regularly, it’s like a tradition. Growing up I’ve always seen my moms and aunts oiling their hair regularly, they would leave it in and take a bit and add every time. They always used to say coconut is so full of nourishment that if you regularly used it would go through the scalp and into the brain and improve your memory. I don’t know if that’s true, but it was a belief back then when I was growing up. If you did your scalp massage regularly it helps prevent headaches, it prevents any diseases of the scalp, helps remove or get rid of damage, it also helps the scalp bone stronger they believe. I don’t know how much of this is scientifically true at this point, but these were the reasons we used to regularly oil our hair. In India people love long dark thick hair, and coconut oil massage helps with the hair growing longer, faster and thicker; it also makes the hair shinier. As you know oiling is becoming such an important part of every culture now, and you’ll see all kinds of oils available in the US, but in India coconut oil has always been the oil of choice.”

Indian henna is deeply rooted in Indian culture as well as heavily symbolic in traditions and celebrations.

Henna has been utilized in Indian culture for centuries in an array of rituals and celebrations. Henna is commonly applied on the hands and feet during weddings, festivals, and many other celebrations. Henna represents blessings, good luck, and prosperity in Indian culture, it is believed to be what brings happiness and positivity to those who wear it. Many of the complex and intricate designs represent meanings and stories. They usually have elements that represent love, fertility, protection, and the union of the couple for weddings.

A new victim of gentrification at the expense of social media trends is hair oiling. Hair oiling has recently been appropriated and commercialized losing its sacristy. It has been refurbishing into the beauty industry with no proper credit or any knowledge on the cultural origins. Many western beauty companies have acknowledged the benefits of hair oiling and used it for their own profit. Often being marked as an “ancient secret” or “exotic” product to feed into the idea that this practice is a “hack” to silky hair and fast growth. When these big-name companies look for a quick cash grab, they often look to use cheap imitation ingredients completely dismissing the traditional formulas.

Aliya Moudud a senior at Sarah Lawrence studying sociology and writing with a focus on migration and displacement studies navigates this gentrification of practices she has long partook in being deemed a trend. “It being called a hack or trend is exactly the demeaning factor that makes this Indian cultural appropriation because hair oiling is beneficial for so many people and it is something that is a part of so many different cultures, but what happens when it’s called a hack or a trend its cultural roots are not acknowledged” she explains. “Then the people that have been marginalized because of this being their cultural practice and have been systemically marginalized throughout history, they’re not acknowledged or helped. It being called a hack, or a trend cuts off its roots it cuts off everyone that’s been doing it.”

“That’s not to say that other people shouldn’t do it, it’s to say that if you’re gonna do it, do it right. You can learn from people who have been doing it, whose grandmothers have been doing it, and they learn it from their grandmothers. That’s a wonderful way to learn it and probably going to be more beneficial for your health than learning it from a TikTok white person that doesn’t know what they’re talking about but says that they do because a brand is funding them.”

Indian henna is another victim of the gentrification epidemic in the beauty and fashion world. Henna originally a sacred part of Indian celebrations is now popular in the form of a fake tattoo or fun addition to have at a party. Recently on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram henna has been utilized as a “hack” to obtain faux freckles or dye your hair with little damage. These westernized adaptations have caused a mass production of henna kits. These pre-made henna kits are now available to be purchased easily online or in stores. This makes it easy for people to use henna without any of the skill or knowledge possessed by henna artists. Similarly, to the reproduction of hair oiling products these kits often possess ingredients that act as a cheap shortcut to produce in high quantity at an affordable price. Many of these cannot even be classified as henna because of its lack of authenticity and its heavy containment of harmful chemicals and dyes that can lead to poor reactions when in contact with skin.

Mariyam Quaisar, daughter of Indian immigrant parents, has had to battle seeing her culture swept away and demoted to a beauty hack or quick trend. As a journalist herself she is very passionate about speaking out in defending the sacristy of her cultural practices.

“I noticed the blatant cultural appropriation when I consistently saw white people hosting booths at carnivals for henna tattoos, and this bothered me especially when young girls participated in it even though they were the same girls to make fun of me for my culture. The same people who’d imitate Indian accents and call Indian food stinky would get excited for henna tattoos and show it off, all without understanding what it even is and where it originated. Then, I started seeing white women on TikTokposting videos about putting henna in your hair for color dying purposes, not even for health reasons. These women ignored the cultural significance of putting henna in your hair, just as they ignored

it when selling henna tattoos, and became “famous” for the henna hack when it’s a tradition eastern cultures have been participating in for so long. At the end of the day, it comes down to people respecting differentcultures wholly rather than picking and choosing which parts of a culture are aesthetically pleasing and which aren’t. You can’t make fun of Indian people and then profit off their culture. As henna becomes more “aesthetically pleasing” it loses its true cultural significance that I’ve grown up with, which is frustrating but there’s not much anyone can do to change that.

With nothing but overwhelming feelings of tiredness and despair it is hard to see any good that can come from this. The answer though is simple, appreciate don’t appropriate. When utilizing tools or practices that are deeply rooted in a culture, allow them to remain in that form. There is no need to transform it to make a beauty routine easier or to obtain a quick cash grab. Supporting businesses owned by those who practice these things culturally is an amazing economic and traditional way to support these communities. With some initiative and research, these are easy fixes for anyone curious about hair oiling and henna.