Not Just a Jewel to Wear to Coachella

As promised last week, today I am going to be talking about bindis. Though I am continuing on the explanations of the examples from the first post, this case is when Selena Gomez wore one, bindis are also significant to my culture and are things that I have personal experience with—both with experiencing intolerance myself and seeing others praised.

Before I get into my experiences, I want to address why these little dots are so important to South Asia culture. Unlike what some may think, they are not simple decorative pieces, and they carry a lot of meaning. One of the most common symbolic meanings of a bindi is marriage. It is possible this stems from the olden days when a husband would mark his bride’s forehead with his blood to signify the conjoining of two families. This is why historically, the bindi was worn mainly by married women and was a symbol of the institution of marriage. It was an important moment in the culture—getting to wear a bindi on one’s wedding day was like a right of passage and something that brides and their families looked forward to. And bindis as a symbol of marriage weren’t reserved only for the brides: it is very common in Hindu weddings for grooms to wear a bindi as well, in fact, there are pictures of my parents at their wedding with bright red bindis adorning both of their foreheads.

The second reason that the bindi is seen as important in South Asian culture is because of its placement. The center of the forehead, where the bindi is placed, is the center of auspiciousness, command, good fortune, and wisdom, and it corresponds with the sixth chakra. So not only does it have a traditional significance, but to many people, it is also religiously significant.

Originally, bindis were made by applying a red powder to the forehead, usually in a circle, but in some cases could also be oval-shaped. From here, they evolved to be sticker-like gems with many shapes and patterns, evolving and becoming part of the South Indian beauty industry, used by everyone as a way to adorn themselves in the traditional desi style.

Now you may be wondering if the bindi “lost” some of its significance and began to be used as jewelry, why can’t others wear them? The answer is, even ignoring all the history, the bindi is still something that was used by a particular marginalized culture, and is used in conjunction with other traditional wear. So, it would be improper to simply pick and chose portions of a traditional outfit to use however you seem fit when you are not part of the culture, and then when you factor in the history that basically every desi is aware of, it is clear it is not just a little jewel.

My own personal experiences also highlight why wearing a bindi is considered appropriation. I have vivid memories from my childhood of being made fun of and bullied for wearing “that stupid sticker” on my head. I also remember an instance where my Girl Scout troop was doing a presentation on India and asked if they could “wear that weird dot” so that they could “look Indian.” These instances make it clear that the bindi wasn’t respected as an aspect of my culture, but rather as a simple commodity to use whenever it would make the person seem trendy or ethnic. The Girl Scout example especially shows that: they were supposed to be presenting on India and educating others, yet they could not even put in some research to try and understand what “that weird dot” was, and it was still seen as a stereotype and still regarded in a derogatory manner (“weird”).

I can also remember how I felt when Selena Gomez wore one, or when people wore bindis to Coachella and they became trendy. People called them “face stickers” and perverted the custom in an attempt to imitate the traditional style while trying to prevent it as their own. They offered no credit to the culture from which it has come, which would have only made it mildly better, but then it was seen as a super quirky and creative thing that these white, trendy girls had come up with on their own. It was an erasure of my culture, and the only thing it showed me was that my culture was cool as long as the skin it was on was not brown.

As someone who lives so far away from the world where my culture comes from, I try hard to hold on to the pieces I can and express myself as much as possible. When these pieces, which I have face harassment for and been looked down on because of, are used to elevate others, it is infuriating. I can personally say that there is no question of if bindis have been appropriated because I have seen firsthand how they have gone from a sign of culture and tradition to an “ethnic” commodity.