Is cultural appropriation harmful? Lets first define it. Cultural appropriation as Oxford defines it is “the adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society.” In other words, taking something from a culture and adapt it to one’s culture.
The definition includes that for cultural appropriation to happen, the exchange is not mutual but instead the dominant society subdues another nation’s cultural aspect. The problem with such appropriation is that the marginalized culture does not get a saying on what is being subdued.
For example, sometimes some fashion trends become stereotypical and they are still seen as high fashion. The ones affected say its harmful when their traditional clothing becomes socially acceptable since it was suddenly fashionable. 
Imagine a family-owned Indian food restaurant with their own recipes. They have windows which let the customers see how they food is made. A owner of another restaurant in a different state sees how the food is made and imitate it, his recipe becomes famous and profitable in the state that he is. In this scenario, the Indian family is harmed since its their recipe but they did not receive any credit for it. This is actually a true story but instead of an Indian restaurant, it involves a burrito cart owner in Portland. Jamilah King commented to Bustle on such “The problem, of course, is that it’s unclear whether the Mexican women who handed over their recipes ever got anything in return. And now those same recipes are being sold as a delicacy in Portland.”
Using a restaurant as an example again, sometimes dishes can also be inauthentic. Maunika Gowardhan had a discussion about it when a restaurant in London faced accusations over her biryani wrap recipe. “This is a complete misrepresentation of what the dish is. All you are doing is using the name, not the dish,” Gowardhan said.
A poll made by Tylt showed how 67% think appropriation is sharing culture, while 32% voted to stop aproppriation. Bari Weiss, from the New York Times, says that appropriation is what drives American culture. America has been based on bits and pieces of other cultures and now there is a fresh one. One can eat a Palestinian dish right in Brooklyn. Weiss points out how these are benefits of appropriation, that it isn’t a dominant group taking pieces of other cultures but instead sharing.
Critics disagree, as the poll shows 32% disagreed. They argued that there is a double standard, the world we lived in is still racist and its unfair when a black person seems disparaged when wearing dreadlocks but if a white person does it, its seen as edgy (Tylt).
A way of reducing cultural appropriation would be acknowledging the source by giving them credit. A recent movement started to spread cultural awareness. To avoid cultural appropriation Commisceo Global recommends to not stereotype, avoid anything sacred, promote diversity and share benefits. Stereotypes tend to be adopted when cultural appropriation happens; some customs, practices and ideas are based on stereotypes. Some fashion designers use sacred symbols for their fashion lines; such as Cavalli, when he used a sacred symbol in one of his ads. An Islamic sufism students protested, as one result the UK banned the selling of sacred headwear without native Americans approval.
The hashtag Stop the Cult is a campaign that urges for people to instead of appropriate to appreciate cultures. Understand the culture and history before using the cultural object one wishes to use and as said before, honor the source by giving them credit. These are two things the campaign recommends one to do.
Bari Weiss sees appropriation as a good thing, when there is no mockery, “culture should be shared, not hoarded.”
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/cultural_appropriation
https://www.theweek.co.uk/cultural-appropriation
https://www.bustle.com/p/7-things-you-might-not-realize-are-cultural-appropriation-that-are-60679
https://thetylt.com/culture/can-cultural-appropriation-be-a-good-thing
https://www.commisceo-global.com/blog/how-to-avoid-cultural-appropriation-promote-cultural-awareness-instead