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Rihanna sparks issue of cultural appropriation with magazine cover

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Jul 15, 2019, 01:46 PM IST
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File photo of Rihanna. Photograph:(Instagram)

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One Twitter user wrote, "She snapped but...isn't....that...cultural appropriation?!?!" (snapped is used as a term for high praise). 

After Kim Kardashian, Rihanna finds herself being embroiled in a controversy around cultural appropriation as she appeared on the cover of a fashion magazine. 

Rihanna recently posed for the cover of a magazine adorning a Chinese attire complete with a dainty hand fan and a red sash that sits perfectly on her royal blue dress. Golden adornments on her hair make her look like a royal person from China but not everyone is appreciating the crossover of fashion. 

While the magazine has defended their stance and written on Instagram that “they were intended to show what happens ‘when western style icon meets eastern aesthetic’”, not everyone is convinced. 

One Twitter user wrote, "She snapped but...isn't....that...cultural appropriation?!?!" (snapped is used as a term for high praise) while another wrote, "Love Rihanna but we can't accept everything she does cause it's her.”

Rihanna’s fans also came out to support her. One wrote, "No wonder she is the Queen of Shandong (province). She is a foreigner that is most suitable to the Chinese style." Another wrote, "It looks so good! Slay! The Chinese style compliments her so well.”

Just last month, Kim Kardashian had to issue a statement saying she will change the name of her brand Kimono -- shapewear when people trolled her for being insensitive and cultural appropriation. Then Karlie Kloss was trolled for dressing like a Japanese geisha in the pages of another magazine. 

Sometime back even Gigi Hadid was called out for being styled with an afro.