Tulpamancy: Why the Cultural Appropriation Argument is Misguided
In recent years, the concept of cultural appropriation has been misused in a massive way. It's common for people to be accused of cultural appropriation over the slightest perceived transgression, usually with ill intentions on the part of the accuser.
I believe that debates involving discrimination of marginalized groups should prioritize one thing above all else: reducing harm. Not pedantic arguments. Not "being right" or "winning". These difficult topics should never be used with the intention of bringing someone you personally dislike down a notch. Activism and allyship is about helping people, not outrage or an intellectual exercise. When it comes down to it there is one fundamental aspect of cultural appropriation, the thing that makes it most relevant to people of color: it causes harm.
Cultural appropriation causes harm because it helps white people benefit from the very fashion styles, cuisines, and practices that people of color are harrassed for. Because it spreads misinformation and glosses over the real experiences of members of the culture. Because it spreads nasty stereotypes that undermine the intelligence, creativity, and literal humanity of people of color. Some peole who culturally appropriate do so to purposely mock these cultures, while others express prejudiced beliefs and refuse to advocate against racism, all while simultaneously claiming to "looooove" a culture. Mocking, misinformation, and stereotypes lead to people of color being further hated, mistreated, and subjected to (sometimes fatal) violence. Cultural appropriation feeds into racism in a subtle yet powerful way.
I consider the influence of Tibetan Buddhism on the tulpamancy community to be cultural sharing, not cultural appropriation. One reason for this is the fact that I've never seen a tulpamancer claim to be following a Buddhist tradition. They're not misrepresenting the ideals of Buddhism because they never advertise tulpamancy as such. The modified and transliterated word "tulpa" is so disconnected from Buddhism that many people are entirely unaware of the correlation. It's the difference between a person wearing a cheap knock off of a kimono and saying "I'm wearing Japanese clothes, aren't I so cooool!" versus someone buying a dress that very slightly resembles a kimono simply because they like it, and never believing or making any claims that it's traditional Japanese garb. I would argue that the second hypothetical person has done nothing wrong.
Sharing of ideas and beliefs across different cultures is incredibly common. Throughout history there have been art forms that were influenced by the art of another culture. The artists who embraced that influence weren't claiming to be recreating the original, nor were they creating a butchered reconstruction - they were simply taking inspiration. Like the borrowing of the term "tulpa", it wasn't done with racist intent and it didn't cause direct harm to the culture that was borrowed from.
As I explained above, the primary reason why cultural appropriation is bad is because it genuinely hurts people. And I am incredibly skeptical that Tibetan Buddhists are directly harmed by the community's use of the word "tulpa". I am doubtful that they're harmed by the existence of tulpamancy - a practice that has evolved significantly and is not all that similar to their practices. I'm genuinely willing to bet that they don't care about this "issue" whatsoever, that they're unaware of it and have more important things to worry about. This is petty internet discourse about an "issue" that has no impact in real life. I've never heard of Buddhists being subjected to harrassment, bullying, or violence specifically due to tulpamancy, a practice that only a VERY small minority of people have even heard of.
The cultural appropriation argument does hurt people. It deeply hurts tulpamancy systems. It leads to their harrassment, bullying, and eviction from the communities that previously accepted them. I guarrantee that there are systems that have experienced suicidal ideation due to these kinds of arguments - I highly doubt that Tibetan Buddhist monks consider suicide because some randos on the internet use the word "tulpa". Remember what I said at the beginning? That these debates should be centered around reducing harm, around helping marginalized groups? Well, if you look around it's easy to see who is actually being hurt by this.
I've seen so many well-meaning members of our community, including other endogenic systems, accept this argument and exclude tulpamancers due to a genuine desire to stop cultural appropriation. But we need to see this argument for what it is: an attempt by sysmeds to divide and undermine the inclusive plural community. You can find proof that this argument originated from sysmeds here: https://eeveecraft.tumblr.com/post/639853296099753984/likely-origin-of-tulpamancy-is-cultural. By believing and furthering this idea, we let these people take advantage of our anti-racist values and good intentions. In doing so we deeply hurt tulpamancers, who are important members of the wider plural community.
We all need to start valuing harm reduction over simplistic principles and black-and-white ideals, in regard to both tulpamancers and political discourse. It's important to develop a solid understanding of cultural appropriation and other key social concepts, to prevent false accusations and misguided prejudice from seeping into our community again. When we come across system discourse that calls upon serious social and moral issues, it is on us to be exercise skepticism. Please don't allow the completely justified anger you feel towards racism to turn you against the people who should be your allies. Regardless of origins, differing spiritual beliefs, or the labels we use, we're all united by so many shared experiences. When it comes down to it we're on the same side, and we should have each other's backs.
