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QUESTION:
"My daughter is obsessed with Moana. Her 2nd birthday is right around the corner and I was thinking about having a moana themed party for her. Would this be considered cultural appropriation? I know it would make her really happy to have that theme but I also don't want to offend anyone either."
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TOP ANSWERS (AS SELECTED BY MODERATOR):
The following top answers have been selected by a moderator from hundreds of responses to the original question.
"I don’t think it would offend anyone… I would do it. It’s what she wants and Moana is / was a very big movie so it’s not coming outta no where or anything"
"We did a moana party for my daughters birthday one year. Considering she’s a Disney princess I don’t think it’s quite the same thing as appropriation. I mean her face is on more than half the decorations. Also as far as princesses go, moana is one of the best to look up to anyways."
"She’s going to be 2. It’s not cultural appropriation, it’s giving a little girl a party with a Disney theme based on a character she absolutely loves"
"thank you for the consideration, you should be good."
"I personally don’t see anyway that it could be cultural appropriation as long as you keep it themed to the movie. If you try to do costumes that “look maui” instead of the way the princess is dressed or the other characters then maybe you might offend someone. I think you should be fine though!!"
"It’s not cultural appropriation to have a Disney character themed birthday party."
"The actress who played Moana came out publicly and said something along the lines of let the little girls dress up as Moana, she considers it a compliment that someone would want to be her in all her native/islander glory!"
"Yes your child can have the party. Dressing like Moana is the questionable part, but she’s a child and Moana is a character"
"Cultural appropriation and appreciation are different. Give her what she wants."
"I say make the theme Moana! If you have all the movie characters, balloons and plates etc with the theme, people are going to know you’re just doing your kid’s favorite movie themed party and your not trying to be culturally insensitive."
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