BWIBA: Appropriation in the babywearing community
Side by side image of a rebozo from Oaxaca (Oaxaca is a state in Mexico.
The indigenous peoples in Oaxaca are primarily Zapotec) compared to a Didymos wrap
Recently a long overdue discussion has been taking place in the babywearing community regarding cultural appropriation, and the ways in which we as carrier manufacturers, educators, and babywearing enthusiasts have become complicit in perpetuating these acts of violence against communities that have traditionally worn their children in this manner. The discussion has been going on for quite some time, but has become more widely participated in after a recent call to action for babywearing retailers to stop carrying a classic woven wrap pattern by the brand Didymos. This company came onto the scene in the 70’s, and has been well loved the world over. Their most popular weave, referred to as an “Ind*o”, is problematic in name as it has been used as a racial slur against Indigenous Americans, but also in the pattern itself which was taken directly from traditional Zapotec designs. The design was in essence stolen from the Zapotec people, and then named with a slur used to degrade them. Didymos has been spoken to at length over the years, and had refused until this point to recognize the communities from which the pattern was taken, and has also refused to rename and/or stop weaving the design. Now after a number of retailers announced they would no longer sell this pattern, Didymos has issued a statement indicating the weave will be renamed “Prima”. This is unacceptable for numerous reasons. They have not asked for any input from those affected in the renaming of the wrap, and the new name seems like a slap in the face to those who have already expressed deep hurt over the wrap. They have not offered to discontinue the line, and in their statement they still claim to have designed the pattern themselves, even going so far to say they improved upon the traditional weaving pattern. This discussion and the #takebacktherebozo movement regarding the renaming of the “rebozo carry” as a Traditional Sling Carry have been embraced in some babywearing communities, including our own Bay Area group. Unfortunately some other groups have taken it as an opportunity to further marginalize the people affected by this movement. They have intentionally continued to use these words despite being asked to alter their language, they have threatened People of Color (POC) who have been actively speaking out on these movements, they have been defensive and angry towards those putting forth their time and energy to educate them on the issues, and they have tried to push POC out of these online spaces completely. In many of these groups administrators have come forward apologizing after they were schooled, but the apologies have seemed disingenuous. The character of these groups has remained unwelcoming for the POC involved in social justice activism on these subjects, and many people have been blocked or banned from these groups for offering a dissenting view. A detailed discussion about what has been going on is available in the group Counter Culture Babywearing Reviews on Facebook, and can be followed here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1138553269508144/ You may wonder what this has to do with us, and how Babywearing International Volunteers are responding to these very important discussions. Babywearing International of the Bay Area crafted this nondiscrimination policy back in March 2015, and would like to reiterate our commitment to it here: “An important part of making babywearing a universally accepted practice is ensuring that BWI meetings, events, and online spaces are welcoming for people of all backgrounds. Given our education mission, BWI is necessarily supportive of the basic tenets of social justice. Therefore, BWI does not condone silencing, tone policing, or otherwise oppressing marginalized groups, nor does BWI discriminate or permit discrimination by any member of its community against any individual on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, parental status, marital status, age, disability, national origin, or citizenship status.” We are not a political organization. We do not support any causes unrelated to babywearing. As an organization, our leadership feels strongly about supporting marginalized populations, as well as underserved communities. These populations are the ones most affected by these offensive names, and appropriated cultural history. Our meetings cannot continue to be a welcoming place for marginalized communities unless we address these acts of injustice and intolerance and strive to eradicate them. Our libraries have a few of these problematic wraps and we are currently discussing what to do with them. We will no longer refer to them by their problematic name, will not be teaching with them at meetings, and are discussing how we can phase them out of our inventory. Because our libraries are funded largely by donations from our members, we feel it is important to involve our membership in this very important conversation. If this entire post is leaving you scratching your head, we encourage you to read a few of the linked articles before coming back to it so we do not further burden the POC in our community trying to educate us on these topics when so much information is readily available on the subject. We welcome a dialogue on this subject, but require that discussions be respectful of those communities affected. Please feel free to reach out to your chapter leadership to discuss any concerns or suggestions you may have. You can email us at bayarea@babywearinginternational.org or contact any of our Volunteer Babywearing Educators, whose names and email addresses are available on our website, bayarea.babywearinginternational.org
