An Australian influencer has been criticized online and accused of “cultural appropriation” by some followers over her song alternative and an outfit she wore in a social media post sharing photos from her current holiday in Japan.
Sophia Begg, who goes by the name Sopha Dopha online and has greater than 1.4 million followers, shared a carousel of photos from the primary day of her trip in Tokyo on Instagram.
Nevertheless, the 21-year-old accompanied her “photo dump” with a song in Mandarin by Chinese rapper SKAI ISYOURGOD called Blueprint Supreme.
“Day one: Tokyo,” Begg captioned the post, which included photos of her friends eating ramen, drinking matcha, shopping, and posing next to a vending machine and on trains.
A few of her followers immediately noticed her alternative of song.
“Girl I like you but please, the song isn’t even in Japanese,” said one user, whose comment received over 100 likes.
“I fear this song is Chinese,” one other bluntly identified.
Others called her out for not only selecting a Mandarin song but in addition wearing a T-shirt with the Japanese word “Suki” on it, meaning “like” or “love”.
One user thought she was using “culture for aesthetic” without actually understanding it.
One other woman, who’s Asian, said she also took issue with Begg wearing a shirt with Japanese characters on it.
Nevertheless, some defended her outfit and song alternative saying the shirt “looked good” and he or she was “embracing the culture”.
Another person argued, “I highly doubt she did it with malicious intent.”
“I don’t understand why people can’t appreciate other people’s culture, even aesthetically,” asked a special user.
Communications strategist Kriti Gupta, a South Asian woman, said that using a rustic’s culture to be “visually appealing” is a problem.
“Culture isn’t a alternative,” she explains.
And even when the outfit and song alternative was a “misunderstanding,” – Ms Gupta reminds influencers to think twice about their content before posting, as she says impact is more necessary than intent.
Begg is yet to comment on the backlash online.
News.com.au has reached out to her for comment.
An Australian influencer has been criticized online and accused of “cultural appropriation” by some followers over her song alternative and an outfit she wore in a social media post sharing photos from her current holiday in Japan.
Sophia Begg, who goes by the name Sopha Dopha online and has greater than 1.4 million followers, shared a carousel of photos from the primary day of her trip in Tokyo on Instagram.
Nevertheless, the 21-year-old accompanied her “photo dump” with a song in Mandarin by Chinese rapper SKAI ISYOURGOD called Blueprint Supreme.
“Day one: Tokyo,” Begg captioned the post, which included photos of her friends eating ramen, drinking matcha, shopping, and posing next to a vending machine and on trains.
A few of her followers immediately noticed her alternative of song.
“Girl I like you but please, the song isn’t even in Japanese,” said one user, whose comment received over 100 likes.
“I fear this song is Chinese,” one other bluntly identified.
Others called her out for not only selecting a Mandarin song but in addition wearing a T-shirt with the Japanese word “Suki” on it, meaning “like” or “love”.
One user thought she was using “culture for aesthetic” without actually understanding it.
One other woman, who’s Asian, said she also took issue with Begg wearing a shirt with Japanese characters on it.
Nevertheless, some defended her outfit and song alternative saying the shirt “looked good” and he or she was “embracing the culture”.
Another person argued, “I highly doubt she did it with malicious intent.”
“I don’t understand why people can’t appreciate other people’s culture, even aesthetically,” asked a special user.
Communications strategist Kriti Gupta, a South Asian woman, said that using a rustic’s culture to be “visually appealing” is a problem.
“Culture isn’t a alternative,” she explains.
And even when the outfit and song alternative was a “misunderstanding,” – Ms Gupta reminds influencers to think twice about their content before posting, as she says impact is more necessary than intent.
Begg is yet to comment on the backlash online.
News.com.au has reached out to her for comment.
