Gwen Stefani, Ariana Grande, Madonna: The Holy Trinity of Famous Italian American Culture Vultures
What is it about certain Italian Americans that makes them repeat offenders of cultural appropriation?
With the latest fucked up interview from culture vulture, Gwen Stefani, I thought it best to write something on the phenomenon I’ve been noticing of white Italian Americans’ cultural appropriation. But first, a short history lesson on Italian Americans and our connection/disconnection and comfort/discomfort to whiteness.
Just to be clear (and the TLDR version): I am providing the history lesson for context, not for excuse. I do not agree with the racist and cultural appropriative actions these women have done. There are also so many amazing pieces from Black folks, Indigenous folks, Asian folks, and other people of color, so I’m not going into detail about what cultural appropriation is or how harmful it can be.
There is an old saying: “Europe ends at Naples. Calabria, Sicily, and all the rest belong to Africa.” The othering is instilled from the beginning.
Historically, Southern Italians were discriminated against in the United States as well as in their native country. This is discussed in great detail in the book, Are Italians White? edited by Salvatore Salerno and Jennifer Guglielmo. When Southern Italians came to the U.S. in the 1900s, they were identified as “non-white,” like many other ethnic groups.
Historian Matthew Jacobson says, “It was not just that Italians did not look white to certain social arbiters, but they did not act white” (Guglielmo & Salerno, 11). They didn't “act white” because many Italians who first moved to the U.S. took on similar work that Black people did. Aligning with Black people in any way (even if it was not purposeful) upset U.S.-born white people.
Many Italian Americans were lynched, protested against, their children ostracized in schools/social groups, segregated in churches, and negative images of them could be found in newspapers and magazines. Initially when arriving in the U.S., they were denied some rights and privileges, however, they were considered white by the State. They could own land, vote, marry whomever, and access citizenship.
Growing up, I learned early from my grandparents just how racist Italian Americans were, specifically and especially, towards Black folks. This anti-Black racism was also intensely apparent when I lived in Italy in 2006. I suspect some of this stems from Southern Italians having been compared to (and thus treated like) Black people in the 1900s. Italian Americans saw early on how aligning with Black people wasn't going to help them “progress.” They decided to align with racism (and whiteness) instead.
Italian Americans desperately wanted to fit in when they arrived & they wanted the same privileges as U.S.-born white folks, so they did what they could to squash any comparisons made between themselves & Black people (or anyone who wasn’t considered white). Their racist attitudes were fueled by their need for approval, privilege, and power. Caroline Waldron Merithew posits that becoming “American” and becoming “white” were closely linked.
In Kym Ragusa's piece, “Sangu du Sangu Meu: Growing up Black and Italian in a Time of White Flight,” she echoes the above sentiment. In naming and discussing “white flight,” she writes:
For my family, as for many Italian Americans, white flight was the culmination of an escape from the desperate poverty of southern Italy. It was the last leg in a series of migrations—from Italy to America, from immigrant slum to ethnic neighborhood...
and these migrations themselves were inextricably linked to provisional class ascension and the ascension of whiteness. The move from the ethnic neighborhood to the outlying suburbs was the completion of these migrations...
It held the promise of assimilation into the dominant white culture, in exchange for a final displacement of the 'Old Country' as both home and ideal. The suburbs became a place of forgetting, of leaving history behind.
This cycle of displacement/replacement occurred with my Nonno (grandfather). The family migrated from Calabria to New York, and from New York to Racine, Wisconsin. Always running—always searching—leaving the “old country” far behind; running away from any insinuation of being anything other than white.
Though Italian Americans and their relation to whiteness has been contentious, we have been labeled white since the early 1900s.
All of this background to say, it has been especially confusing and odd to watch three very famous women over the years repeatedly wear the cultures of (primarily) people of color. This special brand of famous white Italian Americans a la Ariana Grande, Gwen Stefani, and Madonna (and honorable mention for Lady Gaga) paints a disturbing trend. All of the previously named are white women with Italian ancestry.
Is it because of Columbus that they think they can “discover” and attempt to cloak themselves in another race or ethnicity? Is it just their whiteness that makes them so entitled? What is it about Italian Americans that makes them repeat offenders of cultural appropriation? This is something Italian Americans need to reckon with, especially since so many are still hell-bent on celebrating Columbus Day.
Some of this cultural appropriation from Italian Americans may be explained in the historical context I provided above. However, this is not just a white Italian American problem, it’s a white problem, in general—regardless of your ethnic background. I just think it’s interesting that three very famous women, all who happen to be of Italian descent, are the most notorious culture vultures of our time.
With Ariana Grande, Gwen Stefani, and Madonna, they have each managed to engage in cultural appropriation in similar and different ways:
Ariana Grande: she has tanned to the point of Blackfishing, used AAVE both in her songs and when talking, and most recently was accused of Asianfishing. She is doing A LOT to not look white.
Why is she the same skin tone has Nicki Minaj, who is an actual Black woman? via 
Asianfishing in the right photo via Gwen Stefani: she used to wear a bindi all the time in her early No Doubt days, would also wear her hair in African Bantu knots and cornrows, used Asian women as props and capitalized on their likeness in her Harajuku era, her appropriation of Chola culture, Indigenous cultures, and most recently: saying she is Japanese (wtf?). Honestly, this chick is a culture vulture mess.
“Chola Gwen” via 
“Native American Gwen” via Madonna: where to begin with this one… there’s honestly so much to point to: cultural appropriation of probably all races and ethnicities, and so much more
Madonna wearing traditional Berber clothes via 
Madonna during her bindi phase via
Though these three women may have a disconnect/discomfort to their whiteness, they are, in fact, white. Trying on other people’s cultures (and taking them off whenever) is literally cultural appropriation. They have each done this repeatedly.
This also seems to be an issue with capitalism and the hoarding of wealth. All of these women have had cosmetic procedures, which is not an issue on its own. However, whether or not there was intent to co-opt features of another race or culture, the results speak for themselves. Grande allegedly got a “ponytail facelift” in 2021, which created a drastic difference in the way her eyes looked—making them more narrow, and causing the Asianfishing comments. She has allegedly spent $303K on cosmetic procedures. Madonna showed up a year ago with what is very clearly a BBL (Brazilian Butt Lift). According to this YouTuber, Madonna has spent around $907K on cosmetic procedures. Gwen has also clearly gotten work done, but has not, as of late, done anything that would be considered a co-optation of another race or culture’s physical appearance. She just sticks to the literal playing dress up of other’s cultures.
Those of us who are white might have differing connections to our whiteness as well as how we unpack (or don’t) our privileges related to this whiteness. In order to begin to undo the racism in our lineage, we must question and speak on the cultural appropriation we see other white people engage in when we see it happening. A good first step is to just not appropriate another culture that you don’t belong to. If you’re like Gwen, Ari, and Madonna, and have spent years as a culture vulture, you can always decide to stop, take accountability, and apologize at any moment.
🎉 Things From the Week
Archiving Your Teen Self by Anne Helen Petersen
Many fellow fainters had some great suggestions under my IG post, and I decided to get a pair of light compression socks to see if I benefit from them
Creating “Requirements for Safety” with my Somatic Therapist (aka “Routes of Safety”)
You could go read something like 'Madonna Plantation Mistress' by bell hooks, which could be the best known critique of Madonna's cultural appropriation.