What Those “Dots” on Your Forehead Really Mean

This is a guest post by TallahasseeScene’s Chenise Johnson.

During the two middle weeks of April, there was an Instagram overload of Coachella pictures.

It seems as if this annual arts and music festival that’s held in Indio, Calif. has turned into more of a fashion-week for many teens and young adults who are just itching to showcase their latest “bohemian-chic” outfits.

I first became aware of this just last year when basically no one knew any of the lyrics to the songs that Outkast played during their set. Not surprisingly, however, they all were definitely able to sing along to Outkast’s cross-over hit “Hey Ya!”

How typical.

Along with the usual fashion styles that one would see at Coachella (often coined “The New Woodstock”), festival-goers have also started the recent trend of  wearing colorful “dots” on their foreheads. I’m guessing that Henna tattoos suddenly became lame, so everyone decided to make these forehead accessories the new “thing.”

Well, these dots, which are placed in the middle of the forehead close to the center of the eyebrows, actually have a name. They’re called “bindis” and they originated from South and Southeast Asia as a religious symbol.

Better described, a bindi is a decorative mark that is traditionally worn married Hindu women. Bindis are also symbols that represent energy and strength, acting as a kind of “third eye” (a mystical concept referring to a theoretically invisible eye that provides ordinary sight) within the Hindu religion.

I’ll bet that you wouldn’t be able to find 10 girls at Coachella wearing bindis who know and understand their significance.

Like Henna tattoos (commonly called “mehndi” in Indian and Pakistani culture), bindis are considered cultural important traditions to the people of the regions from which they originate. This is one of the main reasons why the people donning them at Coachella need to be a tad more mindful of what they wear.

Bindis are just another example of our society’s growing issue with cultural appropriation, not unlike Iggy Azalea, a white Australian woman, rapping like a hood girl straight out of Atlanta.

Since the beginning of time, various minority groups have been mocked and ridiculed for their physical features and cultural traditions by the majority. But now, if you slap those features or attach those cultural markings on the white skin of young kids who are rolling their fifth blunt at a music festival, they’re suddenly “trendy and refreshing.”

Racism is an extremely touchy subject and when our society views pieces of people’s culture as being “trendy” when they are actually appropriated, this tells those people that along with all of their scared items and practices, they are also disposable.

Often the line between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation gets blurred. By all means, appreciate whatever culture you wish to. I’m all for broadening horizons and getting out of the bubble that you grew up in. 

But when you appreciate something from another culture, you need do this by showing respect to its people, the tradition, the historical background, and also the practices that are currently a part of these peoples’ everyday lives.  Only then can you truly understand the meanings of your actions and the symbolism that comes with the things that you wear.

Remember, you’re not wearing an accessory. You’re wearing a cultural symbol. Treat it with respect.

Featured photo courtesy of: Us Weekly

---