X is for xenophilia
Have you heard of xenoPHILIA and do you know what it means? 🤔

Most of us have heard of xenophobia – the fear of anything “other”/foreign. But the definition of xenophilia is the opposite – the love of anything foreign.

Now you may be thinking, “oh, so that’s the solution to xenophobia?”…well, not quite. Having a love of other cultures can certainly lead to many good things – a love of travel, respecting other cultures and celebrating diversity to name a few.

But xenophilia can also have some unintended negative consequences, as with anything taken to the extreme. It can, often unknowingly, lead to cultural appropriation (adopting a cultural feature/tradition in a way that is exploitative or disrespectful) or cultural cringe (a sense of inferiority about your own culture).

So why is this important?💡Understanding these terms, their definition, context and impact helps us work towards a better balance. We need to have a nuanced approach, celebrating our own culture without excluding others AND being able to celebrate others’ cultures, without taking advantage of them.

A-Z of Cross-Cultural Awareness
This blog post is part of a series of short posts on cross-cultural awareness. Keep an eye out for the rest of the series.