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by Klockan 3176 days ago
Cultural appropriation of Mexican small shops. Note that I don't really see the issue, the name describes their business well.
2 comments

That was my question... I have never heard the word "bodega" is a negative context.

Nearly everything (especially having to do with food) is a cultural reference of some kind -- nothing bad about that.

And a lot is not very authentic and may count as some kind of "appropriation". That's not really avoidable when cultures mix (as they do in the US).

Bodegas traditionally are run by Puerto Ricans and Dominicians in the NE (Not Mexicans). Taken into a NY-centric context it's easier to understand the backlash in a rapidly gentrifying and appropriating atmosphere.
I still don't get it. Cultural appropriation is everywhere, and the inevitable and obvious result of cultural mixing. What makes this different?

Maybe it has more to do with economic competition than cultural sensitivities?

It is a Xoogler-founded startup called Bodega offering a product that would compete with, and potentially replace, real-world working-class owned bodegas.
I get that people would be worried about the economic impact, and who would feel it.

I don't get how the name is a problem, other than it being a little too accurate.

There's a certain "startup style" that appeared in the marketing for tech in the Web 2.0 period, maybe kicking off when Google adopted "Don't be evil" as their corporate slogan. (I allude to it here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15436272)

The name being too accurate falls into the stereotypical Silicon Valley trap of cheerfully "disrupting" with negative consequences for "regular people." Not only does the product ostensibly challenge the economic security of bodega owners, they're using the name of their livelihood to brand their own company. So the name becomes an extra sore spot. It's insult to potential injury. It's banally Orwellian, in the Ministry of Peace sort of way.

I am starting to see it: the name is too cheerful -- almost boastful about a powerfully-backed business beating their less-powerful competitors.

Markets are brutal sometimes. This still seems to rank pretty low on that scale. For a long time competition was looked at more like a non-violent form of warfare, and this wouldn't even register. Now, I guess we have a more cooperative view of business (or perhaps some people have just never been in business and don't know), so they should be sensitive to the plight of their competitors.