my culture is NOT your prom dress
Jeremy Lam, an Asian American Salt Lake City local, posted on Twitter "my culture is not your prom dress," addressing several photos of a young, white woman wearing a qipao to prom. The Qipao is traditional Chinese formal wear for women. Jeremy iterates its rich history in the following Twitter comments:
"Femme factory workers wore this dress!!! And the style was then spread throughout Asian as a beautiful garment and sign of women's liberation."
"It even broke the division of financial classes! It could be made with high-quality materials that only the upper class could afford such as special silks and linens, but a dress just as beautiful could have been made with just cotton and low-quality linen."
"In a time where Asian women were silenced they were able to create, not only a piece of art but a symbol of activism. This piece of clothing embraced femininity, confidence, and gender equality through its beautiful, eye-catching appearance."
"It was then altered and embroidered as a beautiful form-fitting outfit to wear publically, which Chinese women were not allowed to do at during the times of extreme patriarchal oppression."
It should be noted that all of this history was added as comments on the original thread, with the hope of educating the many people who began expressing their distain for Jeremy's opinions. An article published in the International Journal of Fashion studies validates Jeremy's historical claims and additionally argues that the qipao has consistently retained its status as traditional attire throughout its history (Liu 2017). Liu (2017) notes that it was considered a semi-modernized garment in the 1920s, and it continued to evolve with both eastern and western fashions. Therefore it has maintained its relevance within Chinese culture and is continually reenforced as conventional formalwear. Lui adds that its design inherits "...significant details and aesthetic tendencies from traditional garments," and thus, "the qipao tends to be regarded as national dress and therefore the most symbolic of Chinese women's modern garments in a similar way to the kimono in Japan, the sari in India or the ao dai in Vietnam." Numerous other authors, theorists, and bloggers have commented on the cultural appropriation of the qipao, such as Caressa Wong's article "9 qipao questions you can feel free to never ask me," which addresses many of the common fallacies white people present when arguing appropriation versus appreciation (https://thetempest.co/2015/06/11/culture-taste/culture/9-qipao-related-questions-you-can-feel-free-never-to-ask/).
Whereas Jeremy's post was initially met with positive reception and support from many other Asian Americans, it quickly became viral, and the reaction of the majority became increasingly hostile. Hate-filled, and often alarmingly patriarchal, opinions began flooding the comment thread, defending the white woman wearing the qipao (Jeremy's Twitter). Whereas the context of the dress being worn was somewhat problematic, what seemed to irk the Asian American community was her pose, which appeared to poke fun at a stereotyped Asian posture, being turned to the side with her hands together. Whereas many social justice activists have taken Jeremy's side in the dispute, the overwhelming majority of respondents have argued that it is not culturally appropriative and have attacked Jeremy personally. A myriad of racial, ableist, and sexist slurs were used against him, many claiming he was appropriating white culture by wearing Adidas. He was, in fact, called a racist on many accounts; white people felt quite threatened. Many people jumped to the aid of this "poor little girl," actively objectifying her in their comments and additionally referring to her as a "child" too many times to count. They saw their intentions as noble: fighting back the bully criticizing this beautiful white woman in her beautiful dress.
Jeremy received nearly 200k likes and 11k comments on his initial post (updated as of April 29th). A majority of these comments displayed blatant misunderstanding of the argument and often subtle (or overt) racist attitudes. Even many people of color were "roasting" Jeremy; many Asian American people said they did not find it offensive or problematic. However, a majority of the profile pictures would suggest a majority of this hate was from white people. They ganged up on Jeremy and the people defending his stance, belittling anything they could (which was often not his arguments). This mass display of bigotry and white fragility makes me consider George Yancey's "Should I Give Up on White People?" Yancey recounts a similar flow of hatred he experienced following the publishing of his article "Dear White America." He saw little hope in addressing racial issues when confronted with the sheer enormity of racist attitudes the United States is harboring. By the end of the article he quotes James Baldwin saying, " Black history 'testifies to nothing less than the perpetual achievement of the impossible.'" He is essentially arguing that our efforts may seem trivial and the outcome unattainable but that has never stopped social rights activists from instigating meaningful and lasting changes in society. I feel this applies to Jeremy's situation; he has been denounced in front of the world and his point is now unheard. Now that he has so much attention should he make a statement? Should he use this new platform to make a potentially magnified impact? Baldwin would argue yes. Yancey would argue yes. Junot Diaz would argue against a sense of "blind optimism," but would also argue yes, claiming that our only hope of addressing issues of race in the Trump era is through a sense of hope (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/11/21/under-president-trump-radical-hope-is-our-best-weapon). Cynicism is an understandable response, but Diaz argues that hope will continue to drive change.
I am a peer of Jeremy's and I had the chance to speak with him concerning this whole endeavor. In response to all this hate, he has promptly deleted his Twitter app and hopes the whole thing will eventually blow over and he is not recognized for speaking out. He feels he has made a mistake by addressing the fallacies and subtle oppression of white society. I cannot speak for him, nor would I wish to. I simply hope to offer a counter-stance to the majority of people responding to his Tweet. I hope the philosophies of Yancey, Baldwin, and Diaz will prove helpful in navigating the racial minefield that is the American ideology; Yancey has kept his head up and I hope Jeremy does too.
Whereas Jeremy's post was initially met with positive reception and support from many other Asian Americans, it quickly became viral, and the reaction of the majority became increasingly hostile. Hate-filled, and often alarmingly patriarchal, opinions began flooding the comment thread, defending the white woman wearing the qipao (Jeremy's Twitter). Whereas the context of the dress being worn was somewhat problematic, what seemed to irk the Asian American community was her pose, which appeared to poke fun at a stereotyped Asian posture, being turned to the side with her hands together. Whereas many social justice activists have taken Jeremy's side in the dispute, the overwhelming majority of respondents have argued that it is not culturally appropriative and have attacked Jeremy personally. A myriad of racial, ableist, and sexist slurs were used against him, many claiming he was appropriating white culture by wearing Adidas. He was, in fact, called a racist on many accounts; white people felt quite threatened. Many people jumped to the aid of this "poor little girl," actively objectifying her in their comments and additionally referring to her as a "child" too many times to count. They saw their intentions as noble: fighting back the bully criticizing this beautiful white woman in her beautiful dress.
Jeremy received nearly 200k likes and 11k comments on his initial post (updated as of April 29th). A majority of these comments displayed blatant misunderstanding of the argument and often subtle (or overt) racist attitudes. Even many people of color were "roasting" Jeremy; many Asian American people said they did not find it offensive or problematic. However, a majority of the profile pictures would suggest a majority of this hate was from white people. They ganged up on Jeremy and the people defending his stance, belittling anything they could (which was often not his arguments). This mass display of bigotry and white fragility makes me consider George Yancey's "Should I Give Up on White People?" Yancey recounts a similar flow of hatred he experienced following the publishing of his article "Dear White America." He saw little hope in addressing racial issues when confronted with the sheer enormity of racist attitudes the United States is harboring. By the end of the article he quotes James Baldwin saying, " Black history 'testifies to nothing less than the perpetual achievement of the impossible.'" He is essentially arguing that our efforts may seem trivial and the outcome unattainable but that has never stopped social rights activists from instigating meaningful and lasting changes in society. I feel this applies to Jeremy's situation; he has been denounced in front of the world and his point is now unheard. Now that he has so much attention should he make a statement? Should he use this new platform to make a potentially magnified impact? Baldwin would argue yes. Yancey would argue yes. Junot Diaz would argue against a sense of "blind optimism," but would also argue yes, claiming that our only hope of addressing issues of race in the Trump era is through a sense of hope (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/11/21/under-president-trump-radical-hope-is-our-best-weapon). Cynicism is an understandable response, but Diaz argues that hope will continue to drive change.
I am a peer of Jeremy's and I had the chance to speak with him concerning this whole endeavor. In response to all this hate, he has promptly deleted his Twitter app and hopes the whole thing will eventually blow over and he is not recognized for speaking out. He feels he has made a mistake by addressing the fallacies and subtle oppression of white society. I cannot speak for him, nor would I wish to. I simply hope to offer a counter-stance to the majority of people responding to his Tweet. I hope the philosophies of Yancey, Baldwin, and Diaz will prove helpful in navigating the racial minefield that is the American ideology; Yancey has kept his head up and I hope Jeremy does too.
Non-Linked References
Liu, Y. (2017). Westernization and the consistent popularity of the Republican qipao. International Journal of Fashion Studies,4(2), 211-224. doi:10.1386/infs.4.2.211_1
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