Posted on 04/30/2018 6:27:16 PM PDT by Simon Green
A high school student's prom pictures have generated a furious debate online after some social media users accused the 18-year-old of "cultural appropriation".
Twitter user Keziah, who is not Chinese, posted pictures of herself wearing a cheongsam, or qipao - a traditional Chinese dress - for her prom in Utah, USA, last week.
In a widely-shared response to the pictures, one Twitter user, Jeremy Lam, tweeted: "My culture is not your... prom dress".
The original tweet, and Lam's criticism on Friday night, have attracted hundreds of thousands of likes, tens of thousands of retweets, and thousands more comments as supporters and critics clashed over the weekend over the concept of cultural appropriation - the adoption of minority cultures, typically by dominant cultures.
Mr Lam explained on Twitter why he found the photos troubling. He said the qipao began as a formless gown for house cleaning and was turned into a symbol of female empowerment.
"In a time where Asian women were silenced they were able to create not only a piece of art but a symbol of activism," he wrote.
"This piece of clothing embraced femininity, confidence and gender equality through its beautiful, eye-catching appearance.
"The style was then spread throughout Asia as a beautiful garment and sign of women's liberation.
"I'm proud of my culture, including the extreme barriers marginalised people within that culture have had to overcome those obstacles. For it to simply be subject to American consumerism and cater to a white audience is parallel to colonial ideology."
Mr Lam's post clearly struck a chord. By the time of writing it had been liked more than 167,000 times and retweeted close to 40,000 times.
However, after some commenters suggested Keziah should remove the pictures, she refused.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
“My apologies to the Japanese people.
PS It’s like having a mom on the board that scolds you :)”
I have a Japanese daughter-in-law.
Keep in mind,Japanese have surnames that end in vowels-———sound familiar? :-)
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NO group whose last names end in vowels are any good!! :)
I feel like an idiot and I am sorry if I offended you.
I would go CRAZY if someone here defamed Italians.
And they were our enemy too in WWII.
Difference is the Japanese actually fought lol
The day of the Roman Empire are long gone.
Since I’m not in a Highland regiment, I don’t feel the compunction to go “regimental” much.
I have a canvas utility kilt, and it’s plenty heavy! I use it mainly for yard work and other house chores. No-one knows what’s underneath it, and if they ask, my stock answer is “shoes and socks.”
"Nothing is worn - it is all in perrrrr-fect working order!"
Canvas is heavy (if we're talking the equivalent of Duluth fire hose pants) but it is not as heavy as the regulation double-weave wool with Army pleats, which usually contains about eight yards of full selvage width cloth. A civilian dress kilt may contain a little less yardage, because it is knife-pleated rather than box-pleated, but if you measure the bottom hem of a utility kilt I think you'll find it contains around 4 yards of cloth, more or less.
I have an old Army kilt and it weighs several pounds at my best guess, even though I've never thrown it on a scale. (I wear it for Highland dancing and casual day wear, even though not strictly correct for a woman to wear at all - I'm built straight up and down, no waist, no hips, and it is in my father's regimental tartan, the 79th Cameron Highlanders (since amalgamated out of existence). I argue right of inheritance and old time's sake if anybody calls me on it.)
Of course, this is all what one of George MacDonald Fraser's characters called "a right Professional Highlander trick" - although in that case he was talking about the affectation of ordering single malt Scotch neat, with a glass of water on the side, and taking alternate sips.
Read "The General Danced at Dawn", "MacAuslan in the Rough", and "The Sheik and the Dustbin" if you want a very accurate and amusing account of life in a Highland regiment. Much better than Flashman, in my not particularly humble opinion!
But your post was great; don't put yourself down!
I think a _traditional_ kilt is about the most difficult thing a man can wear properly. Difficult to put on and if you do it wrong, it’s self-evident. Not to mention that nothing really goes with it but traditional accessories.
The modern ones allow for more sartorial latitude.
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