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 ...
Will the rest if the world stop wearing basketball jerseys and Air Jordans?
Until the people they target, like this girl, simply tell them to kiss off, discussion closed, this crap will only get worse.
We really do need to break up this country. It is way past its expiration date.
How many women “Culturally Appropriated” Hillary by wearong Bill Clinton’s johnson over the years?
Thank you VERY MUCH!!!!!
I’m of Irish/German/Scottish/English descent and don’t care for any of their fare. Italian is my weakness. Can’t live without it at least once a week!
Does his culture even have a prom?
>>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.
So that’s like 20 Democrat bots then?
Whew! That kind of decision would just about make us suicidal, huh? I couldn’t live without them either!
Just MHO but people like him need to go back from whence they came. Get with the program or get out.
Bet he would’ve held his tongue on complaining if it’d been a tranny wearing it.
She is an attractive girl. I hope she flips them all the bird with a nice smile.
Is that the same face photoshooped twice?
Is that the same face photoshooped twice?
It’s SO easy. Buy a plane ticket and go!
LOL, your post reminded me of that old joke:
Heaven & Hell
HEAVEN is where: The police are British The chefs Italian The mechanics are German The lovers are French and it’s all organised by the Swiss
HELL is where: The police are German The chefs are British The mechanics are French The lovers are Swiss and it’s all organised by the Italians!!
Man Hands! Man Hands! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
They can stroll around in their "ethnic" gowns for all I care.
Its not YOUR culture, baizuo.
So, if a Chinese/Asian student wears a non-Asian themed dress, it is not cultural appropriation, but if a Caucasian student does, it is some kind of hate crime? It is all so confusing to me.
So if your not a white male born in the south, then you can’t wear a cowboy hat.
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