White women wearing qipao is cultural appropriation. For all that white women say their decisions were based in respect and appreciation for another culture, that respect or appreciation didn’t seem to include the thought that perhaps actual members of that community might be hurt by their choices. It only went so far as to allow them to do what they wanted to do in the first place.
Cultural appropriation is a member of the majority culture taking from a minority culture with a lack of understanding, awareness, or sensitivity. In other words, without giving anything negative or contrary to one’s own desire a second thought.
I can see why it hurts cultures to be grossly misunderstood and turned into gimmicks out of extreme ignorance or chasing profit. Why does it hurt minority people for a white woman to normalise and appreciate their cultural dress?
I think I read the essay the girl wrote many years ago, and I agree that its bad that the Chinese girl felt that she would be made fun of/treated badly if she wore her own traditional dress. But the bigger issue to me was she surrounded by racists more than the white girl getting away with it.
White women wearing qipao is cultural appropriation. For all that white women say their decisions were based in respect and appreciation for another culture, that respect or appreciation didn’t seem to include the thought that perhaps actual members of that community might be hurt by their choices. It only went so far as to allow them to do what they wanted to do in the first place.
Cultural appropriation is a member of the majority culture taking from a minority culture with a lack of understanding, awareness, or sensitivity. In other words, without giving anything negative or contrary to one’s own desire a second thought.
I can see why it hurts cultures to be grossly misunderstood and turned into gimmicks out of extreme ignorance or chasing profit. Why does it hurt minority people for a white woman to normalise and appreciate their cultural dress?
I think I read the essay the girl wrote many years ago, and I agree that its bad that the Chinese girl felt that she would be made fun of/treated badly if she wore her own traditional dress. But the bigger issue to me was she surrounded by racists more than the white girl getting away with it.