On Sunday, April 22, a teenage girl going to prom tweeted a picture of herself in her prom dress, which was made in Chinese style.
PROM pic.twitter.com/gsJ0LtsCmP
— Keziah (@daumkeziah) April 22, 2018
Five days later, the hatred poured in from social justice warriors for the poor teenager who had the temerity to wear a Chinese dress to prom because she thought it was beautiful:
My culture is NOT your goddamn prom dress. https://t.co/vhkNOPevKD
— Jeremy Lam (@jere_bare) April 27, 2018
Unrelated Fun Fact (a thread):
The qipao was originally a loose dress/garment without shape, made for Chinese women to clean the house and do other domestic chores with.— Jeremy Lam (@jere_bare) April 28, 2018
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.
— Jeremy Lam (@jere_bare) April 28, 2018
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.
— Jeremy Lam (@jere_bare) April 28, 2018
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.
— Jeremy Lam (@jere_bare) April 28, 2018
Femme factory workers wore this dress!!! And the style was then spread throughout Asian as a beautiful garment and sign of women’s liberation.
— Jeremy Lam (@jere_bare) April 28, 2018
In short:
I’m proud of my culture, including the extreme barriers marginalized 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.— Jeremy Lam (@jere_bare) April 28, 2018
There were tons of other similar-minded tweets; here’s one:
My point is, it’s disrespectful. Doing this stuff ignores the significance of this dress to the people who made it. You pick it because you think it’s beautiful, but think a little harder next time. There’s more than just surface level beauty, Prom Queen.
— La Piña Embrujada (@kGRRsten) April 28, 2018
To which the teenage girl responded:
To everyone causing so much negativity: I mean no disrespect to the Chinese culture. I’m simply showing my appreciation to their culture. I’m not deleting my post because I’ve done nothing but show my love for the culture. It’s a fucking dress. And it’s beautiful.
— Keziah (@daumkeziah) April 28, 2018
She had support:
I just saw a thread where literally thousands of people were yelling at a teenage girl because she posted a photo of her Chinese-style prom dress while not being Chinese, and it was just so incredibly depressing.
— Tom Gara (@tomgara) April 29, 2018
It takes a special person with an inflated sense of self and narcissism of grandiose proportions to act as self-appointed gatekeepers of a sartorial cultural derivative.
Human progress relies on open cultural exchange & development. These people are REGRESSIVES. pic.twitter.com/MxNL8iREgS
— Melissa Chen (@MsMelChen) April 29, 2018
I’m chinese and I am NOT offended by this. Cultural appropriation is dumb. If you think this qipao is cute and you like my cultural, rock that qipao! https://t.co/A5Ar89siSc
— Kathy Zhu (@PoliticalKathy) April 30, 2018
My god can’t you people find something better to do than harass a teenager over her prom dress !
Your lives must be meaningless if that’s how you get your jollies.— Chuck Kibler (@chuck_kibler) April 29, 2018
