Social networks have become a crucial part of many of us, Social network platforms began as a means of connecting with friends. We share our thoughts, opinions and sometimes our personal life too. There are many advantages of being on social media but it has disadvantages too, sometimes people criticise you for your opinions, thoughts or judge you without knowing anything.
As we know everything goes viral too fast on social media platforms and it didn’t take long for the Internet to respond. A Utah high school student is facing online criticism for wearing a traditional Chinese cheongsam dress to her prom.
She’s seen wearing a red dress in the style of a cheongsam, a traditional Chinese dress also known as a qipao. She posted photos from her prom on Twitter on April 22 with the caption “PROM.” One picture also showed the group of girls in what appeared to be a Thai greeting pose. People started to bash the girl for wearing that dress.
PROM pic.twitter.com/gsJ0LtsCmP
— Keziah (@daumkeziah) April 22, 2018
We are sharing some tweets here. Some users have accused her of being “racist” and “ignorant.”
“This isn’t ok. I wouldn’t wear traditional Korean, Japanese, or any other traditional dress and I’m Asian. I wouldn’t wear traditional Irish or Swedish or Greek dress either. There’s a lot of history behind these clothes. Sad,”
“Oh god! The pose is just the cherry on top of this casually racist post. It’s not just a dress, it’s something that means something historically and traditionally to the Chinese,”
“What’s the theme of your life? Ignorant?”
Some people have defended Daum’s dress choice however:
“Why do so many people label someone. It is prom. Find a pretty dress with some culture, art, and style to wear and enjoy. When we make ourselves victims & others oppressors or appropriators simply based on a dress, it is just sad. Thanks for understanding. Hope others will too,” one user said.
“My ancestry is Asian, but I am an American first! I embody anyone who wants to learn, embrace, and celebrate other cultures because that what being American should be about! The more we exclude each others heritage, the more divided we become. Embrace differences w/o divide!” another user added.
“This is ridiculous! can we focus on environmental destruction or world hunger instead of bullying one girl for her dress. Literally, thousands of people are wearing Asian or Asian-inspired styles, or ninja, samurai, Asian costumes. you gonna focus all your anger and each one too?” another user said.
“I’m Asian & I think u look great in the dress! Hope u had a great prom! [Hands folded together gesture] has been used to make fun of Asians when done from a non-Asian in the past. I’ll assume the [hands folded together gesture] was not intended to be racist but just understand it can be seen that way,”
Keziah also replied to the comments:
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 has also spoken to the Insider about this:
“I feel people have seen the photos and others’ opinions and has viewed them in the wrong way. Making assumptions is something that has definitely caused a lot of this controversy and backlash,”
Article written by Nazia Bashir
