A THREAD OF THE APPROPRIATION OF EAST ASIAN CULTURE

before i start i wanted to say that appreciation =/= appropriation. as a chinese person, i would love to spread my culture through clothes, music, food, etc. HOWEVER there is a big difference between appropriation and appreciation. i hope this thread brings some awareness and +

you can learn something from this. please don't make this a competition on what is worse. if you have anything to add, please add your thoughts in the replies or qrts. my dms are open too! if i make any mistakes please tell me. i'm also learning as well and will correct myself.

chopsticks in hair
though many asian people may use chopsticks or any long object to hold up their hair, if you aren’t asian you shouldn’t be doing this because it is very disrespectful. it isn’t even a chinese hairstyle to begin with, so calling it such is also disrespectful.

hairpins are not exclusively a chinese accessory. there are hairpins originating from egypt, greece, and japan. however, many people have dubbed using chopsticks as “chinese” so i will be discussing chinese hairpins and their significance.

hairpins (fa-zan, 髮簪) were used in china to accessorize hair buns for both men and women. when young girls had their rite of passage ceremonies, they would receive hairpins to wear to signify that they could enter into marriage. they represent transitioning into adulthood.

qipao (旗袍)
a lot of celebrities have been seen wearing qipaos that are tight fitting, often sexualizing it. it ISN'T sexual even though it is designed to hug a woman’s body figure. originally, the qipao was actually loose fitting to hide a woman’s body figure regardless of age.

the qipao adapted into a more tight fitting style in the 20s-40s, especially for socialites in shanghai. qipaos also are supposed to reach to right above your knees or even to your feet. it is a fairly modest piece of clothing and again, SHOULDN’T be sexualized.

áo dài
this represents vietnamese femininity, and appropriating it in sexual ways implies the idea that vietnamese women (or asian women in general) are inferior to westerners and that their purpose is to sexually serve them.

an example of appropriation is this picture of kacey musgraves. she is wearing a traditional dress without understanding the culture and history behind it. vietnamese culture is very modest, and long silk pants are worn with it., but here she decided to leave the pants, making +

it more “sexy”. she is also wearing a southeast asian headpiece which has no ties to vietnam or the ao dai. she’s using asian culture as a costume/aesthetic and picking and choosing from different cultures.

another example is saweetie wearing a similar piece of clothing. wearing the ao dai in ways like this degrades a key part of the culture, and the ao dai is something viets are very proud of, as it’s the national dress of vietnam.

a BIG thank you to @DARLINGSIKK for helping me out with this :))

aegyo sal (애교살)
literally “charming fat” it refers to the fatty deposits under the eye. many people actually get plastic surgery to make their eyes look bigger/cuter. it is part of the beauty standard in korea along with double eyelids. they are not eye bags.

many non asian people (koreaboos in particular) have started to wear makeup to make it look like they have aegyo sal to look more “korean”. here is where the problem starts. you can be inspired by korean makeup trends, use their products, etc., +

but it becomes an issue when you try to look korean. transracial isn’t a thing, you were born the race you are and nothing about that will change.

yellowface
white people have always dominated the entertainment industry. yellowface is when those people, instead of hiring asian actors, use sfx makeup to make themselves look “asian”. they often accentuated stereotypical asian features, such as monolids/high cheekbones.

yellowface is different from blackface in the sense that it didn’t derive from minstrel shows. but to put it into perspective, both rely on the negative stereotypes attached to both asian and black people. though they are different in origin, they are similar in that it was +

done to mock us. i hope the black and asian community can come together to recognize we share similar struggles and can work together to fight against the appropriation of our cultures.

here’s a wikipedia page of many examples of yellowface if you want to look into it more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Examples_of_yellowface

if anyone has more to add dm me! this will be an ongoing thread and i'm always open to educating myself not only on east asian appropriation, but from other cultures as well.

fox eye trend
recently, popularized by tiktok, the "fox eye" trend has been going around where people have been pulling their eyes back to simulate something like a facelift. it accentuates a "fox" eye look, hence the name of the trend.

this in itself wouldn't be racist if asian people weren't constantly made fun of for their naturally "slanted eyes". as an asian american myself, throughout my whole life people have pulled their eyes back at me to make fun of me, calling me "ching chong" or "ling ling".

but now since white people are doing it, it's trendy? personally i felt the most affected by this because i have experienced it firsthand. you can do your makeup however you want, but please stop pulling your eyes back. we've been told our entire lives that we were "weird" for +

having that eye shape. it's something we can't control, and now people want to make it a trend. our facial features aren't for you to take. we need to stop being embarrassed for our eyes and embrace it.

here’s another example of a recent event: nicki minaj wearing chopsticks in her hair and calling it “chinese bangs”

the response i’ve received from this thread truly shows how normalized racism against asians is. we are allowed to feel upset if someone does any of these things. please stop speaking over us and listen to what we have to say