Is Cultural Appropriation Always Wrong?

Is it wrong for a white person to wear a qipao - a traditional Chinese dress - to their school formal?

This was what happened with an American student in 2018, and it garnered mixed reactions. In the US, she was heavily criticised. Many compared her choice as analogous to a colonial ideology - that by wearing the qipao, she was subjecting Chinese culture to American consumerism. In China however, she drew wide praise. Having a qipao worn and and represented at an American “prom” was seen as a victory for many Chinese people.

Personally, I can sympathise with the indignant reactions towards the qipao. It taps into the anger and frustration that so many minorities feel when we have to hide our identities to assimilate to white culture, only for white people to co-opt our culture which then suddenly becomes acceptable.

On the other hand, it is not always so black and white. The qipao for example, was introduced to China by the Manchus, an ethnic minority group from China’s northeast — a garment that was itself arguably appropriated by the majority Han Chinese. The qipao was originally a loose fitting garment, and it has evolved over time with added Western influence in the 1920s and 1930s to become the qipao we know today.

Considering its history, is it fair to say then that the qipao has been a culturally appropriated item, and in this context, culturally appropriated by an American student? I think the answer lies somewhere the thin and blurred lines between cultural appropriation and cultural exchange. My takeaway from this piece is that it’s important that we don’t blindly paint things with a broad bush and deem it as “culturally inappropriate”, whilst acknowledging that we live in an era now where complacency is no longer an excuse.

- Isabella