Concerning the infamous Japanese Tea Party
First off, let me make this clear. I remain firm on my opinion of this particular article/image. What is my opinion, you may ask? I will respectfully explain now. My belief is that this is cultural appropriation. Is it intentional? Should the girl be punished? Is eating sushi cultural appropriation now, too? Am I the official spokesperson for all Japanese people? No. No to all of the above. So why on earth do I think that an innocent girl playing dress up and attending a tea party is offensive? Well, a kimono has rich history and cultural significance. It isn’t just a piece of fabric. It has ties to ceremonies within the Japanese culture. Sure, these practices might be thousands and thousands of years old, but that does not make them any less important, and people should respect that. Now, I approached this article assuming that this Japanese tea party was just for fun and no other educational reason. It is important for one to first learn about the background of something holding so much cultural significance before jumping in to things. Could the article be educational and respectful? Of course! But I did not assume that because it was not clearly stated as such. So why did I assume that it was negative? It seemed to be the wording of “fun Japanese tea party.” It didn’t seem serious about educating children on Japanese culture. I personally interpreted it as a “just for kicks” sort of thing. At the end of the day, it all boils down to assumptions and interpretation. Because of the way I interpreted it, I suggested that this was cultural appropriation and parents should educate their children on certain boundaries of cultural appropriation. If someone were to interpret it as an article educating children on the significance of tea ceremonies and kimonos within the Japanese culture, then I could understand where they are coming from. For those who completely do not believe in cultural appropriation, I apologize but it seems that we will just have to agree to disagree. Also, as a member of a minority race I have this to say. I believe that our society is still struggling in a white-dominated world. White privilege is alive and well in my eyes. I have witnessed this firsthand as an Asian-American. I would greatly appreciate it if you could refrain from saying that minorities are not oppressed, especially if it is coming from a perspective of white-privilege. I hope we will all be able to maturely let this go as a miscommunication in interpretation because after reading the majority of comments, this is the conclusion I have come to. Finally, I sincerely apologize to my followers for having this argument blown out of proportion. Thank you all and good day.
But the japanese themselves have rentals and makeup crew only for photoshoots at tourist spots (of course without having them listening the whole history of kimono and the "yellowface" make up)? Would you call them appropriating their own culture? Or would the fault be on tourists? 😢
