On April 22nd 2018, 18 year old Keziah Daum shared a photoset on Twitter showcasing her prom dress. The dress is in the style of a qipao — a traditional Chinese outfit dating back to the 17th century.
Seeing that Daum is not Asian herself, many found her wearing the dress to be cultural appropriation. Twitter users were unhappy with the photos and have called her out on it.
The tweet that has garnered the most attention comes from Jeremy Lam who retweeted the photoset with the caption, "My culture is NOT your goddamn prom dress."
The Tweet has now gone viral, sparking a debate on whether the dress is appropriate or not.
Before we get into things, what is cultural appropriation? The term seems to be thrown around a lot these days with people arguing about what is and isn't culturally insensitive.
Some definitions to keep in mind:
The Cambridge Dictionary defines cultural appropriate as, "the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture."
The Oxford Dictionary defines culture as, "The ideas, customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society; The arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively."
The Britannica Dictionary for Kids explains that, "Culture is a pattern of behavior shared by a society, or group of people. Many different things make up a society’s culture. These things include food, language, clothing, tools, music, arts, customs, beliefs, and religion."
Daum certainly didn't seem to be disrespecting the culture. She has responded that she didn't mean to offended anyone by wearing the dress, she found it in a vintage shop and thought it was cute. 
Many though don't seem as offended by the dress as much as they are upset about the poses Daum and her friends are doing in the one photo.
Without context, some Twitter users believed that the boys in this photo were throwing up gang signs while the girls were accused of bowing with their hands clasped, which is a common Chinese custom to show respect.
However, several Twitter users have pointed out that the poses come from the Vape Nation and Papa Bless memes created by Ethan Klein of H3H3Productions.
I personally found the outraged tweets a bit surprising as this dress reminded me of the Asian-inspired trends from the 90's and 00's.
What if this dress was worn by somebody who is idolized, like Beyonce? Would people still claim that this is an example of cultural appropriation? Would there still be outrage if this girl wasn't white? 
Lam seems to be a controversial tweeter, many of his tweets are what some would call "fake woke." Though it's slightly hard to side with someone who has multiple racially insensitive tweets on his page, this one maybe being the most offensive:
These days, people are very quick to judge and call out others for cultural appropriation. But who are we to say what someone can and can't be offended by? However, as long as one is not being disrespectful or trying to claim an other's culture as their own, can't we participate in each other's cultures?
Where do you stand on the issue?
Was it wrong of this girl to wear this dress? Are the people are offended overreacting?
Or do you think both sides have a point?
I know that this is a controversial topic but please try to keep your discussions civil.
Thanks for reading!
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