Cultural Appropriation: Can A Non-Chinese Person Wear A Qipao or Changshan?
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- Опубліковано 29 чер 2020
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Alan had the idea of wearing Peaky Blinders suits for a week to see how it would feel like, which made me want us to wear traditional Chinese clothing. Then I realized how, uh, weird that could get for Alan. So I dove into the concept of cultural appropriation as it relates to clothing, specifically Chinese clothing.
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I am Chinese and I welcome anybody to try our traditional clothing including qipao and Hanfu, as long as there is no purposeful offence.
I'm not Chinese and I support 100% the young Chinese people trying to make Hanfu 'fashionable' again.
It's very beautiful.
But as a non Chinese, I would not dare wearing Hanfu.. It would be too much for someone not immersed at all in the culture and with zero Chinese blood.
'Mixed' fashion is OK I think. And the 'working clothing'/everyday practical clothing of simple life/activities.
Lots of universal wisdom in the everyday solutions of various peoples.
@@morriganbermejo4042 ?
@@morriganbermejo4042
A 'country' is a land + a Nation.
Nation means related by birth. Blood.
Like it or not, that's what it was, is and always will be.
I'm simply telling you.
'Racism' means nothing.
The word was invented very recently in Human History by very strange people in very troubled times.
Simply telling you, again.
Humans always loved, were neutral or balanced, hated or were indifferent to other humans living far away or just the other side of the mountain/valley/river.
Simply telling you.
Now on topic.
Of course having 'some' blood or 'a pass' from the people you want to dress like, is perfectly sane and respectful.
Don't get what you're trying to say..
+
well this part is where non-binary collective society thinking clashes with the typical binary individualistic thinking in western influenced society.
@@baqikenny You comment makes no sense.
BTW :
"The Tao begets One,
One begets Two,
Two begets Three,
Three begets (...)"
+
This seems like another case of Americans confusing themselves and each other.
Yeah and problems arise when we don't realize we're actually confused.
💯
I have seen a gorgeous hanfu and wanted to wear it, but because I got so scared of being called out for cultural appropriation I did my research prior to be sure that Hanfu weren't sacred clothes like a Native headdress. And then I fell into the rabbithole of wanting to learn more and more. I'm so happy that people are seeing that fashion could be used as a bridge between different cultures!
Results: I bought my hanfu (it's a Ming Dynasty one and I could find a gorgeous yunjian to wear with it) and I started my process of finally learning mandarin, it's hard but it'll be better eventually!
Sounds awesome!
I support you bc you like hanfu so youve got great taste
where did you get it? im looking to get some too but don't know where to start
I wanted to give one of my American friends a Romanian traditional attire because she was very appreciative of it when she visited my country with her husband. She said she would love to see how it feels to wear one of the attires, so I handmade one for her. The process took me an entire year.
Next time they visited I had the attire ready and I wanted to give it to her.
I want to point out that we as a people don't mind when foreigners wear our traditional attire, we totally encourage them to wear it if they like.
When she saw what it was, she started to argue with me that I am forcing her to appropriate my culture and what I'm doing is very wrong, that nobody should wear another culture's clothes.
She stopped talking to me then, and a few months later I gave the attire to another foreign friend who was far more grateful for it.
I don't know about others, but I don't mind when someone wants to wear traditional Romanian suits and this encounter was the first time I came across the "cultural appropriation" thing.
Edit: I'd like to wear Hanfu one day, those are amazingly beautiful garments!
I think the clothing that was referenced in the video was actually 旗袍 (qi pao), which was the ethnic clothing of the Manchu, not Han Chinese. There was an earlier comment that explained this more in depth:
wakaka bravo
@@michellemoo4412 I know, I just wanted to share my experience, which didn't involve qipao, and I am more fond of the hanfu than the qipao (though I own one qipao dress).
Hot damn the disrespect of rejecting a Handmade!! Dress!! Due to American values!! That sounds like a fantastic gift and im glad it went somewhere where it was valued.
That’s weird of her to completely stop talking to you because of that... You’re even from said Romanian culture and you’re telling her it’s okay. sorry you had to deal with that
Sometimes people who are trying to be respectful about cultural appropriation seem to become racist by accident, saying only certain people are allowed to wear certain clothes..
I got banned from a group earlier today for saying I wanted to wear hanfu as a white woman... even though my boyfriend is Chinese and wants me to wear what I want. No ones going to be happy, I’m just going to wear the hanfu
as an asian (chinese + lao + thai) can I say something? you can wear it! and I'm even more glad that there are other race appreciate our culture. as long as you're not gonna mock the culture - It's. Totally. Fine!!! 🎉💋
@@idontknowmyname.9202 ah I didn’t expect a response! And trust me, I absolutely love the beauty of Chinese culture. It actually really upset me to be told I was trying to take the culture for my own when, really, it only occurred to me because of my boyfriend’s nationality. I think some people are confused between appropriating and appreciating and assume cause I’m white I don’t understand the cultural importance of what I’m doing.
I'm African and absolutely love the this Chinese dress and wanted one. This attire is gorgeous, elegant.
Honey go treat yourself and get one. If you want a good quality one, get one that's made of silk brocade or at least good rayon fabric. If you buy brand new' expect to pay $50 or more. You can save a little money if you buy used. And I advise buying in person if you can. That way you can try it on before you buy. Chinese sizes are small compared to American sizes.
You should! The design emphasis on the curve on body, if you do want one, make sure to have a tailor made or a size that fits your size well
Omg I'm also African and I want to do the same😊^o^
I agree it is gorgeous ❤👏🏽
You should get samfu (for guys) or cheongsam (for ladies) 👍🏼. In Malaysia, we wear each other culture clothes and we don't have this problem. Our country has three distinct culture: Malay (baju melayu, batik shirt, baju kurung, kebaya), Chinese (samfu, cheongsam) and Indian (saree, kurta, dhoti). I don't know what the fuss if someone wants to feel good wearing other culture clothes.
I agree! I am native myself and the headdress is quite distasteful. But we love when other people wear things such as our bead work, Moccasins, or when have an aesthetic like having artistic designs on a shirt we love it! I love that someone has taken an interest in my culture. People need to realize that what we call cultural appropriation has how we have survived as a species and have new cultures were created. Such as Japanese culture, they took in so much stuff from China and they were able to make it their own. In my mind for the most part, cultural “appropriation” is a good thing and it’s how we survive and learn new things.
I like your thoughts I had friends who were hired to work in the North of Canada in an inuet community and the were subtly expected to purchase traditional winter clothes especially for their young child in order to support the local economy, selling traditional garments was some folks livelihood
Perfect comment. We have twisted the meaning of cultural appropriation so much that its doing more harm than good.
I'm from Scotland and I have always had an appreciation of Native culture , I love the clothing and patterns , artistic designs on tops , fringe and beading jewellery , I own a lot of clothing like this and even have a pair of Minitonka Mokassines boots , I see a lot on youtube about how this could not be appropriate , I don't know why but is it ? Do you like when fashion designers and brands take inspiration from you're culture ?
@@underthesea123100 of course! Because that’s how it’s going to to help spread the culture. There will be people who like it and want to seek out the real thing. It will help create more awareness of it and even if it’s just one person, that’s one more person that knows of indigenous culture. And I mean I think you would know about cultural attire being commercialized, I mean the Scottish kilt and plaid in general is everywhere.
@@keithkoganeislife3144 I got a quick question. Do you know of any stores that sell authentic native shoes and clothing? Preferably made by a native artist themselves?
I consider clothing as a form of art, I think it would be beautiful for us all to share that and learn more about each other and our backgrounds, just always respect each other
Once me and my grandma were watching TV reporter talking about similar situation with korean hanbok (I am korean) and my grandma said: "why does this people care about this? Don't they have other problems? Find a job, people!"
LOL
It's weird watching this knowing that I did wear a qipao for my middle school prom when I was 14, I knew nothing about it other than it was chinese and looked really pretty, had a lot of fun with it. Since it was 2005, no one really cared and I got a lot of compliments.
I hope to wear a Qipao for my prom soon, I am scared because there are a lot of Chinese/Asian students at my school and I am not of Chinese descent.
You know what I feel like the Chinese dress was inspired by Western classic look but they try to make it look or represent as Chinese classic style but really it the same as the western classic fashion it is not a culture style is just a luxury fashion classic type style. I'm not asian but if you look closely to American classic fashion vs Chinese classic fashion there literally the same just America fashion and china fashion
As a Chinese, I'm actually happy to see non-Chinese people wearing Chinese traditional clothes, as it's way to show they appreciate our culture. But I definitely hate that non-Chinese wear them and claim they are from their culture, like what a lot of Koreans do today. This is called culture appropriation.
korean dispute. lol. you need to hand over your chinese card if you think it is ok for non chinese to wear anything chinese. the korean just confused their understanding how the chinese had influenced their traditional wear.
it's never about cultural appropriation. it about preservation.
If a Korean wore this attire but didn’t make a claim, would you still be ok with it?
@@ryanjacobson2326 maybe. a lot of consort from ancient korea wore chinese clothing in the imperial palaces.
@@hvuu1628 what I found “Tang dynasty hanfu influenced the Japanese kimono, while the Ming dynasty influenced the Korean hanbok.” So, honestly, if someone’s attire was inspired by another’s I don’t think it makes sense to vilify them for claiming it was their culture. We need more kindness in this whole world. Creating hatred over clothing is really silly. And sad.
@@ryanjacobson2326 and all is influenced by the xia and spring and autumn era. point being its all rooted from china. kindness is why we have so much stolen identity. we actually need to set the record straight. kindness creates more victims that leads to hate. it's naive to play nice.
The thing is, many Overseas Chinese included Chinese American, had lost track with their culture that they thought qipao or changshan is their traditional fashion, but most people in China categorised them as retro fashion, especially qipao, which was invented around 1920s, with elements driven from Manchurian robe and Western body hugging style, and yes Chinese women do wear qipao to parties, past or present. Some Han Chinese might view qipao or changshan as a symbol of oppression as those two garment were driven from Manchurian's clothing, which was forced upon Han Chinese during the Qing Dynasty together with the Queue Order, those who don't complied will received death as result. Now in China people are reviving and promoting 汉服/Hanfu, literally clothing of Han Chinese, which could be trace back to even before Han dynasty and continued to evolve and wore by Han Chinese throughout history until the early-Qing dynasty.
True, but many of the early Chinese diaspora came from the era where Manchurian fashion was the norm. So to many oversea Chinese, I'm guessing that's why they would feel the changshan and other manchurian fashion would be the traditional wear, whereas western fashion would have been the non traditional fashion at the time. The two cultures diverged at a point. It's probably for the same reason European Americans wouldn't consider medieveal or rennaissance European fashion traditional White American fashion, because of the long disconnect from that culture.
Wait then what about tangzhuang?
@@aygulmemet4201 modern "tangzhuang" was designed in 2000 for APEC, based on Manchurian's magua. If you study the fashion of Tang dynasty you'll find out that "tangzhuang" looks nothing like what they wear during that period.
@@aygulmemet4201 Hanfu is the traditional attire of the Han Chinese. That is also where the Japanese Kimono and Korean Hanbok came from. Hanfu, the long flowing robes with wide sleeves is at least 3000 years old.
@@tsukasa1608 Oh, I understand now. The "tang" in tangzhuang didn't come from tang dynasty, but instead from "tangren", which means chinese people, am I correct?
For me its ok for foreigner to wear traditional Chinese clothing like qipao or Hanfu when they know the meaning of what their wearing. But I wouldn't like it if someone would wear the Emperors dress 龙袍, crown/hat 皇冠 or any other dresses for a formal event. 像册封典礼之类的衣服
Yes! I think that if you want to wear something that's from a culture you don't know about, it would be great to inform yourself about what is appropriate to wear and what is not.
赞成。As long as the motifs and colours are appropriate, the origin/meaning of the dress is appreciated, I don’t think it’s a big deal for people of other cultures wear it.
Well why would they wear an emperor garment though, that just sounds like cosplay. Perhaps for recording a drama?
@@len2003 Why? Who cares? It's just clothing. Origin is irrelevant.
@@schmidth because certain cultures have been repressed through history and their clothing and hairstyles and cultural traditions have been snatched and erased from them bc of that. It's not just clothing. Traditional clothing represents it's own culture.
I think the instinctive reaction of outrage is more like the anticipation of insult. It's because generally when we do see people dressed in a style of a different culture it is usually as a Halloween costume or something else insulting. I think if more people did dressed like that because they liked it and are just going out it would become normal to just see it around and people wouldn't feel like they have to be on their guard. I personally want to start wearing more of my culture (Vietnamese) clothes just as everyday wear in America, because it is beautiful and you don't even see Vietnamese people wearing it much here except for weddings.
I am malaysian. In my country non chinese wear qipao or changshan is common thing. Its never became an issue to us. Usualy we wear other race costume during their biggest even. We wear qipao during chinese new year and sari for diwali. We wear their costume to show our respect and friendship. They really happy we wear their costume
exactly! there’s a difference between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation which a lot of western people do not understand yet.
ayy 1malaysiaa
as an indian i totally understand this. most people who have an issue are not even from the said culture or have been born and brought up abroad. if you ask any native they’d be more than delighted to see other people appreciating and wearing their dresses.
Ironically qipao and changshan are not culturally belong to Han Chinese. It actually belong to the manchu people. During qing empire, the manchu forcing the Han people to wear as force assimilation or they will get a harsh treatment. Which is why nowadays more Chinese from mainland China wear a hanfu which is more Han Chinese traditional clothing way back to Han dynasty. So technically qipao and changshan should be considered as symbol of oppression towards Han people just like how in America where white people forcing native American to assimilate by wearing western clothing.
Only partially agree with this.
1. We can't deny that the Qing dynasty had a massive influence on ethnic Han Chinese culture and dress. To erase that part of our history would be disingenuous.
2. Early Qing dynasty clothing actually drew inspiration from the late Ming dynasty - you can see this in the shape of the "aoqun" and emergence of the Mandarin collar towards the end of the Ming dynasty.
3. The qipao and changshan are not really Manchurian or Qing dynasty clothing, although they are adapted from them. The qipao is actually a cross between changshan and Western tailoring methods, resulting in a completely new dress style. Ironically the qipao is a perfect example of cultural appropriation.
Manchurian clothing is based off of Han Chinese tailoring methods. They took heavy influence from China…
I get where you're coming from but the Manchu are also Chinese, a different people group from the Han but Chinese nonetheless...
@@hweiii excellent point. The concept of the Chinese people is all inclusive of the many ethnicities within China. It‘s a mostly invented idea.
While it did start out that way, over the course of the entire dynasty many Han people took comfort in qipao and changshan as their clothing and took pride in it, and brought that with them when they immigrated and passed it down to their children as well. As a member of the Chinese diaspora I think the changshan is very nice and would like to have one myself one day. Of course the “hanfu” revival movement has a lot to respect as well, beautiful exquisite clothing.
This is so benevolent and kind it's really rare to see that on youtube. I loved your conclusions
Thank you! It feels good to see someone recognize my intentions. Cheers.
Holy crow. Thank you so, so much for this video. Since I was a kid, I always had an interest in Chinese stories, art, outfits and history (the story of the Four Dragons is still my favorite tale!). I've always admired hanfu and have been wanting to incorporate some hanfu pieces into my wardrobe- it is so elegant! But I've been afraid to buy any of it, since I'm terrified that people will lash out at me. Thank you for the reassurance. 💜
I have been studying Mandarin for several years, major in East Asian Studies at university, have visited Mainland China and Hong Kong, lived in Taiwan for a year, and of course have a deep appreciation for Chinese culture. Still, I felt like I shouldn't wear any Chinese garments because I am white. I did not want to offend anyone. This video changed my perspective. Now I realize that it might actually enable me to share my interest with others and to have some difficult but necessary conversations. Thank you for your perspective!
On a similar note, I dressed up as a "Chinese princess" one year for Halloween, and such costumes are usually deemed offensive nowadays. I showed a picture to a close friend though, and she found it adorable. Actually, that would have been a great opportunity for my parents to get some books from the library and try to make a historically accurate costume, ideally of an actual person. That did not happen because my parents were too busy working, but my interest was obviously sincere. I hope we can all learn to embrace our natural, childlike fascinations with other cultures. It is easy to tell when someone is motivated by love rather than attention seeking or disrespectful.
Love hearing things like this
when I visited China I wore a hanfu because I found it very elegant and lovely.many Chinese people complimented me and talked to me about the culture behind the style, it made me so happy and so connected with Chinese people and their culture .
I’m Russian and I have this idea of sewing a dress inspired by Hanfu for a while. I have such a perfect design in my head! Thank you for allowing people to be inspired by your culture. I only start my research, but I already learned a lot about the difference between Chinese, Japanese and Korean traditional clothing. Before I barely could recognise which one belongs to which country. I hope to learn more.
0:42 if you look through that user's twitter history, you can find out that he said some really racist stuff against black and white people including multiple times he used the n-word. I think that shows what kind of person he really is
That’s very ironic
I studied cultural anthropology and spent my last semester studying in Chengdu. I obviously can't speak as someone belonging to the culture; in the time I spent there, I saw ads in English offering tailoring for custom qipao. I saw all flavors of people wearing them with no resulting anger. I just never got the impression anyone cared. When I was in school, cultural appropriation had a more neutral connotation. Now it solely represents cultural exploitation and disrespect. For too long in this country, minorities have been abused and traumatized; it makes sense to be protective of one's cultural associations. But now social conflict theory is the normative lens while there's more than one discourse for examining cultural exchange. There reaches a point where accusations of cultural appropriation repress genuine and respectful cultural exchange. And that's not right.
Totally agree. It's just overseas Chinese have different sensitivities from Chinese in China. Especially in America, identity is always interwind with politics so they care a lot about their cultural identity I guess. I personally embrace diversity and welcome anyone to try my culture if that person shows interest.
Yeah people in china don't care as long as you're not wearing something traditionally japanese and then call it chinese, or the opposite
I am African American and I recently bought a qipao because it’s so beautiful but I didn’t want to be disrespectful to anyone so I had to make sure I knew more about it, this video absolutely helped me feel better about wearing it thank you!
I mean heck it ain't like there own ppl be disrespecting and wear it however they want to so I would
When you fell in love with a Chinese-inspired dress and gotta make sure you can wear it before buying it. This makes me so happy. The knots, the embroidery, the artistic history. 😍😌 Thank you for putting this video out into the world and giving us permission to enjoy, explore & appreciate Chinese culture & artisanal beauty openly without shame and fear.
Beautifully said! ✨ Thank you for this video. I was searching for a discussion about this topic and you covered that nicely.
I know this video is kinda old, but I agree with you 100%, I am African American or black, I'm from America and current I'm doing research on the Hanfu, Qipao and other traditional Chinese clothes for a drawing and I've been in love with Chinese culture since I was little, the food, the architecture, the traditions, the poetry and the history always fascinated me. I'd love to one day wear a flowing Hanfu to show my love and appreciation to the culture and people within it and I want to learn Chinese (though this would be very hard q_q;;)
People need to realize that culture isn't supposed to be relegated to one part of the world, it's supposed to be shared unless not (Like the Native American headdress) it's supposed to be learned, taught and shared, at least in my opinion-
I have two qi pao styled tops, but I'm too scared to wear them for 2 reasons: they're too revealing and me being called out for cultural appropriation...
I'm really shy and when people start discussing with me I get really nervous and cry. Just bought them because they looked really well made and good looking, but I did my research about it later on.
I can feel you...I wish you can find the confidence to wear them outside :) They surely will look great on you! If I would see u on the street wearing a quipao I would smile and think what a great piece of garment you are wearing :)
if your tops are not sexualized in any way (looks sexy or provocative or styled in that way), you’re completely fine to wear it! :)
@@AlexaMonroe-fk6yc oh no that’s definitely ok don’t worry
Agree with you. While it seems increasingly common to be quick to judge, we must learn to consider the context and factors involved in the decision made. We've gotta be veer away from being more opinionated than informed. This goes for clothing choices, and honestly, everything else.
I like that. Informed vs. opinionated. Not to say that one shouldn't have opinions, but maybe we need all the information before we come to a judgmnent.
This really helped my perspective of the sort of silliness and preformative nature on social media.
Also very likeable person very level headed :)
Thank you so much for explaining this to me, my daughter was trying to explain this to me and now I have a better understanding. New to your channel and subscribed.
omg, that's all I was needing to hear! I've been researching hanfu for my chinese study group and really wanted to reproduce one to show them, but I was so worried it would be cultural appropriation
That’s amazing! If you decide to go through with your plan, I assure you it’s cultural appreciation, especially with all the research, studying and effort going into reproducing it.
Omg I love this guy!!!! So glad i stumbled on your channel
Glad you enjoyed it!
Wear whatever you want! Learn about my culture, please. I love seeing people of difference races wear my traditional garment. But please don’t insult it by making it into a sexy crop top or pulling your eyes back. It’s all about respect (:
Is wearing clothing usually associated with the culture of other ethnic groups legal in the country you are in? If yes, then they can wear whatever they want, nobody has any buisness enforcing or regulating this. A culture is not the personal property of a person or a group. Also, saying that a person of non-chinese descent cannot wear a qipao because of their ethnicity is literal discrimination based on ethnicity.
About your mention of the traditional native clothes, yes copying them would be distasteful but unless what they are doing is directly inciting violence, then the native peoples in question can only criticize.
Im native and I think wearing native traditional clothes is fine as long as people genuinely are interested and respectful. The headdress is only distasteful because it’s very sacred and has to be earned. Native men put their lives at risk to earn them, some even die in the process. Not to mention only men can wear them. It’s like putting on a fake military uniform with a bunch of medals and walking around in it and sexualizing it when those soldiers put their lives at risk to earn those.
@@ak-tn1edthis basically circles back to the understanding of the piece of garment
It's cultural appropriation when disrespectful and distasteful, while it's appreciation when tasteful and appropriate
it’s fine, with the exceptions of:
sexualizing it
not understanding the background
wearing it as a costume
updated opinion upon doing research
the cheongsam/qipao dress as we know it was pretty inspired by westies and ppl hoped they could have a fair government (they kinda idolized westie government at the time or some shit idk) so it was literally inspired by that
also the short dresses are cute af (they r cold though lmao) but actually have more meaning than just "oh its cute and i wont trip!1!" it was worn by women who were kinda done with norms
when the garment was banned all together some dressmaker dudes escaped to other countries and sold those dresses so historically no one gave to damns
anyway love u ppl bye
well said
Why is it not alright to wear it as a costume? There are some chinese cosplays.
@@rein0123 Because most of the time when it's worn as a costume, the clothing is not made or worn in a proper way. If you're cosplaying a character, that's fine because the character would've had a specific costume.
@@joeymerlis i guess? To be honest doesnt look like there has many ways qipao can be worn though.
@@rein0123 Firstly, Qi Pao(旗袍) is not the only traditional clothing that we wear. There are many others such as Chang Shan(長衫), Zhi ju(直裾), Qu ju(曲裾), Chang Yi (氅衣) Ru Qun(襦裙) and so many more. They all have the occasion, time and ways to wear. Some require a different set underneath the clothing, some can only be worn by certain people and some needs to be worn in layers with knots. Of course, there are simplified versions so that more people are able to wear them without the fuss of wrapping in different directions and tying knots everywhere, but please do understand that is part of the clothing. Some mistakes could be really awkward because it is worn in a way a dead person would.
Secondly, Qi Pao is pretty simple to wear compared to other styles of clothing, however, the clothing itself represents modesty and grace. So, to wear a Qi Pao means to act accordingly to those qualities, if that makes sense. Such as standing and sitting straight (shoulders back, butt not sticking out etc), legs straight (not twisting legs in a weird way, sometimes you see people doing that on public transport), not lifting the legs too high. And certainly not doing that weird pose like the girl in prom -_-; We don't do that here.
I hope this is helpful:)
TL;DR Wear it like a lady ;)
I'm writing an essay on cultural appropriation which I have to curate a UA-cam playlist for and I was so happy to come across this incredibly nuanced video! I liked it so much I subscribed, thank you so much for making it.
I feel so pleased to hear that. I own a kimono from Japan from a previous trip and still have difficulty to wear it outside freely even if I try to modernize the wearing through the help of the kimono enthusiastic community on IG. I love Qipao and Ao Dai from Vietnam as well. I think as you said it so great to share and appreciate a garment for all the craft makers behind and the noble fabrics that are disappearing these days for fast fashion. Thank you for this video!
His comments about seeing someone wearing something unusual leading to curiosity which then leads to learning more about human history, for me, are spot on.
yo! this is super interesting, I checked out your channel and website and will DEF be looking at it in more detail great content I love it
I appreciate you taking the time to explain your thoughts!
At first the thumbnail made me think you were a woman, you have beautiful hair!
HAHAHA! Thank you. One time I was at a music festival and this drunk Aussie guy kept trying to talk to me and then halfway through the set he turns around and says, "OI! I THOUGHT YOU WERE A GIRL!"
@@MeritStoreOfficial You're just a beautiful man but, I could clearly see you are a man!
This is rad - I love the openness. I love exploring grey areas rather than black and white and I think you helped me follow your journey through grey :) Learned a lot.
very good topic brother. Thoroughly enjoyed it
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Great video and well said. I love traveling and learning about other cultures on food, clothing, jewelry, etc. Me owning a piece of their work is me appreciating their culture. Also, i love seeing people from all cultures wearing a chipao, and I agree it can lead to more conversations, whether good or bad, it educates people on the subject. ❤️
I love how this was said. I have veeeeeeeery lil korean in me and often I get slighted and called a white girl (being half Irish makes sense). But it makes it incredibly hard for me to want to wear anything of what I’m made up. I hugely respect all cultures, and try my damndest to never offend. But often am offended because I’m too white, or I don’t look asian.
What are your thoughts on modern cheongsam? Though I am not of decent, would this be offensive?
I am Afro-brazillian and wear tangzhuang shirts regularly and incorporate a lot of east asian elements in general into my daily fashion. Though learning about and indulging in East Asian culture is a MAJOR hobby and past time for me and I spend a lot of time researching before deciding how to wear any item of cultural clothing. Doing it correctly is important to both me and the experience imo. I don't quite have the confidence to wear my flashier and outwardly asian clothes like my kimonos or changshan out in public but I hope one day stigma will change and we'll be able to wear eachothers cultural clothes freely in everyday life. I think your opinion is the right one. If a chinese brother or sister wants to do something like get dreads or wear a dashiki I 100% support them.
Thank you so much for the nuanced take and your willingness to share with your coworker. I can tell you want to foster community and that is so wonderful ❤❤ I’ve experienced gatekeeping from others about their culture when all I wanted was to understand them and their home better. I wanted them to feel seen and heard in our community
I really appreciate you making this video! I've been wanting to get into cosplay and the particular series I was looking at is a Chinese xianxia-based and even /as/ an Asian, I was worried about cultural appropriation, as I was born in the West without much education about my culture's ancient history. It made me uneasy when I saw a very particular video from someone condemning non-Chinese persons from wearing Chinese traditional clothing in general, which made it felt like /I/ shouldn't do so. Your video & the comments below helped with quelling those uneasy feelings, so thank you!
A little late to this party, but I just have to say "well said." One of my favourite feelings is when people light up with joy when I show interest in their culture. I'll never forget going to a Middle Eastern restaurant and exchanging some simple Arabic with the owner; he hugged me, and was excited that I showed interest in his culture.
The world is too interesting not to share. Be respectful, but be open.
thank you for this video! i've never heard someone speak about the difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. it makes total sense to me that some garments have a specific meaning and should be worn by the people who belong to the culture those clothes come from and other garments don't have the same sacred meaning. it's a good reminder that we should look into the significance behind certain clothes before wearing them if we know they come from a culture we aren't fully educated on.
I know this is a bit late but currently I've been in the works of designing my prom dress. I have done so much reasearch on what makes a qipao, it's not even funny. It's kind of an oath to my favorite game "Love Nikki" which really got me interested and invested into Chinese culture.
They often have events surrounding Chinese holidays, mid autumn festival, Chinese new year. And they even have an event for Thanksgiving! An American only holiday. But it's where I first learned of the qipao and hanfu, both are styles of dresses that I adore
Thanks for making this video I was wondering about this.
I recently bought a few ruqun hanfu, and I'm so excited to wear them! I adore han-style clothing, and I love Chinese culture❤️
Great video! But there is a thing that i would like to clarify: Tang Zhuang唐装 is not from Tang Dynasty. Here is some insight into the Tang Zhuang. Tang Zhuang is a modernized version of Ma Gua that were brought back during the Republic of China period. The Ma Gua 马褂 originated from Three Kingdom Period (220-280AD), however this type of clothes wasn't really popular until the Qing Dynasty, because the Man ethnic people would wear this kind of clothes/top whie riding horses, so people just name it Ma Gua(Horse Top, literally).
I very much agree with this view point👍🏽👏🏽 thabk you for posting
Thank you for making this video☀️
Thank you for this video! Accepting and sharing culture leads to increased understanding and empathy for one another. Our world needs more positive emotions.
This video is very educating, thank you :)
Culture appreciation is so beautiful. Thank you for this video.
I love cultural appreciation, because I don’t want the world to forget..
Thank you I found a Chinese jacket at an antique store and I was afraid to wear it out. I am not now and I want to learn more about these clothes. I think they are so cool and awesome.
I came here to think about if I can wear hanfu as everyday attire because I absolutely love the culture and the style, and I do as much research as I can (I'm in the sca where appreciation not appropriation is an absolute must)
This was a very helpful video, thank you.
You are one of the smartest people to ever speak on this! Thank you!
On the 4:35 "peace sign", that is meant to be VN (it kinda is supposed to look like that) and I think it means vape nation.
Yeah, and I have seen some gamers do the closing the hands like the girls do as a "gamer focus mode" pose or something among these lines.
So I really think they were just doing silly poses for the photo.
Tbh the whole culture appropriation issue is only an issue I see within the white (especially in the USA) community. In Malaysia, we sometimes wear the traditional costumes of other races to during national celebrations as a sign of acceptance and unity. To see people getting confused over something as simple as appreciation and appropriation is truly worrying.
I think it's more towards distasteful or strange if someone's wearing something like cheongsam while not being Chinese in the U.S. As long as they don't fetishize it there's nothing wrong. It's definitely not cultural appropriation, but we're also more wary cause there's a history of racism and fetishization of our culture (not saying there isn't in other areas and cultures, just an explanation of why we might feel it's distasteful)
Im not chinese but i use qipao and something like this because i love on the deepness of my heart the culture chinese 😍
Yes it’s such a beautiful culture 🙏 I’m not surprised that Americans and other people might want to wear a qipao, because it’s a beautiful culture and not many other cultures are as elegant and stylish as the Chinese culture.
Qipao is not Chinese, it is Jurchen
I found this video as I was looking up if it would be socially acceptable to wear a Cheongsam shirt, I love China, I love the history, and I am currently learning Mandarin at the moment, I have been fascinated with China since I was 8 when Disney's Mulan came out (I know that this isn't a great place to start, but that's what started me on this journey, got me interested in the Great Wall of China, the history, culture, OH AND THE FOOD! How is Chinese food so much better than European food!? Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
Oh and if any Chinese readers see this, 你们太好了 (probably pretty terrible, but I am still learning).
Form and fit, beautiful aesthetics, lovely fabrics. That is what fashion is all about for people that enjoy looking amazing. We should be able to share what is beautiful about our styles. Like the bridge to bonding people.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings. Xo
This is crazy! This video just open my eyes to a whole new perspective! I am not Chinese, but I love their traditional clothing as well as culture. I do agreed with out said about the positive side; thats okay for a non-Chinese to wear qipao or Changshan! That’s the reason how I come across this video. I was doing my research on Chinese Manchu women’s robe (Qi top)! Still doing my search and I learned there is so many styles. Lol
As a person living in a multicultural country, Malaysia, I find culture appropriation weird to me. Wearing another culture's traditional outfit is NOT culture appropriation but appreciation. You bought it, you wore it, you enjoy it and there's nothing wrong with that. I would be proud to know that someone of other culture likes my culture and wants to explore it.
This helps so much, thank you.
Thank you for this. I have always loved learning about other cultures and being inspired by their fashions, foods, dances, and music. In recent years I've come to fear expressing my appreciation for other cultures in fear of being accused of appropriating them.
This was so relieving to hear! I have a Qipao and I’ve been wondering if I should wear it out when I have a chance but I didn’t want to give off a cultural appropriation vibe despite doing my research on the clothing
I am so glad that I stumbled across this video. I love the Chinese culture so much and am actually in the process of creating my own hanfu but am highly concerned with the fact that I don't want to offend anyone with what I am doing. I did as much research as I possibly could before even deciding which style and materials to buy. So fingers crossed that my project is finished tonight so that I can wear it tomorrow night for the New Year's Eve celebration.
THANK YOU!!! I am an asian-american apparel design student who would love to incorporate the shapes and styles of traditional asian into my designs for school. I was worried some people would think that my line is cultural appropriation. I was trying to do research which lead me to this video. I feel so much better knowing that other asian-americans feel the same way i do!
There is no cultural appropriation by using Qipao as the base since it was symbol of Westernization during Republic of China Era, night club hostess used ti wear it in 1930s Shanghai. Nothing sacred about Qipao, but you should avoid Imperial Chinese royals clothing because it has very deep philosophy.
I'd love to wear a Hanfu one day because I just thing it's absolutly stunning.
there are a lot of gorgeous hanfu on Taobao! you should try to order some 💝✨
As a Chinese lives in Asia, I'm absolutely alright for non-Chinese to wear qipao or hanfu. If they like it, just do it. Why would we need to think so much? I'm even thrilled and happy to see non-Chinese to wear qipao or hanfu. I don't care if they wear it for fun, prom, daily wear. Whatever. If they are happy with it then just let them be. So long they don't wear it for ill intention. And so long they aren't naked.
I even encouraged my European friends to wear hanfu since they love it and I even helped them to provide hanfu pattern to sew their own hanfu.
不必想太多。生活很简单。如果他们喜欢穿， 穿吧。haiya...
Great points. I think intention is key. Planning a wedding to my Chinese/Malaysian/Singaporean girlfriend and in this we are both learning through clothing and traditions how to bring our families and friends closer. The first day will be traditional Chinese, with tea ceremony and auspicious traditions. But would encourage our Swedish friends to wear folk dress or appreciate her Japanese friend sporting her kimono. Would in everyday life stretch to a mandarin collar on my shirts, both for the style and comfort, but also since similar collars existed in my Swedish grandfathers youth and love them cause they remind me of him.
Great content. Thank you. Great subject. I love culture.
I started doing a little research on traditional Chinese garments from all eras can you recommend some good source material so I can learn even more about them. I'd really like to learn more about all tradition garments not just the Qipao.
Great episode.
100% AGREE with your thoughts. Thanks for sharing them. LOVE from Italy ♥️♥️♥️
Thank you so much for this video. It has been so useful for me, as my best friend gifted me a Qipao to wear at a family celebration (the quinceañera of a cousin of mine) and I had been debating in my head for weeks whether or not it was appropriate for me (a Latina woman with no traces of Asian heritage) to wear a cultural garment as the Qipao at all, let alone at a Latinamerican party; I have always regarded asian culture with fondness and appreciation, when I saw the dress I thought it was absolutely beautiful and fell in love with all the fine details of it; and I totally agree with you, the simple fact of owning this dress led me to do so much research on Chinese culture and traditions while trying to understand its significance culture-wise. I was afraid that I'd be mindlessly appropriating an aspect of a foreign culture that might be sacred to it and thus inappropriate for me to wear. This video has brought me lots of clarity, and I am deeply appreciative of your objective take on the matter. Thanks a lot
When I first saw a Changshan in Turkish TV news, an old journalist was wearing it and i fell in love with that imidietly
I literally came here because I fell in love with the pattern and design of the dress but as a black person i dont feel comfortable to wear it.
As a Chinese Asian, I'd say you should wear it XD try it out at new years, and if it weren't for covid, I would've recommended you to wear it during Chinese/Lunar New Years to China town too:)) Give it some research regarding colours and style if you're still not sure ;)
bruh its just a dress
wear it if u want
I agree with you. I also want to live in a world where we all appreciate cultural references of countries we might like. I am Italian, but I do wear clothing and jewelry from across the world. I make researches on what I wear, to have an understanding, sometimes deeper, sometimes just a quick overview... I am puzzled when people like me are attacked for being rude while wearing something from Kenya, Laos or Native Americans. I am doing nothing than enhancing the beauty of an artifact and an art piece and celebrating the culture that it refers to. We are all one world.
Thank you! My daughter and son have worn these often as gifts from Hong Kong. Typically they’ve worn them for cultural day at school. My youngest wants her own. Also, my grandmother used to teach me about Chinese astrology and Chinese New Year. She wasn’t at all Chinese but Hispanic and part Irish cooking Asian meals weekly with a deep appreciation for the cultures. My kids want to wear traditional Chinese garments for the new year but we have a Chinese neighbor and I didn’t want to offend so we did check into this. I personally agree. We love many cultures and want to honor them to show solidarity and connection to the community around us. It seems silly to use it as a way to divide us.
I think the point you mentioned about how using a garment from another culture can lead to learn more about the culture it happened to me personally. I have always admired asian culture, and I have studied its geography. I have a deep interest in art and fashion industry. I started modeling south East Asian clothes, then Mexican clothes, Colombian clothes, Chinese clothes to mention some. But like you said that was what at first brought my attention and eventually I started to do more research about their history and now I’m currently trying to learn mandarin.
Regards, 🌹let’s unity our society, and see the uniqueness and beauty of each culture.
💐
Dude you are so....right on point with your thoughts. If it's done with disrespect then it is so wrong that they should be shamed. But if there's no disrespect intended then by all means go ahead. Do the research, join the world fashion. Let's not separate us over the little things. Love that you are explaining it from YOUR viewpoint, keep up the great conversation and help unite the planet by acceptance of each other.
ive been tempted to cosplay from the untamed, specifically Lan wangji, and was wondering which parts if any i should not do. as im not chinese and am not overly familiar with the culture and cant find any articles myself. great video!
Ask chinese people instead of Americans.
Can I just say, "thank you thank you thank you"! I have nothing more to say since this video covers perfectly my exact thoughts on this topic only more eloquent than my own. I actually wanted to add some food for thought: what about mixed people? I'm half French half Malay and one of my brothers looks proper white where I look more Malay minus my height and long nose. What if someone saw my white looking brother, who is from the same set of parents, wearing traditional Malaysian clothing? Who are we to assume that it's not from his culture? I think a video on this topic with a portion of social experimenting and interviewing people on the street would interesting.
I'm Chinese and I wear Western clothes all the time, so I don't have any problems when a Westerner wants to wear Chinese clothes.
The importance and reverence that my students treat their prom dresses with makes me feel like even though it's a party it is the party for a lot of teenagers. With everything going on with the variants, prom is up in the air and I have students who have completely mentally checked out because that is one of the most important of events of their senior year.
There were girls who by the second week of school were setting up appointments to get dresses handmade when they found out that we don't know for sure if we're going to have a prom.
i love your video, i have a beautiful blue qipao but i only wear it inside my home. its absolutely gorgeous but i am afraid to wear it anywhere else
People just need to chill. I don’t have a problem with others wearing my culture clothing. I’d be happy about it
I saw on a TV show a White woman use a qipao at a wedding and it was so beautiful, and since my sister's wedding is coming up I thought that I might look good in one because it was so elegant and pretty! I'm glad I found this video to understand better more about this awesome culture! Thank you so much!
I don't know why white was with a capital W lmao. Just for context, I am Brazilian.
i love chinese culture culture so much but i was doubtful if its ok for me to wear em. but now when i go to china i’m bringing a bunch of beautiful cloths along with other gorgeous handy craft.
This is what happen when people in the US confuse with Halloween and normal day clothing. I understand that this stem from wearing black face during Halloween and the critics seeping into when people trying to be more understanding of other culture. I have mix parentage (Malay and Chinese) and I love when my friends wear my culture clothings.
Ok question, I have learnt a lot from ancient Chinese history, eg the first seismograph, silk manufacture, traditional offgrid food preservation. I like trouser hand fu's (not sure if thats its exact term) and i am tying to figure out a way of minimising the amount of stuff i own but will last longer and still remain classic and versatile whilst dealing with my body weight issues and injury pain which limits my clothing options. is it wrong to try and figure out a way of getting the look of a hanfu trouser whilst reducing the amount of clothing i own and making it comfortable to deal with my medical issues?