Just curious, can we get a show of hands how many people are Chinese-American or Chinese-Chinese? The admins have been discussing cultural appropriation and it seems like the term’s pretty much unheard of in China. The consensus seems to…
This is the opinion based on the discussion between the four admins of fycf.
The previous post about Armani broached upon this issue, one of our fycf admins’ meaning might have been misunderstood, there were a lot of disagreement, some were angered, some cussed. If our admin gave off the feeling that Chinese fashion designers are inferior to western ones, then that certainly wasn’t out intention and we apologize for the misunderstaing. So here, we try to clarify their meaning. (this is a response to the fashion post, we don’t directly address cultural appropriation here)
In today’s international fashion scene, many Chinese designers are trying to conform to the western idea of what should be Chinese, thus limiting Chinese-style to a narrow interpretation, this is happening too often, and many Chinese people are annoyed by this. However, the Armani show was consistent with most Chinese people’s understanding of their own fashion style, so they expressed approval (1). The positive feedback doesn’t mean absolute praise, but when many people have the same opinion then we should reflect on the cause for such a reaction.
Especially, given that Armani is a foreigner/westerner, further making this issue a sensitive topic on Tumblr (where not many people are Chinese-Chinese).
Before inserting our opinion, we would like to ask, how many people actually identifies with Chinese culture as their sole relegation. If the answer’s no, then, how solid do they sound when they claim things for Chinese people? (if they have no true understanding of their culture and identity), to argue with Chinese people on how Chinese culture should be interpreted? We don’t mean to deny anyone their heritage, but for those who only cling to a shallow understanding of what Chinese culture is, to have a moment to reflect deeply.
Some of the people who talk about cultural appropriation and racism only sees the issue artificially, they think that race is the only issue here and do not investigate the matter on a deeper level, and in reality these are the same people who deny the Chinese people’s position on the issue. If we, as Chinese, aren’t even allowed to point out when our culture is incorrectly used, then isn’t that a kind of denial of our heritage? If one thinks that Chinese style is only gaudy and loud, then that person is merely conforming to the stereotype of what Chinese style is, not respecting Chinese culture, —- “We are multifaceted, not all of us are those overly flamboyant caricatures, true Chinese style can be classic and refined.”
Currently, some Chinese designers in China, in order to conform to the western standards of beauty and spread their name further, have decided to work themselves into that narrow interpretation, overuse gaudiness, in order to fit in that mold, but Chinese style should be various and multi-trending. What Armani did, surprised Chinese people, “it does not look like what we have been seeing from a typical Chinese fashion designer?” . What does this mean? Some Chinese fashion designers nowadays already created a stereotype of our own Chinese themed fashion, such as the overuse of Qipao elements, but we rarely see Hanfu elements on the runway. If we saw one out of ten “hanfu inspired dress” on the runway, we would feel happy, but rarely are hanfu elements used, because westerners don’t think it’s Chinese. “It’s kimono.”
Even though we can’t claim to completely understand the situation of all Chinese outside of China, but from a perspective of Chinese Chinese (half of our admins), some of these people (who do not truly understand Chinese history, dress, culture, but claim to be Chinese, and Chinese ppl who don’t try to learn about their culture) refusing criticism of Chinese designers who try to fulfill the oriental stereotype, that’s also irony.
Chinese culture should be diverse, sure there’s the boisterous side, but some designers do this once, twice, and never go outside of that box to explore the multifaceted nature of Chinese elements, they are only concerned with appearing/passing off things as Chinese, but not BEING Chinese. If this is all a designer knows, then the problem enlarges to the point where they use oriental motifs without knowing the origins such as with Bu (3). So let me ask then, should we be allowed to call out such ignorance?
Chinese people, should have the right, to constructively critique their own country’s designers, and also point out when they are incorrectly passing things off as Chinese, we should all have a voice in what “China’s image is in the international scene”. We all need to sit down and study the culture, if you can’t even defend your own culture with facts when it is incorrectly used, then you have no voice at all. No one can claim anything for anyone.
