Is this dress offensive?

[freezingpompoms]

This dress was bought in America 20 years ago. It's a Disney Small World dress that depicts differing nationalities. It's age 2-3.

Someone said they didn't think it's very PC so I just want to check. I'm happy to be told either way.

I think the big point that the skirt apologists are missing here, almost unbelievably, is that ethnic stereotypes tend to be more damaging and pernicious when they are targeted at communities which are already subject to inequalities in global ideological / power structures. It’s all very well asking if it’s racist to draw a white person with snow white skin as someone did above, and yeah, maybe that is also an unnecessary stereotype. But it’s not being overlaid on the impact of centuries of oppression.

What generation is that then?

I'm from Northern Ireland, and I still get the Irish stereotypes. Doesn't bother me either. I have family from different cultural backgrounds and I'm a bit confused. I mean this not as racist but a general wondering. Many are commenting on the eyes, but those anime cartoons often seem to have the same eyes. Again, I don't mean this in any way offensive, but if it is offensive to have eyes like said figurine on the skirt, why is it shown so often in said cartoons? Just curious

Well, I know Irish people who don't like being stereotyped as being thick/dumb/imbeciles. I'm really surprised some people don't mind that.

It's one thing to make fun of a stereotype of your own culture, but it's completely different when someone from another culture makes fun of your culture. It's why white people can't use the N-word, or make "slanty eyes", or mock/mimic Asian accents, or make jokes about Jews etc.

You have to be more specific. East Asia isn't suffering inequality on the global stage. Quite the opposite...

www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/12/covid-19-fueling-anti-asian-racism-and-xenophobia-worldwide

Specific enough?

That may be true of some countries economically right now, but my point is a general one relating to how the effects of othering and stereotyping are compounded when they intersect with additional and / or historical oppression

The skirt is not making fun of anyone's culture or race.

I've seen far more 'offensive' slogans on T-shirts in supermarkets and no one bats an eyelid, calls racism, sexism, or the like, or suggests buyers are racist.

This is a bright, happy garment - pretty inoffensive unless you're looking for a reason to complain.

@CrimsonPostBox What were some British people’s attitudes to the Japanese like after ww2? What were some British people’s attitudes towards Chinese/East Asian people at the start of the covid pandemic?

Are East Asian people a majority in the UK? Do they have power in society? From my dh and kids’ experiences, there is still plenty of racism targeted at East Asian people, from physical attacks to verbal ones, negative comments about eye shape/skin colour. Why do white people feel safe to repeat racial slurs to East Asian people?

Just some things to think about.

Did you read the thread? It’s not about making fun of anyone. It’s about how such a narrow and stereotypical take on diversity, however well intentioned it might have been initially, is not appropriate.

Also, just because you aren’t calling out sexism etc, doesn’t mean others aren’t.

And there’s the problem summed up by @happyinherts who was one of the first posters to reply on this thread, who has presumably read the replies by people explaining why East Asian people find it offensive and still thinks it’s normal to come back with “you’re looking for a reason to complain”. How does it hurt you to understand the perspective of the people actually affected by this?

Yep, I've read the thread - and responded to It's one thing to make fun of a stereotype of your own culture, but it's completely different when someone from another culture makes fun of your culture....

Like i've said, it's a skirt. It's not making fun of a stereotype. This thread has gone way overboard.* *

The person who designed that skirt used a stereotype for another race. How is that so difficult to understand? It's no different to drawing a Jewish character with a big nose, or a black character with big lips and afro, or a Latino character with a huge ass. It is not appropriate for a child's item of clothing.

They were trying to embroider children from around the world being happy - that is how I see it. Shame it's led to all this.

During a time when it was fine to be openly racist.

@happyinherts do you also think it’s a shame that images like that lead to kids bullying my children for having East Asian eyes? Using the exact words that would describe that kind of picture?

@BewareTheLibrarians My daughter's been bullied for being autistic in all types of derogatory terms. My son's been bullied for having red hair and glasses. We've all been bullied for something in our lives by other children. Short arse, fat face whatever. Yes, it's wrong, and something which parents need to address with their children. But I still see this as 'simple' embroidery, depicting children of differing races being happy. It's bright and cheerful. I'm not seeing a racist overtone - and that is my opinion.

@Doubtmyself

🙄🙄🙄

@happyinherts Sorry to hear about your children, kids can be cruel.

Imagine how it would feel to have stereotypically negative images of, for eg, children with autism that your daughter saw on a regular basis. On clothes, on worksheets , in books. Imagine people making fun of her based on those images. Imagine other people convinced there’s nothing negative or offensive - telling you that “all autistic children look like that, what’s the problem?” And “how does it affect her, it’s just a picture.”

It wouldn’t feel great. I’m sure you too would be attempting to make people aware in the hopes the world will be a slightly easier place for your kids.

@happyinherts Well how would you feel if someone took a stereotype of autism then put it on a skirt? Right after that little Asian character there is a little girl wearing a helmet. Would you still think "aww that's cute"?

The moment I saw it I thought ‘that’s pretty’, all I saw was bright happy cartoon characters on a pretty skirt, there was not a racist thought in my head.

I think everyone's overthinking this to be perfectly honest. Wouldn't bother me in the slightest to see a stereotype of a child with autism - if you could even do that - with a skirt. Yes, they wear skirts. My daughter would be blindly oblivious. If it was brightly coloured, yellows, oranges, reds, that's what she would be drawn to.

@happyinherts Sorry, you clearly don’t realise but it’s very rude to say that people are overthinking this when people - specifically East Asian people - have taken the time to explain the derogatory racial slurs they’ve had about their eye shape/size and how it affects them.

You won’t find a single picture of her on clothing or merchandise with her eyes open so to all intents and purposes her facial appearance is identical to that which appears on the dress in question, an appearance which appears to have caused no significant offence in Korea. Furthermore many of the supporting characters in the show have eyes that are both open and slanted.