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.

Fair comment.

My feeling is that the intention is good but it would be best not to wear it.

It’s a very sweet dress. I saw the photo before your text and thought of it’s a small world.

I can see why there would be an issue though, with the doll second right’s eyes.

It’s a shame. If you’re handy with a needle I’d be tempted to unpick the eye stitching so there are just little round eyes left at the nose end!

That's great, but it doesn't mean anything. It obviously is your business because you've made a point to comment on this thread multiple times.

It's a lazy argument, dressed up as indifference. What you really mean to say is, because I don't find this particular thing offensive to me, it's eye rolling and annoying that other people do.

It's just ignorance and lack of empathy. I'd be more interested in why you're so keen on defending it if other people's lives are actually none of your business. Because it seems to be enough of your business to try and convince people that they shouldn't care.

I feel like it's more accurate to say that you don't care about the stereotypes portrayed because they have no impact on you, and therefore don't see it as a big deal. Even if they are a big deal to others, you lack the empathy or understanding of the context to care.

When this is noted, you try to make it about the fact that the racist images are on an object of clothing, so you deflect by saying you "don't care what people wear". This image is racist, it has nothing to do with the fact that it's on clothing. It could be on a poster, TV advert, whatever. Your opinion would still be the same because the crux of the matter is you don't care that it's offensive.

I looked at it it for a while and couldn’t see anything wrong with it.

Until someone mentioned the lines used to depict eyes. Yeah, that’s not right. Maybe you can use a sharpie to draw circles

This thread is a prime example of how racism is still so deeply ingrained in society. The uses of “cancel culture” and woke, or “looking to be offended” might as well just say “I like being racist, so stop trying to take that away from me”
Do better people.

I would not buy this or put my child in it.

Exactly this. A significant portion of Mumsnet users can be counted on to show how thick, racist, and entitled they are on any thread that touches on racism.

As an East Asian, one of the many groups, along with Jews and blacks, that the racist white majority has historically portrayed in a mocking and othering way, I would be offended by this, and if I saw your daughter in it, I would think you were an ignorant creep.

Caricatures that portray a group of people as an odd or ugly or exotic monolith have historically been used to dehumanise all members of that group rather than let them be seen as individual human beings with the same needs and rights as people in the dominant group. Caricatures like that make individuals in that group self-conscious about their features and encourage bullying and mockery. I, like most East Asians I know, regularly had little white children pull their eyes back into slits like those portrayed on that skirt to mock me.

Those of you who think that’s cute despite people telling you how this negatively affects them are horrible, ignorant, racist people.

Ironic, given you started a thread last month about how boring your friend has become since owning a dog.

@YPipoY 💐

Stop the wokeness. It's not offensive.
I am not white by the way.

@BewareTheLibrarians
In cartoons all kinds of features are changed for easy depiction, Noses or eyes. Even hands, cartoonists only draw 4 fingers/thumb never 5.
To Chinese I am a 'Roundeye' or being rude a 'longnose'
I may not like longnose but I don't moan or feel 'hurt'
It is a pretty dress and does not deserved to be policed.

The point I'm trying to make is if we keep going down the route of cancel culture being acceptable and everyone having to ask permission about what they wear or do or say before you know it we're all going to be like robots

But I didn't tell her to get rid of the dog because I don't get to dictate what others do

This - it seems such a waste of good quality material to just to chuck it and never use again. Sharpie to slightly modify a few of the features should do the trick?

LOL< I dont think relegating outdated and prejudicial racial stereotypes to the past will turn us into robots

But if, as you say, other people's lives are none of your business, why are you creating threads about other people's lives on online forums? Surely you should just be minding your own business 🤔

'Offensive' and 'racist' are totally differing words with totally different meanings.

So people on this thread have shared that they find the depictions offensive and hurtful, and your response is so use 'hurt' in inverted commas as if it's not justified or authentic as a description of their feelings? Do you think they're lying about finding it upsetting? If not, why not just use the word without the marks around it?

I can't imagine reading about someone having had painful experiences and then in response describing their 'pain' in inverted commas. It reads as minimising, dismissive and sarcastic.

”Stop the wokeness”, sounds like the speech of a racist tbh. It doesn’t matter that your not white. We’ve all seen Priti Patel , 🙄

Harmless apart from the slanted eyes on the Asian character. Highly offensive.

Yeah it's a really slippery slope from trying not be racist and everyone turning into robots.

It wasn't about somebody else's life it was about my life

True but most people find racist stuff offensive~ this thread demonstrates not everyone finds racism offensive though: very eye opening