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.

@TBOM

Were the Japanese children who pulled "round eyes" at me racist?

Or does it only work one way?

@Bpdqueen

That's extremely disablist of you

Did you not read my post properly? I've explained that accommodations and considerations are (or should be) extended to people based on their individual needs.

It's extra disappointing to hear someone who has likely suffered and needed those accommodations and considerations due to something out of their control dismiss other people who have the experience of being a minority of any kind.

I am bipolar and also have ADHD. It's made me more aware of the fact we all need to be treated as individuals which means that if someone finds something offensive, it's not ok in my opinion to dismiss their feelings and tell them their hurt is unjustified.

If you felt my post was ableist I apologise. My point was the opposite of that.

There's nothing offensive in how different racial appearances are depicted.

The dress of each character is slightly suggestive of different cultures.
Different cultures is good thing.
The characters are all depicted the same (rosy cheeks & smiley).

Can't see an issue.

You don't need to apologise you didn't offend me your free to write whatever you choose

The level of ignorance shown by people posting here with no idea of the history around negative depictions of Japanese, Chinese and other nationalities is disappointing. All this innocent "it's just lines instead of dots, what's the problem?!" stuff is just, wow.

@lljkk so you just scroll past the posts where East Asian people say they do find it racist, due to racial abuse they receive about the size and shape of their eyes and you just think… what? What goes through your head? How does lines as eyes represent a particular culture? You are aware that East Asian people don’t actually have eyes like lines, right?

Totally agree. Not to mention the "reverse racism" shit some posters are angling for. Embarrassing and ignorant af

I think there are enough comments why and how the dress is racially offensive, from the POV of several Asian women speaking up here. Its very obvious why. We don't see minstrels depicted on clothing, why on earth would it be acceptable to depict Asian people like this? That's what's offensive.

But aside from that I think the pink fleecy trim is ugly anyway.

I love how people I know who say people are too easily offended are the first to go apeshit at scenes of say Muslim extremists protesting at a British troops parade, or someone saying they are non-binary and demand to be known as they!

The double standards are ridiculous.

They were racist too. Doesn't make your actions right though. Or how you're trying to justify them.

It’s almost painful how many people are on here saying there’s no issue.

Is the offendee assuming that Asian eyes are bad? If not, why is depicting them bad??

I think the “offendees” are aware that Japanese people have a variety of eye sizes and shapes and that depicting them as lines is a lazy stereotype that people really should have grown out of.

I'm starting to think some people here really do believe east Asian people have slits for eyes. I can't think why else they would think "lines" are accurate characteristics for cartoons.

@Hadjab

its hard to tell these days on here, but are you actually serious?

@freezingpompoms if someone needs to get on their hands & knees to look at a small girls hem line to decide if they're offended or not, it's not worth worrying about.

it's all gone far too bloody far. Utterly ridiculous.

I was born in the early 70's , I'd like to go back please.

Well said. 👏🏼 Some people really wear their ignorance with pride.

I was born in the early 70's , I'd like to go back please.

Back to when racism wasn't called out?

Its funny, my 4 year old celebrated Martin Luther King day at Prep school in London, and her class (of 4 year olds) seem to have a deeper understanding of racial discrimination than you....

I blame the Greeks,they invented gayness.

it's all gone far too bloody far.

What’s gone too far? Can you say it out loud?

Is it that hard to think “oops that offends someone, I won’t say/do that in the future.” How does that shake anyone to their core enough that they can’t cope with modern life?

It’s a lovely little girl’s skirt. Nothing remotely offensive about it at all.

Its a cute dress and there is nothing wrong with it.

The reason we know the East Asian girl is East Asian is because her eyes are depicted that way. You are being oversensitive about an immutable characteristic. (I am from an East Asian family myself).

It’s offensive, Disney changed the image a while ago, here’s the new one

I was born in the early 70's too , great times when a man could legally rape his wife with no come back. Good times.

Er , the national dress is a bit of a give-away.....