Quote:
Originally Posted by MisticLight
I did read the thread. I don't see how dressing up as a geisha is seen as negative. Also the article didn't make sense to me as why the opening addressed sexy costumes when that wasn't the topic at hand. Instead of asking if I read the thread, mind explaining why dressing up as a geisha is offensive?
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It has to do with the stereotypes of Asian women. It is a hyper-sexualized stereotype...that Asian women are submissive whores that exist to please,obey, and submit to white men, like the whole "Me love you long time" thing.
Slight tangent - A big part of the stereotype continuing to persist is the huge problem of sex trafficing of Asian women in Asia and in the US. When I was growing up, there was an Asian massage parlor on the other side of town (suburban town in Pennsylvania) that was rumored to be a prostitution ring. And a few years later, a sting operation cenfirmed it and it was raided. Before that though, my family had once gone to buy furniture at a furniture store that was in the same shopping center. I was probably 13 or 14 (and definitely looked 13 or 14), and a 50-something white man that was going to the massage parlor smiled and looked at me really creepily and lecherously when he walked past me and my family. It was very disturbing to have a 50-something man looking at me like that.
As for real, authentic kimonos, hair, and makeup, I'm not Japanese but I think that it can be done respectfully by non-Japanese if they've educated themselves about the culture,
the history, and the meaning. I think there is a difference between wearing an authentic kimono because you have learned about and admire the culture vs dressing up in a cheap, slutty-looking costume that equates geisha with being just a sex object.