Fashion Nova is accused of cultural appropriation for its Halloween geisha costume (metro.co.uk).
Fashion Nova is the latest line criticised by consumers who have complained about their geisha Halloween costume which they feel appropriates Japanese culture and makes a mockery out of an ancient civilisation.
The $49.99 (£38.09) outfit includes a “cultural insensitive” kimono, skirt, belt-like sash obi—the tying of which differentiated geisha from oiran (insidejapantours.com, Jan. 2018) who needed to re-tie it more often spending most of their evening on their backs with whom their role is often confused—and hair sticks and on sale with other orientalist favourites such as ninjas and Hello Kitty-esque cats, but none perhaps as “racially insensitive” as the “slant eye” gesture making Chinese boy fancy dress costume Amazon had to pull at the start of the year (mirror.co.uk, Jan. 2018).
To “add insult to injury” Fashion Nova had initially misspelled geisha as “geshia” which was later changed and shockingly according to the Metro described as “sexy”, before disappearing entirely after causing the fuss which Students Teaching about Racism in Society (STARS) “broke down” as:
“Cultural appropriation is best thought of when members of a dominant culture in a society adopt certain elements from a minority culture’s heritage without understanding what those elements mean to the minorities,” a spokesperson told Metro.co.uk.
Adding that:
“What makes Fashion Nova’s costume so racially insensitive is that it feeds into a stereotype of Asian women being sexual objects and temptresses for men’s (almost always white men) desires. We know this because the costume is explicitly marketed as ‘sexy’.”
‘Sexy’ being a problem
And underlining as noted above regarding the costume’s sash that “geishas were never prostitutes, they provided other forms of entertainment such as singing, dancing, poetry, or light conversation”.
As likely would anyone wearing the costume at Halloween will be involved at party in similar acts of “entertainment”, to some drunken degree at least, being mistaken for a prostitute could cause just as much offense as what STARS state the “ignorance and lack of willingness to learn” has seen “America and the rest of the Western world” translate being a geisha as prostitution, could it be that the organisation is seemingly translating “sexy” as akin to “prostitution” itself.
With the STARS statement going on for another 6 paragraphs or so regarding the harm caused by “costumes based off of racial stereotypes because those costumes then reinforce harmful ideas and power dynamics” it may leave some, likely many certain, that costume-wise, what a politically correct masterpiece of self-sanctimonious undisplayed global granny knickers STARS’ must be.
Back in 2016 it was…
Back in 2016 it was Asda accused of cultural appropriation for selling a Halloween Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) costume (Latest Picks 18th Oct. 2016) which, when asked, MexSoc UK—the society for Mexican students in Britain—had no problem with despite it being evident of a “lack of cultural knowledge”, pointing out that costumes and carnivals have little to do with reality.
And China-based Asian e-commerce giant Alibaba and associates catalogs are full of“sexy” historically inaccurate geisha costumes (Google Images). In fact, it would be interesting to see where the label says Fashion Nova’s Geisha costume was manufactured.
And it seems Japan has no issue with Western visitors dressing like a geisha for a day:
Dress like a geisha in Kyoto at MAICA (insidekyoto.com).
MAICA is one several places in Kyoto where they’ll dress you up and make you up as a geiko (fully-fledged geisha) or maiko (apprentice geisha) for a fee. MAICA has been in business for years and is comfortable with foreign guests and enough English is spoken to get the main points across.
Recent/related stories
- ‘Twerk or Treat’: People are turning their butts into sparkling pumpkins for Halloween (Latest Picks 5th October 2018)
- Fortnite Halloween costumes and ‘weak’ Social Media Influencer costume that’s just leggings and a bra (Latest Picks 3rd October 2018)
- Dress up as your failed relationship this Halloween with PartyCity Womens Ghosted Costume (Latest Picks 26th September 2018)
- Yandy removes sexy The Handmaid’s Tale costume (Latest Picks 24th September 2018)
Share this story