Overview

Keziah's Chinese Prom Dress refers to an online controversy surrounding photographs of 18-year-old high school student Keziah Daum wearing a cheongsam (also known as a qipao) traditional Chinese dress to her prom, which was accused by some as a form of cultural appropriation.

Background

On April 22nd, 2018, Twitter user @daumkeziah^[1] tweeted several photographs of herself at her high school prom, in which she is shown wearing a cheongsam (shown below, left). On April 27th, Twitter user Jeremy Lam retweeted her post along with the message "My culture is NOT your goddamn prom dress" (shown below, right).^[2]

Developments

That day, other Twitter users tweeted various opinions on the dress, with some accusing her of cultural appropriation and racial insensitivity, while others defended her choice of attire and accused critics of bullying and virtue signalling.

Daum's Response

On April 28th, Daum posted several tweets responding to those criticizing her for wearing the dress, saying she that she meant "no disrespect to the Chinese culture" and that she was "simply showing my love for a beautiful culture" (shown below).

In an interview with Teen Vogue,^[8] Daum claimed the praying signal pose was a reference to the h3h3productions memes "Vape Nation" and "Papa Bless":

"The signs and hand signals had nothing to do with the culture. They were in reference to a famous YouTuber named Ethan Klein from h3h3 productions. For example, the praying signal means ‘Papa Praise’ and the other one is ‘Vape Nation.’"

Online Reaction

On April 29th, 2018, H3h3productions uploaded a video titled "You're White Do Not Put This On," which mocked and criticized those who were offended by the prom dress (shown below). Within 48 hours, the video received more than two million views and 23,200 comments. Meanwhile, a post about the controversy was submitted to /r/asianamerican,^[5] where the top comment defended Daum's choice to wear the dress to her prom.

The following day, Twitter published a Moments^[3] page titled "People are outraged this teen wore a traditional Chinese dress to prom," highlighting various reactions to the photographs. On May 1st, Twitter user Melissa Chen tweeted a screenshot of a Jeremy Lam tweet in which he jokes about "eating tamales with chopsticks" (shown below).

Parodies

Jeremy Lam's tweet has been used as an exploitable template for parody variations, often featuring photographs of women wearing various costume dresses along with the message "My culture is NOT your goddam prom dress" (shown below). On May 5th, Redditor master-cunt submitted a post asking "What's up with the memes that say "My culture is NOT your object?" to /r/OutOfTheLoop.^[6]

Search Interest

External References