The fact that Keziah wore it to a prom party and posed peace signs with her friends may indeed seem somewhat casual and inappropriate. Thus, her Chinese American critics viewed her behavior as a profanity to this cultural attire because, in their opinion, qipao should be worn with enough reverence, and it should only be worn by someone within their ethnic group. On the other side, Keziah claimed that her intention for wearing qipao was for appreciation rather than appropriation, explaining in an interview that “the people who are responding to this in a negative way don't fully understand the whole story and the reason I wore the dress in the first place. It’s important to be aware of intention, and my intention was to show my admiration for this culture” (qtd. in Greenbaum). So, is it necessary or even reasonable for all Chinese people to get so indignant just because an American girl who appreciates the beauty of the dress, as well as the culture behind it, wore it to her prom?
Surprisingly, and even ironically, across the Pacific Ocean, the Chinese public took a completely different stance from those Chinese Americans on Twitter. Most of us were quite supportive of Keziah and many, including myself, were pleased by her action. Many of us felt proud that our culture was recognized by a foreign girl and think it is essentially wrong to equate what Keziah did to cultural appropriation. In a New York Times article from 2018, Hong Kong-based cultural commentator Zhou Yijun said, “It’s ridiculous to criticize this as cultural appropriation. From the perspective of a Chinese person, if a foreign woman wears a qipao and thinks she looks pretty, then why shouldn’t she wear it?” (qtd. in Qin).
