Reuse Case: Wearing au dai
The practice of wearing au dai – Vietnamese formal long dress – has sometimes been taken on by white Americans. Recently a French designer had a runway show in Los Angeles, in which American, mostly white and black models, walked the runway wearing au dai. This sparked a storm of protest from Asian American activists, as a particularly aggregious form of cultural appropriation – especially since it was coming from a French designer. Now, Tom is getting married to Nancy in Los Angeles. Tom is a white American, Nancy is a Vietnamese-American. Nancy participated in those protests. But Nancy’s Vietnamese family strongly wishes that Tom would wear an au dai at their wedding. What should they do, and why? And should it matter if any photos will be posted on Instagram?
