Is there anyone in that kimono?

"Harajuku" women posing in Tokyo

I was asked on my Facebook page today why I'm taking such a strong stand on this cultural appropriation issue and this was my reply

I'm taking a strong stand because - 

3 women designers were harassed and shamed into removing the description kimono from the name of a garment they had designed.

1) I'm outraged by bullying - the people who "educated" the designers had their discussions in secret with those businesses but felt OK to whip up other women on social media to support their stance. Threats were bandied around about boycotts and ongoing public shaming campaigns to pressure the designers.

2) the "educators" (I use that term because its what Papercut Patterns called them. Apart from Emily Ito - who has not responded to my call out to discuss her point of view - they refuse to publicly acknowledge who they are, so I’m in the uncomfortable situation of referring to “educators, they, them, etc…), in my view, have a very poor case for claiming using kimono is an unacceptable cultural appropriation. I’ve carefully read what could be described as Emily Itos manifesto and aren’t convinced by her argument. The weakest part of it being that contemporary “white” women should be making amends for the internment of Japanese and Japanese-Americans in the USA during WW2.

3) the cultural appropriation case does not have integrity in my opinion and the shadowy people who are claiming it does should be able to debate it openly and with transparency in a public forum.

4) As a feminist I’m appalled that this furtive group is using their energy and resources to target other women. This is a horribly misguided approach. Patriarchal power (in its multiple manifestations as historical colonisers of Asia, the male gaze in art - Ito refers to Orientialist art, much more I’d like to say about that…) and male privilege is what they should be targeting. Confected outrage about inherited “privilege” of white women results in driving wedges into female solidarity. I absolutely and totally acknowledge that white men from Europe and Britain were and still are the main oppressors of half the world. But white women have been no less colonised and subjected to the male gaze, just in different ways.

5) After 5 days of being ignored and stonewalled by the shadowy, unidentified people who say they have a principled stand over this issue I'm starting to take it personally. Helen of Helens Closet said she wouldn't publish any submissions that were racist, bullying or examples of discriminatory behaviour. As she hasn't published any of the comments I submitted I have to presume she has put me in that category. I do take that very personally. 

"The comments section below will be moderated. Please allow time for us to approve your comments. Please note that racism, bullying, or any other discriminatory behavior will not be tolerated in the comments section of this post."

Despite spending many hours of my time thinking through, researching and writing about my strong opinions here for the last 5 days I've set aside some time to start writing up the Sencha Kimono pattern which I hope to publish by the middle of June.

I'm presuming that as the cultural appropriation warriors have't shaken their weapons at me in regard to my intention to use the word kimono in the pattern name that they won't subsequently  target me or my business with the shameful tactics they used on other designers.

After 5 days of calling them out with absolutely no acknowledgement I have to assume they have totally no concern whatsoever for what I do and think. I have been told that American "sisterhood" often regard themselves in a superior category to the rest of the world. They are more exceptional and entitled. Their suffering and oppressions are more poignant and significant. My experience of trying to get some interaction going with that mob seems to confirm that. 
Then again, Emily Ito has an Instagram following of nearly 12,000 so perhaps she is afraid if she were to acknowledge my concerns her friends might want to savage me, so perhaps I should be grateful to be so irrelevant.

Their way or the highway, as we say in Australia.

Lastly on my Pinterest page I have had a tribute board for the last 6 years dedicated to the extraordinary Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong. (lets not segue into the ghastly racist attitudes between Chinese, Korean and Japanese women....more stuff where angels fear to tread)

https://www.pinterest.com.au/pearlredmoon/anna-may-wong/

is my wedding dress your couture?

Japanese women love the traditional European white wedding dress

Four days have elapsed since I publicly called out the women who attacked 3 independent designers for using the word kimono in one of their pattern designs. I have been inviting Emily Ito to engage with me publicly either here or on my FB page - Boho Banjo art to wear

The result of my attempts to contact her was that 2 days ago she blocked me submitting comments to her blog. Helen of Helens Closet continues to publish only a censored selection of comments on her blog, that being only the ones that support her decision to change her pattern name.

I considered trying to present my argument to a much wider audience by asking the Curvy Sewing Collective to publish a submission from me. But without contacting them I’m pretty sure they would back off because this is too much of a hot potato issue that they wouldn’t comfortable about getting into a discussion about. The backlash would probably be threats of boycott and personal abuse being sent to the moderators.

Ironically, the CSC published a post from me in June 2015 in which I discussed the influences on my design style. I outlined my love of contemporary Japanese clothing design and how I’ve been deeply influenced by the Asian style aesthetic since I started patternmaking and designing clothes in the 1980s.

Heres a link for anyone curious to read: 

I love lagenlook by Pearl Red Moon

https://curvysewingcollective.com/curvy-opinion-i-love-lagenlook/

After 4 blog posts since Friday 17th May where I’ve clearly outlined my reasons and argument that using the word kimono is NOT an unacceptable cultural appropriation and repeatedly invited the people who think it is to comment here, I can only think that their ongoing refusal to engage implies this:

1    1)    their preferred strategy of approaching designers to express their opinion is to do it secretly

2    2)  they don’t respect me as a person whose opinion is worth acknowledging

3    3)   they don’t want to be identified publicly or discuss publicly because they understand their contention has very shaky underpinning and would collapse under scrutiny

4    4)    they are just bullies who enjoy intimidating people and trying to present a reasoned argument in public isn't part of their agenda

I don’t know what their reasoning is because they won’t say so I’m just left shadow boxing and standing up for what I think is right. I am really uncomfortable referring to these people as - "they, them and these" but I have no option as the only person who has named herself publicly is Emily Ito.

If you’re a designer who has been tackled by these zealots I want you to know I have your back and will stand by your side to support that using kimono in your pattern name is not an unacceptable cultural appropriation. If you’re being bullied I am perfectly comfortable if you refer these people to talk to me and block any correspondence from them.

My personal email is

pearl@upstairs-art.com.au

If you’re a troll who thinks sending me abuse and threats might be an effective thing to do, well, go your hardest and I’ll publish all correspondence publicly so people can see what an idiot you are.

As far as I can work out at this point the attacks have been coming from 2- 3 American feminists with Japanese heritage, along with a pile-on of some others who seem essentially ignorant of the full issues.

I have been to a number of websites and blogs to read the opinions of women who are of Japanese heritage who have outlined their feelings that the use of the description kimono for a clothing pattern is wrong. I’m not insensitive to their feelings, I am a person with empathy. It is just in the final analysis I don’t accept that it is a credible contention to say it is an unacceptable cultural appropriation. I know personally I have only ever had the greatest admiration and respect for the Asian clothing styling aesthetic. Sometimes I have described garments I’ve made as “kimonos” and this has came from a desire to honestly attribute my inspiration.

My kimono is on fire

The one sided censored discussion continues on Helens Closet today.
Helens Dad weighed in with this a few hours ago

As many of you know, there have been discussions happening around the use of the word ‘kimono’ in the making community this week. This is in no way the beginning, but rather, a rise in awareness and conversation that is being led by BIPOC (Black and Indigenous People/Person(s) of Color) makers who are dedicating their … Continue reading Suki Robe Name Change

I want to say publicly how proud I am of my daughter for her work on this issue. When she introduced the Suki pattern I never gave a thought to the use of the word “kimono”. We all have a great deal to learn about this issue, and much to do to change old behaviours/thoughts; and make a future where all cultures/people’s are respected and valued. And Helens Closet is an example of how an individual business can deal with theses issues up front and honestly.
Helen’s Dad

Well, thanks for the advice Hughie, but I still disagree. I find the reference to "up front and honestly" pretty ironic when not one of the "kimono defenders" has had the guts to discuss with me. Emily Ito has blocked me as spam. In my humble opinion Helen hasn't been well educated but rather more coerced with public shaming and threats that she would lose customers. I've been posting my opinions here for 3 days and not one of the "educators" has had the respect to come out and openly, publicly engage with me. I have had posts deleted, refused and been designated a spammer by some blog moderators.

This experience leaves me having to form the opinion that the educators are dirty ghosts who only attack people that they are confident of intimidating.They will claim the moral high ground to overawe and terrorise specific women and have no qualms to censor, reject publishing and refuse to discuss with any other person who calls them out to express a divergent opinion.

I call them cowards and declare shame on you.

After reading Hughies post to his daughter this is what I wrote to Helen at 1.30pm this afternoon:

Hi Helen

I have written to you a couple of times without acknowledgement. I find your stonewalling attitude and censoring of any divergent opinions to be published on your blog pretty appalling. Shame on you that you only feel comfortable presenting a one sided version of the story. I have been trying for about 3 days to get somebody to actually interact with my thoughtful and educated opinions regarding the use of the word kimono by non Japanese. It seems that the people who have taken the time and energy to coerce and shame particular "white" women designers hide under rocks as soon as somebody who is educated about the issues wants to engage.

I invite you to follow my one woman shadow boxing argument on my blog....www.pearlredmoon.com

I fear you have been so brainwashed and cowed by your experience with the "educators" that you don't even realise I'm sticking up for you and other women designers of "white" identity.

I hope you'll at least respect my courage and intelligence by reading my blog and learning how to have the spine to stick up for principles.

genuinely all the best

Pearl Red Moon

Please discuss....

I tried to post this message on Emi Itos blog this morning but my posts have been blocked as spam, so I post it here. Perhaps she read what I wrote....who knows?

Hi Emi

I sent a response to your blog "My Kimono is not your Couture" yesterday and you haven't acknowledged my communication. I feel disrespected by your refusal to acknowledge or engage. I interpret this either as a lack of respect for my point of view and a strategy to shut down unwanted discussion.

I am a 60 year old textile artist who was born in New Zealand and has been an Australian citizen for 35 years. At the outbreak of war in 1939, there were 12 Japanese people residing in New Zealand, in Australia there were approximately 1,250 interned, along with many more people from Germanic ancestry. My own 3rd generation NZ born family anglicised their name to a less German sounding one, though the single German ancestor had arrived in NZ 80 years previously. In 1939 my mother was one year old and my father 4 years old so they have few memories of WW2 and definitely no active involvement. No people in my family were soldiers fighting in WW2.

I hope you'll be able to acknowledge you may be operating from a very American-centric feminist point of view. It is pretty popular at present to point the finger at an amorphous group of "white" women who are supposed to make amends for "privilege" we supposedly inherited from European colonialism. I am saddened that you and your cohorts are pursuing and coercing "white" small business fashion designers and publicly shaming them over the use of the word kimono. I believe your argument is seriously misguided and doing a disservice to the cause of world wide feminism. You should be directing your energies at educating people about misogyny and the consequences of western colonisation of Asia throughout the 19thC. Do not ignore or make the pretence that somehow the "white" women partners/mothers/daughters of those oppressors were somehow more free and privileged.

This is an important principle to me. I am educated about the issues of art history, feminism, western imperialism and cultural appropriation. Though you and other supporters of "use of kimono is a cultural appropriation" refuse to engage and debate with me in public I am carrying a one sided discussion on my blog...www.pearlredmoon.com

sincerely

Pearl Moon

I still welcome any engagement with the people who have been educating the white designers over the use of "kimono". Papercut Patterns say they cannot identify their educator because the person is being trolled.

I predict that if any of the shadows are brave enough to come out from where they're hiding (probably after I publish "Sencha Kimono") and engage with me over the issues one of the first things they will want to find out is how "white" I am. Identifying my degree of "whiteness" means they will be able to stereotype me and decide on certain strategies of attack. If I'm very, very, very "white" and I assume that means my ancestors were all British then I will be dismissed as woman inheriting white privilege with no understanding of BIPOC. I will be told to show my humility and shut up and listen. I'll be dismissed as the inheritor of white privilege with nothing worth listening to.

The situation will get a bit more murky and the strategies differ if I can present someone of coloured race in my ancestry...how about Maori, Indian (India), Malay, South African? Would they count as black, yellow or au lait enough? Perhaps they'll be calculating how many litres of coloured blood might still be in my body if the BIPOC ancestor was 1,2, or 3 generations ago. Will it matter where I've lived? Will it matter how long my ancestors were there? Does 20 years or a 100 years living in a country give me any right to identify as an indigenous person? Who decides what words I can legitimately borrow from the indigenous culture or what iconography...before it is condemned as cultural appropriation? If my ancestors came from Britain then is British culture the only one I can claim as my own? How do British feel about that if my ancestors left 150 years ago and I have never set foot in the country or have any relatives there that I know of...?

Actually my most recent ancestors were Scots and Welsh. These peoples have had their own historical problems protecting their cultures and borders from the British. Can American feminists rightfully claim that I am still the inheritor of privilege from my ancestral cultures though neither the Scots or Welsh people were the direct colonisers of any Asian countries? So if somebody in my ancestry had been a Highlander at the Battle of Culloden does that make me more or less an inheritor of white privilege than if I had a Welsh ancestor who was a soldier in the British army in 1880s India?

Has anything I've done in my life give me discounts from my "white" privilege? Like having married a BIPOC? Perhaps having a 3 year relationship with such a person could give me some brownie points off being privileged? (acknowledging the appalling pun) How about 50 points if I was married and 5 points for being in a sexual relationship?

I welcome anybody who wants to support the contention that "white" designers should not culturally appropriate the word kimono to talk here with me and discuss any of the points I've raised. There are enough of you out there to have coerced 3 pattern companies to change the name of their pattern but nobody will talk with me...?

more kimono thoughts....

Okay, I'm still waiting for any sort of response from peeps who feel we must stop offending Japanese people by using the descriptor "kimono"...

In the meantime I've been up to other mischief....I just posted this to the blog of Emily Ito who is one the people who originally made the call to action that non Japanese clothes designers should stop using the word kimono because it's an unacceptable cultural appropriation. One of the premises she expressed is that it would be way in which contemporary Americans could make amends to Japanese-Americans who were put in US internment camps in WW2.

Debating on grounds of moral equivalence is often a perilous course....

This is the comment I posted, it is still awaiting moderation, and I offer to eat all my kimonos without wasabi if it gets published....


Emily Ito, may I invite you to reflect on the people who were interned by the Japanese govt in WW2? Do you have an opinion about the 130,000 people of non Japanese race who were detained in camps inside Japan at the outbreak of war? Do you have any opinion to express about the substantially larger number of Koreans and Chinese who were held in concentration camps by the Japanese Imperial Army? Do the people of Japanese-American descent who you call on to support your cause, to make the use of the word kimono an unacceptable cultural appropriation, are they aware of the war crime committed by the Japanese army when they stormed St Stephens College in Hong Kong which had been a military hospital and murdered all the wounded allied soldiers? Are they aware of the 600 detainees who had died in the Stanley Internment camp by the end of the war due to malnutrition, physical beatings and starvation?

Can you acknowledge that in the North American internment camps not a single person died of malnutrition or starvation. Not a single internee was forced into slave labour. Not a single Japanese woman internee was forced to become a sex slave for the army. Not a single internee was beaten or executed in public as way of keeping the other internees in fear and well behaved.

I bring up these historical facts because you have suggested that contemporary Americans should make amends for wrongs that were done to Japanese citizens due to their internment in World War Two (a war that ended 75 years ago)

Kimono, kimono, kimono

Yesterday, after publishing my opinion that using the descriptor "kimono" is not an unacceptable cultural appropriation I was interested to hear the views of others, particularly anybody who disagreed. A number of readers did give feedback on my Boho Banjo Facebook page and all agreed with me that its an unconvincing point of view.

Over on Helens Closet blog I submitted the letter published in bold print on yesterdays blog. Helen had asked for people to give her feedback and the 10+ letters she published are all full of high praise for her decision to change the name of her pattern from Suki Kimono to Suki Robe. Not a single correspondent had a diverse point of view... Half a day after sending my piece I wrote Helen a private email to ask if she would let me know why she didn't publish my submission. 10 hours later as I write this she hasn't acknowledged either of my messages.

So, in the last six months 3 women designers who run small businesses have been severely criticised for using the term kimono in a pattern name. First there was the Wiksten Kimono which became the Wiksten Haori. Then Helens Closet Suki Kimono became the Suki Robe, Papercut patterns Kochi Kimono became the Kochi Coat. These businesses were all subjected to a barrage of angry emails demanding the word kimono be changed. Some of the writers described having links to Japanese culture by blood and marriage and others were European women supporters who believed they should channel righteous indignation on behalf of the BIPOC community.

I did read one well thought out and compelling post about why one woman felt strongly. Apart from what Emi Ito wrote in January (link in previous blog) Saki Jane wrote about her ideas and experiences as a Japanese American on Helens Closet blog. It is about the 6th post down.

In the last hour I had one of the people who strongly supports the view that using kimono is a cultural appropriation direct the comment to me that unless I'm Japanese I have no right to use the word to name anything I design. Still disagree....

I would welcome anybody who wants to express a counterpoint opinion to have a chat with me with a view to publish here. The only requirement is to be a credible argument/point of view expressed without abuse.

In the next week or so I shall get on with designing a new pattern. heh heh hehe *evil cackle* I was going to call this the Jorja Jacket but now I'm sorely tempted to call it Sencha Kimono....

is kimono a naughty word?

Hi there everyone

Reading my instagram this evening I was interested to come across a debate flaring in the sewing community again. The independent pattern publishing business Papercut Patterns, based in New Zealand, was criticised for calling one their patterns a "kimono" and there was subsequently a barrage of outraged commentary. Many indignant people demanded that the name must be changed to avoid causing offence to Japanese people.

A few months ago I read an earlier outbreak of this argument directed to the pattern company Helens Closet in regard to her pattern named the Suki Kimono. In the last few days Helen changed the name to the Suki Robe and issued a heartfelt apology on instagram and her blog. Papercut patterns also issued and apology and said they would change the name of their patterns. I read the discussion at the time and had some opinions but decided to keep them to myself because I thought Ito's contention of cultural appropriation was on pretty shaky ground and would soon be intelligently disputed...

Reading the instagram commentary tonight I learned an acronym new to me - "BIPOC" - and feel embarassed to admit I've been so ignorant of it I had to google it to find out who they were. After working that out I had to rush over to my Etsy shop to check the names of the patterns I’ve published in the last 5 years to make sure there was no name that might offend BIPOCs or potentially anybody else!

Most of the people expressing their outrage and indignation over the commandeering of "kimono" purported to be either people who identified as BIPOC or were channelling with great certainty that their opinions would be representative of the BIPOC community. I invite a properly endorsed person with verifiable credentials from the BIPOC community to please contribute here what their opinions are about people of western extraction who adopt the term kimono to describe a garment they have designed are.

Most of the argument that using the description "kimono" is hurtful and offensive seems to be based on a blog opinion published by Emi Ito of California, who says that her mother immigrated to the USA in the 1960s. 
My Kimono is not your couture

Here are my opinions on this matter, altered slightly from another version which I posted to instagram and on the Helens Closet blog:

I disagree with Emi Ito’s contention that using the name “kimono” to describe a garment is a disrespectful cultural appropriation. In complete contradiction to her opinion I believe it is an absolutely respectful attribution to acknowledge that characteristics of a particular garment have been derived from an Asian dressing aesthetic rather than a European one. I think that if a designer didn’t acknowledge their influence it would be more disrespectful to be in denial of it.

As an artist the cultural appropriation debate has raged in our community for decades so I come from a position of familiarity with it and have often had to consider the issues in my own work.

Are Japanese people as a whole expressing offence at the commandeering of the term “kimono”? Apart from what Emi Ito wrote on her personal blog where else are Japanese expressing their hurt and grievance…? I’m not intending to be sarcastic asking this, I’m genuinely asking to be directed to any place where a significant number of Japanese people are stating that they don’t want people outside their ethnic/cultural group to use the word kimono to describe a garment.

Personally I read using the descriptor “kimono” more as a generic term to describe certain elements of a garment. Thus, I might understand it indicates the garment has styling coming from an Asian aesthetic, such as a crossover front with bands on the edges, wide sleeves, patch pockets and not having western type buttons for closures.  Labelling a garment “kimono” implies it has these styling characteristics, and that the designer has selected that name as a respectful tribute to acknowledge styling attributes deriving from Asia.

The reduction ad absurdum of this argument is that if anybody of western cultural background cannot ascribe the description “kimono” to the styling of a garment without being rude and offensive then perhaps Japanese people shouldn’t be adopting the suit and tie, Japanese women shouldn’t wear trench coats, tutus or Chanel suits (is “trench” a rude appropriation of what WW1 soldiers wore in battle…? Would they be hurt and offended that this description has evolved into something that women now wear as a classic fashion….?). Then perhaps this could be extended to criticising Japanese people who “appropriate” our European heritage crafts such as knitting and crotcheting….?

I enjoyed reading what Emi Ito wrote expressing her opinion that using “kimono” to describe a garment that is designed by a person of western/non BIPOC background is a cultural appropriation. I was curious and open minded to understand her reason for having that point of view. But at this point I’m unconvinced that any genuine offence or issue of cultural appropriation is caused by using the word kimono as a general descriptor.

More Finery

 Another selection of beadwork necklaces from "Finery". These were the earliest pieces made for the exhibition up to a year ago and are rather more conventional in their aesthetic than the mostly cloth pieces I made in the last few months. The piece to the far left is actually mixed beads and embroidery and a close shop was shown in my last blog.

And then a few days ago I did this small image just for fun because I haven't painted for months.
It started as a black and white photograph of 1920s actress Dorothy Sebastian which I altered in Photoshop. Then the altered image was printed on achival paper and pasted to this 20x40x5cm board and overpainted with acrylic paint.

Red Dorothy

"Finery" is launched

I had a wonderful night last night at the Muswellbrook Regional Arts Gallery.
Thanks to gallery manager Elissa Emerson and the staff of volunteers who worked hard all week to set up the current shows.

Coat for the Recalcitrant Bohemian Princess hanging at the entrance

The coat looked fabulous apparently effortlessly floating at the top of the narrow gallery space where my works are displayed.

Me standing beside the coat. Gallery manager Elissa Emerson is in the background

the necklace at the lower right was bought by the Max Watters Collection

I was flattered to sell several pieces last night, especially that the permanent collection of the Muswellbrook Gallery, the Max Watters Collection, bought 2 items to add to their permanent collection. Such recognition is a high honour, thank you.

After many conversations with gallery attendees last night I was left wondering how many similar exhibitions there may have been in Australian galleries? Or is this genre of mixed media textile and bead adornment a very unusual thing?

Feeling groovy

10am, I'm still in my dressing gown sitting at my laptap and luxuriating in the laziness. The last month has been both a frantic and fun run up to preparing the full catalogue of adornments for my exhibition. About a third of the 50+ pieces had been finished months ago but I purposely left most of the work to do in this last 8 weeks as I wanted as much as possible reflecting recent work. It was clear to me that the items made even 3 months ago weren't quite consistent with the pieces made a few weeks ago.  Maintaining a consistent visual aesthetic isn't that important to me, but I bow somewhat to the desire of many viewers to imagine some sort of narrative in the works.

This coming Saturday 11th May at 6pm is the opening night with wine and nibblies provided, all welcome, it is a public Gallery. As is often the custom I was asked to make some public pronunciations so will oblige with a short speech.

Here is the link to the Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre website. Scroll down the page, I'm the 4th exhibition listed.

Finery exhibition by Pearl Red Moon

Over the next few weeks I'll show pictures of the exhibition and the individual works as the vast majority of my blog readers have no possibility of visiting Muswellbrook.

#42 "Splendid", cloth, glass beads, embroidery thread. 2019

#11 "Landing Field" cloth and glass beads. 2019

#13 "Ball game" cloth and fibre. 2019