For many, prom is the chance to stand out with the help of a dress that can show off your culture or your heroes.
But for 18-year-old Keziah Daum who is a senior at Woods Cross High School in Utah, many people are accusing her of going too far with the prom dress that she wore — a traditional Chinese cheongsam dress.
The photos of Daum with her friends, which went viral, were originally posted on Twitter by Daum.
She further states that the dress was purchased from a Salt Lake City thrift store. According to her, she bought it as she liked the way the dress looked. She also stated, “I bought the dress because I thought it was beautiful and admired the beauty of the culture.”
It wasn’t Daum’s intent but many people online were outraged by her outfit. Many of the users are also accusing Daum of appropriating the culture, emphasizing that she isn’t a part of it.
One Twitter user responded to the tweet with: “Honey, you look beautiful and so is that cheongsam but I am curious.. Are you part Chinese?”
There were also harsher tweets from other users such as, “My culture is NOT your goddamn prom dress,” and “Was the theme of the prom casual racism?”
On the other hand, there were also users that didn’t have a problem with her outfit. One user tweeted, “I’m asian and I’m not insulted in any way. You look beautiful.”
Other users also didn’t take offense with the dress but were offended by the poses of Daum and her friends on one of the photos. The girls in the photo can be seen posing with their hands together with their legs bent slightly at the knees.
After the backlash, Daum tweeted that, “I’m simply showing my love for a beautiful culture and there is nothing wrong with that. Keep talking shit. I don’t care. I have much respect for the Chinese culture.”
Dantheman