A family of six, five children, all Asian and the girls just adorable. What disturbed me was when the father places long tresses on the girls who couldn’t have been more than five years old. The dress up tresses, unlike their own shiny dark locks, were platinum blonde. The girls put on the wigs and proceeded to run around the waiting area.
For some reason, this sight really struck a chord with me.
Why would five year old Asian girls need blonde wigs?
On one hand this could be ‘just fun’ something to entertain them during hours of transit.
On the other, dressing up as someone you aren’t, as someone who represents the dominant culture which is so different from you, is slightly dangerous in term of self esteem, self image, what you consider ‘normal’ or even beautiful.
Your thoughts? Blonde wigs on Asians okay?
Have you ever seen a white child with a dark wig?
Does playing different only go one way?
Reader Comments
Intent matters. If there is an underlying value judgment by the parents about ethnic characteristics, that’s something I’d guess would be harmful to the kids down the line, whether that value judgement is positive (“blonde-haired and blue-eyed people are more beautiful!”) or negative (insert offensive racial stereotype here).
On the other hand, there is such a thing as innocent play, and I think it’s also a disservice to give kids the idea that all things having to do with racial differences are offensive.
Yes, you’re right. I think another issue is how many blonde dress up wigs are sold in comparison to black or brown ones? Did parent just buy what was available?