--- description: A Utah teen is defending her decision to wear a traditional Chinese dress to her prom in the wake of cultural appropriation criticism. title: Teen Accused of Cultural Appropriation Over Chinese Prom Dress image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd8628d47a0deaaf/69892f5c7cdbac6028d5cc24/chinese-prom-dresses.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Teen Defends Her Chinese Prom Dress After Cultural Appropriation Backlash  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer May 2, 2018 3:19 PM CUT  Chinese cheongsams on sale in London's Chinatown Chinese cheongsams on sale in London's ChinatownSergio Amiti  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer May 2, 2018 3:19 PM CUT A Utah teen is defending her decision to wear a traditional Chinese [dress](http://time.com/5246940/british-royal-wedding-dresses/ "undefined") to her [prom](http://time.com/5262247/modesty-poncho-catholic-school-prom/ "undefined") in the wake of [cultural appropriation](http://time.com/4936550/nicki-minaj-on-cultural-appropriation-nyfw/ "undefined") criticism. After photos of 18-year-old Keziah Daum posing in a red [cheongsam—also known as a qipao](https://asiasociety.org/hong-kong/events/open-studio-qipao-themed-ornaments-workshop "undefined")—began to go viral, the Woods Cross High School senior was accused by some of appropriating the Chinese culture. Daum herself is not Chinese. “My culture is NOT your goddamn prom dress,” wrote Twitter user Jeremy Lam in a [tweet](https://twitter.com/jere%5Fbare/status/989981023076208640 "undefined") that has been liked over 178,000 times and retweeted nearly 42,000 as of Wednesday morning. “This isn’t ok. I wouldn’t wear traditional Korean, Japanese or any other traditional dress and I’m Asian,” [added](https://twitter.com/JeannieBeanie99/status/990279896919412736 "undefined") user Jeannie. “I wouldn’t wear traditional Irish or Swedish or Greek dress either. There’s a lot of history behind these clothes.” However, Daum insists she meant no offense and that her decision was made purely out of appreciation for the dress’s beauty. “To everyone causing so much negativity: I mean no disrespect to the Chinese culture,” she wrote in response to her [original post](https://twitter.com/daumkeziah/status/990255923598786560 "undefined"). “I’m simply showing my appreciation to their culture. I’m not deleting my post because I’ve done nothing but show my love for the culture. It’s a f—ing dress. And it’s beautiful.” > [](https://twitter.com/daumkeziah/status/988115815068139520) > [](https://twitter.com/jere%5Fbare/status/989981023076208640) > [](https://twitter.com/JeannieBeanie99/status/990279896919412736) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5262748/chinese-prom-dress-cultural-appropriation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5262748/chinese-prom-dress-cultural-appropriation/"},"headline":"Teen Defends Her Chinese Prom Dress After Cultural Appropriation Backlash","datePublished":"2018-05-02T15:19:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:52:34.846Z","description":"The high school senior wore a red red cheongsam to the dance","url":"https://time.com/5262748/chinese-prom-dress-cultural-appropriation/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd8628d47a0deaaf/69892f5c7cdbac6028d5cc24/chinese-prom-dresses.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd8628d47a0deaaf/69892f5c7cdbac6028d5cc24/chinese-prom-dresses.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Chinese Cheongsams","caption":"Chinese cheongsams on sale in London's Chinatown","creditText":"Sergio Amiti","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5262748/chinese-prom-dress-cultural-appropriation/","name":"Teen Defends Her Chinese Prom Dress After Cultural Appropriation Backlash"}}]}] ```