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?

Mohana Rajakumar

Mohana has a PhD from the University of Florida with a focus on gender and postcolonial theory. She is the creator and co-editor of five books in the Qatar Narratives series, as well as the Qatari Voices anthology which features essays by Qataris on modern life in Doha (Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing, 2010). Mohana has published several ebooks and academic titles. Check out her Amazon.com author page

    

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