Say Dupatta

This whole conversation is so stupid

Note: the dupatta is called a different name all across South Asia. In West Bengal, it’s called an orna. I called it a dupatta throughout this piece for the sake of familiarity.

I hesitate to write about racism against South Asians because I don’t think the general public is ready to accept it yet. I do think that, in a couple of years, the dialogue will shift and people will start saying, “Hey, maybe the way we treated brown people back then was kinda fucked up” but until then, I don’t see a reason to waste my breath.

Or I didn’t, until the “Scandinavian scarf” situation finally got me. For those unaware, white influencers have been wearing South Asian cultural clothing online and calling it anything but South Asian. I’m not surprised that people are hesitant to associate their cute new aesthetic with South Asia, at a time when anti-Indian racism is at an all time high. It’s a lot easier to call your top “Ibiza-wear” than to grapple with the fact that South Asia might be more than what it's been reduced to online.

@dhivya.sriihad to post😌 video credits to @Pip Puveendran!! go check his video out! #dupatta #sareeinspo #sareefashion

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I’m also not super surprised that influencers are gravitating towards South Asian clothing. It’s cute. I couldn’t tell you the amount of times I’ve looked at my western outfits and wished I could add a bindi or a dupatta to complete it, ultimately deciding not to for fear of othering myself.

And I guess that’s what it comes down to, right? The white women casually wearing South Asian clothing don’t have to worry about whether a bindi is making them look like an outsider, or if stopping by the supermarket in a sharara is going to get them dirty looks. No amount of beaded embroidery takes away from the fact that they’re white.

I don’t agree that it’s never appropriate for a white person to wear South Asian clothes, but the dupatta conversation online is about more than just clothing. It’s incredibly telling that so many people are unwilling to just admit that their Oh Polly outfit takes inspiration from South Asia, but are happy to incorrectly label it as European instead. It’s not about the dupatta. It’s about the fact that they can’t say “India” unless they’re directly insulting us.

@maddiemonologuesready for normal comments :)

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Racism against South Asians is the worst it's ever been within my lifetime. Just last year, the UK had literal anti-immigrant riots. Anti-Indian content online has surged. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but fashion trends don’t exist in a bubble. This stuff matters, and if it doesn’t matter to you, it definitely matters to the South Asian person experiencing it.

It’s difficult to sum a piece like this up into one, clean conclusion, but here it goes: my point is not to avoid every embroidered top at Winners if you’re not South Asian. My point, I guess, is to stop being vehemently fucking racist to brown people. And then maybe we can go from there.

Also, please just call it a dupatta.

Thanks for reading Trina Keeps Trying! You can find my other posts here, and you can read my poetry here. You can also subscribe to receive written works, made with love, straight to your mailbox every week.