The Japanese American Citizens League today issued a statement condemning Katy Perry’s Geisha performance at the American Music Awards as stereotypical.
The statement published in Rafu Shimpo said the opening act at the AMA’s “served as the latest rendition of the bad movie we’ve all seen before. There is a persistent strain in our culture that refuses to move beyond the stereotype of Asian women as exotic and subservient.”
JACL also said Perry “appropriated cultural traditions” with back up dancers exaggerating a “bowing gesture complete with hands pressed together and elbows extended as well as the foot shuffling.”
You can read the entire statement in Rafu Shimpo.
What do you think. Do you agree with JACL or with the Media Action Network for Asian Americans which said Perry’s performance honored Japanese culture?
