Wonton font
A wonton font (also known as Chinese, chopstick, chop-suey, or kung fu font, typeface or lettering) is an ethnic typeface with a visual style expressing "Asianness" or "Chineseness".
Styled to mimic the brush strokes used in Chinese characters, wonton fonts are often used to convey a sense of Orientalism. They are frequently viewed as culturally insensitive or offensive.
Controversy[]
Some Asian Americans find the use of wonton fonts amusing; others find them offensive or racist,[1][2] particularly when paired with caricatures which hark back to the Yellow Peril images of the late 19th century and 20th century. In 2002, the clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch experienced a public relations disaster when it produced a series of T-shirts with buck-toothed images and wonton font slogans.[3] The Chicago Cubs were hit with backlash from the Asian community after a similarly offensive T-shirt was produced by an independent vendor in 2008.[4] The questionable use of such fonts was the subject of an article in the Wall Street Journal by cultural commentator Jeff Yang.[5]
References[]
- ^ Shaw, Paul (June 17, 2009). "Stereo Types". Print Magazine. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
- ^ Fernández, Nichole (November 19, 2015). "StereoTYPES". It Ain't Necessarily So. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
- ^ Strasburg, Jenny (April 19, 2002). "Abercrombie recalls T-shirts many found offensive". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
- ^ WITTENMYER, GORDON (April 18, 2008). "Fukudome doesn't find racist T-shirts in Wrigleyville funny". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
- ^ Yang, Jeff (June 20, 2012). "Is Your Font Racist? - Speakeasy". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
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