The current COVID-19 pandemic has brought amplified instances of racism, discrimination and violence against the Asian community. In the UK alone, hate crimes towards people of East and Southeast Asian heritage have increased by 300% since the start of the pandemic (End the virus of racism, 2021). The UK Crown Prosecution Service say that the term 'hate crime' can be used to describe an action where the perpetrator shows hostility towards a victim's race, religion, disability etc. So, when the UK Labour MP Sarah Owen claims to have seen other politicians acting in a way that fits this description, describing Chinese people as "evil bastards" and "sharing racist caricatures", it is difficult to ignore the undercurrent of anti-Asian racism in the UK.

This attitude towards the Asian community has not developed overnight. Through social representation theory and a semiotic approach, this essay will look at the links between past representation of the cheongsam, also known as the qipao, in the West, and how this has influenced Western attitudes and increased anti-Asian sentiments spreading in the West at present.

When China officially became The Republic of China, a lot of the characteristics from the Qing era were lost, including the qipao. Chinese dress went through many changes during the 1910s up to the late 1920s when Majia, a new vest, evolved into a dress that resembled the qipao, bringing the style back into fashion, particularly amongst the young female students who had been a large part of The New Culture Movement. It became a symbol of women in power and proclaimed feminist ideals around equality. An ankle-length version of the cheongsam was labelled as the national dress for China and was worn by public figures such as Soon Ching-ling. The revised qipao shared the same silhouette as the New Culture Attire but shorter and more fitted, with the female form showing through.

In the 1930s, Shanghai became the trading centre of East Asia. As Chinese and Western cultures mixed, many trends from across America and Europe were adapted into the cheongsam. Merchants in Shanghai spotted this increase in popularity and produced advertisements featuring women in qipaos for cigarettes, alcohol and makeup. Source A is a liquor advert from the 1930s, featuring a young woman wearing a sheer qipao with slits that travel up to her thighs. This is when we begin to see the sexualisation of the garment. Steele argues "because clothing is only intimately associated with the physical body at the deepest level all clothing is erotic" sheer materials like this "adds mystery to the body that makes it all the more provocative" (Entwistle 2015, p.182).

This more form-fitting style developed as Chinese tailors began to take influence from western fashion techniques, including curve cutting, to help fit fabric to the chest and waist. Western fashion also influenced how Chinese women styled their outfits, adding T-bar heels and materials like silk and fur. These materials, as well as pin curl hairstyles, statement jewellery and red lipstick, were a clear influence from American flapper girls. After a small decline due to the war, the cheongsam returned for a short time in the mid-1940s. This time tighter and shorter, with decorative pieces such as sequins, beading and lace. When the Communist party gained control in China after its civil war, many moved back to Hong Kong and the US took the qipao with them, where they became tighter and more fitted.

The West's representation of Asian culture in film and pop culture hugely influences society's perspective of Asian heritage, "Asian women are non-existent in popular culture except when shown as either hypersexualised or docile" (Michelle Lee). After decades of this rhetoric, it is easy to see how misogyny and eventually violence can follow. Two recent reports, the first conducted by Dr Melissa May Borja, a professor at the University of Michigan, based on data from news media, found that of the anti-Asian crimes that have taken part over the last year, 61% were against women. The second, completed by Russell Jeung and based on data from Stop AAPI Hate (a centre which "tracks and responds to incidents of hate… against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States") found that number to be higher, at 68%.

The cheongsam is still held in this newly created representation today. In recent years, many designers and fast-fashion brands have taken inspiration from East Asian culture and have continued to add western elements. Some brands have been called out on social media for what many are regarding as cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation is defined as "The taking – from a culture that is not one's own – of intellectual property, cultural expressions or artefacts, history and ways of knowledge" (Ziff and Rao). Contextual conditions surrounding the act of appropriation have an impact on how it is received by society. Often the power disparity between the appropriated and the appropriator is the main course of concern, a power imbalance usually present through class and representation. There is also the concept that the appropriator lacks understanding of the culture they are appropriating. In the context of this essay, this element is derived from the lack of representation across the fashion industry "from on the runway, designers in stores and magazines" (Michelle Lee).

 This poor lack of representation presents two problematic forms of cultural engagement – cultural offence and cultural misrepresentation, both seen in 2019 when girl group Little Mix modelled PrettyLittleThing's 'oriental' collection. It included revealing tops and dresses which resembled the cheongsam. The use of the word 'oriental', which has previously been described as "insulting and outdated" by Rep. Grace Meng during 2016 when US President Barrack Obama signed a bill prohibiting the use of the term in federal documents, is often used to reinforce Asian-Americans as foreign, justifying exclusion and racial discrimination. Other brands have used similar language in their garment descriptions, such as "mandarin collar" and "Chinatown", simplifying Asian culture into one stereotype. Additionally, no one in Little Mix is of Asian descent, which misrepresented the culture and failed to acknowledge any of the cheongsam's history within the Asian community. Source C shows a two-piece released by PrettyLittleThing in 2020, where they seemingly learnt from past mistakes by choosing a model who looks to be of Asian descent and used more generic descriptive language such as "high neck" and "printed".

A brand that has more tastefully appropriated Asian culture is Chloe and their resort 2020 collection. Creative Director Natacha Ramsay-Levi immersed herself in Chinese cinema for 6 months to help shape her vision of China's allure through film. Taking inspiration from names such as Jia Zhangka, Zhang Yimou and Lou Ti, the collection includes a range of details wrapped in Chinese cultures such as the qipao and prints and colour. Source D shows look 12 from the collection. It is a festive red midi dress with a floral print that plays on the fit of a cheongsam along with the slit up the side. The design still speaks to a western audience with the slit and also the sheer material over the chest but is still respectful of the cheongsam's characteristics from the 1920s as a power dress. The show was held in Shanghai on the rooftop of the Long Museum, the first time the Maison had hosted a show outside of France. The show itself played heritage to Chinese art, featuring stills from Ramsay-Levi's favourite films backstage and with the clothing being worn by a majority Chinese cast of local models.

Right now there is a clear injustice happening towards the East and Southeast Asian community. Events like the recent shooting in Atlanta where 8 people were killed, 6 being women of Asian descent, is a clear example of this. The reluctance to label the crime as a hate crime caused great upset within the community. Susanna Lau believes that China's recent economic growth and development as a world superpower has reduced the West's views on attacks like this, because the population is now seen as wealthy and powerful, when in fact China suffers a great discrepancy between the rich and the poor and often these attacks are directed at the weakest within the culture.