Wonton font
A wonton font (also known as Chinese font, chopstick font or chop-suey font, type 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 these fonts 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 (17 June 2009). "Stereo Types". Print Magazine. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
- ^ Fernández, Nichole (November 19, 2015). "StereoTYPES". It Ain't Necessarily So. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
- ^ Strasburg, Jenny (2002-04-19). "Abercrombie recalls T-shirts many found offensive". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
- ^ 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 21 August 2013.
- ^ Yang, Jeff (2012-06-20). "Is Your Font Racist? - Speakeasy". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2013-06-15.