Bamboozled: Miso Pretty by Blue Q
In the twenties, Vigny Paris presented Golliwog parfum to the world. The name and bottle was inspired by a popular series of books by Florence Upton, which themselves were inspired by the racist fun of minstrelsy.
Le Golliwog is highly valued by bottle collectors, who frequently seem to denote its whimsy.
Here’s Blue Q’s latest product line, Miso Pretty.
One could argue it’s whimsical, too. One could suggest that Japonaiserie isn’t new, and has been around for over a hundred years.
My view is not so benign. Miso Pretty capitalizes on xenophobic audio-lingual attitudes in name, and its manner of Japonaiserie has only but little to do with cultural appreciation.
One rub for me is that the packaging really is brightly colorful and cute, and moreover, the scent descriptors sound inviting. Yet I’ve never bought - held back by my serious reservations.
March sweetly sent me a sample of their body mist, knowing I would like it. And I do! Gentle peony petals, creamy and soft, wear beautifully. The spray also bears a touch of sweet green, subtle fruitiness, and laundry musk. It’s spring a’bloom personified. While it might make a great bargain for a casual fragrance, I still won’t be buying.
One of the arguments white folk use against other white folk when they object to racist details is, “I don’t see that personally, maybe you’re the one who’s being racist for even thinking it.” That pernicious line of reasoning can sometimes trip a person up and give them pause. The line’s twisted logic works because it deflects the racism back to the accuser, who may well be prone to self-examination. However… being aware and sensitive to racism issues is not the same thing as racism itself. Being racist is what is being racist.
Often an accuser is advised to “lighten up, have a sense of humor,” thus implying we’re all supposed to take this hackneyed stale humor on the chin with a shrug and a good-natured grin. Good jokes contain the element of surprise, and should catch the audience unaware. Relying upon decades- or even centuries-old stereotypes neither surprises nor provokes with novelty. That sort of humor is at best ignorant, and at worst isn’t humor at all.
Whimsy and racism: two great tastes that taste great together? I don’t think so, but of course we all must make that call for ourselves. I am going to leave comments open, because I think this ought to provide some interesting introspection and a great discussion since there will be a wide range of agreements and disagreements. However - commenters who flame, name call, or use racial/ethnic slurs, will find their comments deleted and will be banned from making future comments.
Top image of Vigny Golliwog from trocodero.com. Miso Pretty images from ulta.com
July 31st, 2006 at 4:39 pm
Thank you for speaking up! Too many people suck down the latest juice with no thought to any negative ramifications or associations the pruduct may play on or reflect. Speaking up and calling out ARE important. And that’s what a good indie blog does no matter the subject.
July 31st, 2006 at 4:59 pm
Lisa, I had a gut reaction, but I did have a few reservations in posting it. I’m relieved to see others want to talk about it, too. “Too many people suck down the latest juice with no thought to any negative ramifications or associations the pruduct may play on or reflect.” Exactly - and like you, that disturbs me. We should all question and examine things that ping our ethical or moral radar, rather than just ignoring our better instincts.
July 31st, 2006 at 5:32 pm
Katie — Your criticism is legitimate. For what it’s worth, I picked it up on the bargain table at Nordstrom; they were discontinuing the line, so maybe other people shared your discomfort (although I just saw it at Urban Outfitters.) In my defense I want to say I didn’t actually register the, uh, wordplay until after I’d bought it — I’m not usually that dense, and the association I made when I first saw it was miso soup, which made no sense at all… anyway, in hindsight, I probably would/should not have purchased it. I wouldn’t buy it if it had a golliwog on it, or a Sleeping Mexican … I don’t buy that kitsch crap in stores either, because I think we should hold it in contempt. Here, I will Devil’s Advocate for one second — I do wonder whether the target market for this (teens and 20s) would even *get* the slur. I mean, would you have to explain it to them? For the purpose of discussion (NOT trying to pick a fight with you!): if the image is inoffensive and the slur is not immediately recognizable, has a tree fallen in the forest? Oh, God, now a *ton* of outdated ethnic/racial slurs are rushing through my head, unbidden, as potential fragrance names. Make it stop!!! — How ‘Bout a Bottle of Vanilla Fragrance with a Plaid Label, Called “Honky”…
July 31st, 2006 at 6:12 pm
I haven’t spotted the line here, but I have seen the Blue Q brand’s other stuff around (Nordy’s, Borders, etc.) I somehow think it’s not surprising to not see it as much - I doubt many purchase managers want to be responsible if any egg winds up on their store’s face, you know? “I do wonder whether the target market for this (teens and 20s) would even *get* the slur. I mean, would you have to explain it to them?” I would like to think that they would - that kind of racism is unfortunately still with us, and if they’ve been raised to recognize that type of thing as ugly, then yes I think they would get it. But I do wonder if some younger folks would care - not all, of course, mind you. There’s a weird trend I’ve noticed amongst the younger generation to make jokes with the racist stereotypes because they are so obviously ridiculous. The problem is that it seems like many people have a hell of time maintaining the difference between laughing AT the stereotypes and laughing WITH them. TV shows like The Family Guy and others really demonstrate how fractured and messed up the thinking is, whereby they say they’re making fun of the bigoted ideas, but the joke seems to be centered upon the bigot being actually funny. Which? Eeesh. ” if the image is inoffensive and the slur is not immediately recognizable, has a tree fallen in the forest? ” Yeah, but I’d proffer that a distinction needs to be made between naive ignorance and willful ignorance. And of course, if you’re the young person on the end of that slur, then it seems pretty obvious that your friends at the very least ought to know better. “I don’t buy that kitsch crap in stores either, because I think we should hold it in contempt. ” Here’s a funny phenomenon - I had a customer way back in the day who used to collect the old racist blackface style posters from businesses in her old hometown of New Orleans. And some of them were from black-owned businesses! She acknowledged they were awful, and was a little embarassed in handing them over to be handled by me, a white girl. But as we were talking about them, she was saying how even though they were blatantly racist, they also had the nostalgic memory of home in them for her. Her own ambivelence with the posters really affected the way I see the stuff. It’s part of our American story, no matter what your race. So the imperitive is on us all now to object to NEW material being made and impinging on the memories of the newer generations. I’d hate to have my kids grow up internalizing that crap. I can’t imagine any person in their right mind wanting that for anyone’s kids.
July 31st, 2006 at 6:13 pm
That stuff looks pretty freaking corny. Like everything Blue Q puts out, the product seems just an excuse for the packaging joke. “Fake Asian beauty products!” I don’t have the same reaction of thinking it’s racism, though. To me, it looks like a parody of the exoticism it knows it’s playing into. It’s not an insult to a people. There’s no really offensive caricature here, aside from the execrable pun in the name. I don’t catch any xenophobia. It’s not saying, “Don’t buy me, I may have been touched by the yellow man!” Golliwog is upsetting because, look, anybody in America with any sense would look at that thing and feel kicked in the teeth. Golliwog practically says, “Imo eat some watermelon and steal a chicken!” Golliwog is a shameful piece of historical horror. But this? Granted, I can’t really see the detail on the packaging from these photos, but I mean, what’s it saying about Asians? Aside from that Asians are blue-eyed blondes and redheads who wear cheongsams and run to catch airplanes, I mean? (I suspect it’s really representing its target market: the kinds of non-Asian girls who buy Asian-inspired clothes, like kimono dresses and frog-enclosure blouses, and get their names painted by brush-marker street artists in Chinatown.) If it were covered in bucktoothed rickshaw-pulling coolies with slits for eyes, that would be one thing. But these figures are just cute. It’s not even legit japonaiserie. It looks more like those Chinese products I find at Pearl River. If it were mimicking Japanese packaging it would be populated by people whose heads were three times the size of their bodes, with eyes like footballs, lots of colorful circles, and sans-serif font. This isn’t a blow to my people. It’s just corny as hell. It’s not like Suzie Wong shilling Pearl Cream.
July 31st, 2006 at 6:43 pm
What Tania said. Tania, is it okay if I laughed? Out loud? Really hard. At some of your comments. Oooof. I’m sorry. Katie — I was told by a local memorabilia dealer (with the watermelon-eatin’ pickaninny art) that African Americans are HUGE collectors of that stuff — Aunt Jemima, etc. Which just seems … bizarre to me. But I think Tania’s point was well-taken — while the verbal slur exists in Miso Pretty, the visual slurs she proposed are absent. Not a validation — just an interesting observation. When I bought it, my thought processes were: 1) Cute bottle! 2) Peony — I LOVE Peony! 3) (spritzing) Mmmm — pretty! 4) Miso? Weird name — doesn’t SMELL like miso. (Okay, duh, but we eat SO MUCH miso over here — I buy those huge tubs from the co-op to make soup.) Honest? It wasn’t until I WROTE THE NAME ON YOUR DECANT LABEL that I said … WTF?!?! And felt creepy. It took me *that long* to get it, because visually (as Tania observed) it is all about the Red-Headed White Girls in cheongsams. So, I will agree with you that, as a pun, it’s Wrong. But I think it’s less toxic than mammy salt shakers and sleeping Mexicans…
July 31st, 2006 at 7:10 pm
Tania, I guess my standard here is “would I be embarassed to give it to a friend?” And the answer is yes, I would be, because there’s something very disconcerting about the line, corny or not. But I mean, this is why I figured there’d be an interesting discussion: we all are gonna see it from very individual perspectives. “If it were covered in bucktoothed rickshaw-pulling coolies with slits for eyes, that would be one thing. But these figures are just cute.” See, and to me that is one extreme, but things can be sneakier, more subtle, and still be “off.” Dunno, it’s just that to me the various imagery looks “off” somehow. I think it’s because you’ve got glam pin-up style images, which is fine, but they’re not depicted solely within the context of them being glam. They’re on the packaging in the context of them being “other,” because as the packaging knowingly winks at you, it’s “exotic.” I guess that’s supposed to be the joke, but somehow it misses the target with me. However, I can see why it might hold some cheese-appeal for some folks.
March, yeah, the name mightn’t intially suggest anything immedietly, especially if you happen to think miso smells good… (I buy the big ol’ tubs, too.) I see it and immedietly think of the “ha ha, foreign people talk funny, isn’t that funny” attitude and it rubs me the wrong way.
July 31st, 2006 at 7:54 pm
Foreign people *do* talk funny. Especially when they’re from Texas. If you can’t laugh at foreign people talking funny, I don’t know what’s left any more. I guess I’d have no trouble giving this to a friend aside from the “I bought this because it was on sale, I know it’s a stupid joke, don’t blame me, it smells good” angle. As for being exotic, it’s obvious that non-Asian girls buy faux Asian stuff partly because they think, gee, I sure would like to be exotic. Because exotic is a cheap ticket to Prettyland in some circles. I once had a girl complain to me, in all sincerity (and I was touched by the confession), “I wish I had some kind of ethnic thing, but I’m just this plain old white girl.” I then had to sit there and counsel her on the glories of European culture and the achievements of the Jews. She didn’t buy it, and I suspect right now she might be walking around in a cheongsam. Well, somebody’s got to keep the cheongsam industry afloat.
Let’s all just be grateful the line isn’t called Miso Horny.
July 31st, 2006 at 8:45 pm
Personally, I’ve always wondered how Chanel has remained popular after Coco’s affair with a Nazi officer during WWII. I guess we all pick our battles.
But I do agree, Miso Pretty is a tasteless name. Any idea who owns Blue-Q, out of curiousity?
July 31st, 2006 at 10:29 pm
Sorry, I had to post again after thinking more about it. I’d say Miso Pretty is a tasteless name, but as others have pointed out, it’s not like the bottle shows offensive caricatures (just an alien-looking white chick) or has the letters L and R reversed or anything else I would associate with racism against the Asian community. This is more along the lines of “Jamaica Me Crazy!” night featuring rum specials at my local bar.
August 1st, 2006 at 2:13 am
I’m not thrilled by the brand name, but it seems silly to me rather than cruel. If I were Japanese, I might perhaps be offended by the inference that I spoke English poorly…but I get the impression from Japanese-based merchandise that they’re not averse to that kind of word-mangling themselves. The graphics didn’t offend me at all, because they seemed to be lifted directly from all those Japanese-created anime video games…which all feature girl characters who look exactly like this; cute, whitish, childlike, slightly Japanese. If we’re worried by the graphics on the toiletries, it seems to me we’re suggesting that their video animes are also unacceptable, which seems just as racist! We’d be saying that it’s OK for them to depict themselves as idealised semi-western children, but that it’s not OK for westerners to reflect that iconography back to them. What a tricky subject this all is..but I’m glad we’re discussing it, because being too ‘nice’ to talk about it is how bad habits get perpetuated.
August 1st, 2006 at 7:12 am
Amy K-
My ex [from “Lynn, Lynn, the city of sin, you never come out the way you went
in”]firmly stated that the phrase was: “Jamaica? No, she wouldn’t let me…”
I would be woefully incontinent right now, if this miso thing didn’t smell like hate-crime…
Tania, you are right- Miso Horny would be perfect!!!
I wonder about self-loathing vs. bad taste vs. malicious intent- here’s why…
Years ago, I noticed that, at the Shiseido counter, all the foundations were totally wrong for Asian skin. Why WAS that? And then I noticed that Clarins had no colors appropriate for Latinas, Carribeans, Asians- anyone who wasn’t pink-and-white…
This effectively limits your clientele base, and told me, by default, that something didn’t add up…
Does this fragrance suffer from the same issue?
What do you think?
August 1st, 2006 at 2:57 pm
The stupid name and the trashy graphics would probably put me off before I even tried the stuff…I’m too old & crabby to be buying schmatta like this. That grouching aside, I found this a very interesting and thought-provoking post, w/ equally good follow ups. I think Chayaruchama is right…who are most perfume ads targeted at? Look at Ina and Marina’s recent ad posting. Most of those people were pretty whitebread, albeit very attractive white types…Good to think about perfume purchase (or not) as a political act!
August 1st, 2006 at 3:10 pm
Miso Horny…I’m sorry…LMAO. That’s so bad.
Bah! Katie, I had this same issue after reading Cait’s post about Idole (I can’t find it now…grr). I was seriously all set to buy this stuff, and then I read her post about the bottle. After seeing small images, I simply thought it was a basic art deco design, but turns out the top is like an African mask, meant to evoke a sort of romantic ideal of the exotic. This made me think twice, simply because, really, as much as I love the scent, do I want to be marketed to in this manner? Do I want to romanticize colonization and ravaging a continent because it’s “exotic”? It seems the only way to say “no” sometimes is to refuse to buy the thing, even if you really want it.
I’m still debating.
I’m tired of marketing people creating these niches and people running blindly to fill them. There was a story on NPR today about marketing “tween” music. Why is this necessary?
I agree with Tania that this is probably a “harmless” marketing ploy aimed at twentysomethings who need to feel exotic. When I was in grad school, there was this thing about pretending to be poor or “white trash.” Somehow, it was completely romanticized, and people whose parents were paying their way were living in trailers and pretending they weren’t getting PhDs. I think this must have come out of the whole “grunge” (groan) thing…people in Texas heat, running around in flannel shirts. I’m just saying, it’s odd what young people will find to “other” themselves, without considering that it might be, if not harmful, well…slightly condescending.
August 1st, 2006 at 11:34 pm
This is a very interesting discussion, and your point about these products has certainly made me stop and think.
I live in a city with a vast Asian population (mostly permanent residents, with a huge influx of Asian students), and am aware of the common cultural stereotypes.
These products never struck me as anything other than some marketers idea of cutesy faux-retro kitsch. As someone mentioned above, the packaging is reminiscent of Asian anime art, and I’m assuming it’s meant to appeal to the teen-twentysomething set, where alot of hipster cross-pollination takes place (kids in my community love everything from Anime, Bollywood films, Japanese street fashion, to retro t-shirts featuring forgotten tv stars etc). Even those big Catholic glass votives featuring painted portraits of saints are popular decor items in dollar stores.
I guess these products are supposed to have that “oh-so-ironic” vibe that is appealing to young people.
Despite the ridiculous brand-name, it just never occurred to me that it was off-puttingly racist. Thank you for pointing this out in your post. It would be interesting to read more opinions on this subject. I haven’t purchased any for myself, but for such cheap stuff, it sure smells good!
August 2nd, 2006 at 2:43 am
I’m with you Katie, the first thing I thought when I read this was the name “Miso Pretty” is offensive. It’s a play on “Me so horny, me love you long time” etc and it’s offensive. I know it’s supposed to be a joke. I know it’s supposed to be cute, corny, etc. but it’s offensive to me. And I’m not even Asian. Thanks for being brave and bringing this up. Stuff like that is easy to just laugh off, but I think it’s good to talk about it.
August 2nd, 2006 at 5:07 am
I hope it was clear that I was laughing at Tania’s *comment* about calling the line Miso Horny…I just realized that might not have been clear from how I worded it in my last post. Argh.
August 2nd, 2006 at 8:00 am
Disgusting. I would never give my money to any company with obnoxious marketing techniques.
I do love the idea of Honky Eau de parfum tho.
Top:
Cumin for the sweaty topnote
Black Currant/Buchu for urinous dog
Tuberose to try to hide the previous
Middle:
Overpowering Jasmine
Chinese Rose
Base:
Hops (Hey, every Honky perfume has to have beer)
Birch Tar and ozone (for a rubber with a hole in it.
gail
August 2nd, 2006 at 8:33 am
Katie, thanks for bringing up this subject and reminding us of the power of advertising and the impact of our choices when we buy something. It has certainly made me think. (I’ve eaten a few times at Miso Happy, a Japanese restaurant, but I guess it really does have directly to do with miso…)
August 2nd, 2006 at 10:10 am
Mixed feelings about the branding!
I don’t see any resemblance to Japanese anime in the body mist packaging. It reminds me of the Chinese art deco posters from the 1920s and 30s (plus the Betty Boop cheeks). The character usage doesn’t look Japanese to me. It’s an odd mixing of references (do they not know the difference, or do they not care?) and I can’t help thinking it’s in poor taste and am undecided about whether I feel anything more strongly than that.
p.s. I think a lot of Japanese “word-mangling” is unintentional. And a lot of it has to do with creation of slang by contracting and mixing and matching word compounds (Japanese and non-Japanese).
August 2nd, 2006 at 12:30 pm
I think the information that March posted about that so-called memorabilia seller telling her many African-Americans purchase blatantly racist black-face minstrel pickaninny “art” is inaccurate. I know of no one who is black, myself included, even interested in being associated with, much less purchasing, that detritus. Period!
I recall the famous African-American writer/poet, Paul Lawrence Dunbar’s poem entitled “Little Brown Baby with Sparkling Eyes.” Mr. Dunbar wrote it in a post-Civil War vernacular that freed slaves spoke at that time, but I do not feel that it was meant to offend, simply to conjure a period of time in the country when freed men and women were establishing themselves as US citizens. This picaninny/minstel “art,” on the other hand, was created by racists who meant it to disparage the Negro race.
And, I think Amy K. raises a very good question, one that I was wondering myself just yesterday as I read Marian Bendeth’s lovely article about her visit to Paris: Why IS Chanel so popular when she was involved in a sexual affair with a high-ranking Nazi officer during WWII? You never really hear this addressed too much anymore. No wonder I don’t like Chanel products that much…
Anyway, the Miso Pretty thing seems harmless, but I feel that it does generate and perpetuate negative perceptions about Asians. I guess, as far as I’m concerned, if it does not pass the “smell” test (literally and figuratively in this case!), I won’t touch it.
Thank you for writing this thoughtful and thought-provoking post, Katie.
Hugs!
August 2nd, 2006 at 3:11 pm
Wow, such a range of thoughts! I just want to take a moment and thank all of you for responding so sincerely and civilly. I had a wee corner of fear that if I left the comments open someone who’s not a regular here might pop in and get weird or rude. Thanks so much to everyone!
Tania, ah yes, Prettyland, where everyone is welcome, but few can enter. I suppose some folks would go weird trying to get in there, heh.
AmyK, I don’t think Coco’s homophobia and Nazi-sympathies were overly well known, and for the times would have been easily overlooked even if they were. Chanel the company is a thing removed nowadays from Chanel the person… I’d bet her personal issues just weren’t considered anything big in the early days of the company, and now the Chanel is what it is. Which is huge. I don’t know if anyone owns Blue-Q, or if it’s its own company. Not sure.
Nina, “What a tricky subject this all is..but I’m glad we’re discussing it, because being too ‘nice’ to talk about it is how bad habits get perpetuated.” Precisely. And moreover, I think it’s interesting to see how we individually interpret the subject. It certainly makes good food for thought to look at in from a variety of perspectives.
chayaruchama, I would think that yes, this product would suffer from a limited customer base as well. I have a hard time believing that only a handful of folks would see it and think it’s packaging is “off.”
sybil, yeah, I’m old and crabby too, so maybe that’s it! Heh. Nah, I just like seeing what other folks see, too, and this was one product that would be especially fun to find out with.
greeneyes, I think condescending is the word for it - I just couldn’t think of it. I think you’re so right when you wonder, “I’m just saying, it’s odd what young people will find to “other” themselves, without considering that it might be, if not harmful, well…slightly condescending.” Of course, it’s odd what not-so-young people will find to “other” themselves as well - hence Idole’s colonialistic sentiment.
cheezwiz, hmmm, the “oh-so-ironic” thing would actually explain a lot to me about the appeal and the marketing decisions. I dunno, it’s really hard for me to be hip like that, though. Methinks I am Methuselah-old in a marketer’s eyes ;)
Kate, and I think the play on the “me so horny” line is what’s particularly bugging - the messed-up orientalism of that line (and the song) gives me a full body cringe. Ugh. It’s not funny, just awful.
Gail, I was playing with the idea of making up a phony “ugly american” perfume with this post, but… I figured it’d be overkill. I wonder if there is some corollary version of Miso Pretty out there already?
Angela, oh I know that place! We’ve always skipped it though. There used to be a family-operated Japanese restaraunt in Gresham that was awesome and made lots of dishes that weren’t all teriyaki-this and teriyaki-that. Now it’s closed. Sigh. So, we’ll be on the search for a different good place now…
kuri, I wondered about the characters… But of course, I don’t know Japanese, and wouldn’t know the difference between them and say, for example, Hanzi/Kanji characters. “I think a lot of Japanese “word-mangling” is unintentional.” It happens in any language… I think sometimes it gets fetishized over here, though.
violetnoir - my customer I’d mentioned up earlier in the comments was black, and she collected. But, it was only the posters from her old hometown, not just any old thing she found. There’s a professor here in Portland at PSU who maintains a huge collection of the stuff, partly for study, but I also remember him saying something like he was compiling the collection so folks couldn’t pretend that it didn’t happen and wasn’t part of Portland/Oregon history. I tend to agree with you that it’s not that common, but I’m only basing that opinion just from my own friends, not from any scientific anaylysis. Not on the subject at hand, but: EEEEEEE! Another Dunbar fan!! I KNEW you had excellent taste, I just knew it! :)
Thanks again, everyone, for taking the time to weigh in with such thoughtful comments!
September 19th, 2006 at 6:18 am
Hi–This is very late, but I wanted to comment on the African-American collector business. I am a professor, and I have an African-American colleague who collects old racist memorablia (NOT for nostalgic reasons–probably more in the way your PSU professor does). She has informed me that many African-Americans do, in fact, collect these, including a number of celebrities (I believe Bill Cosby is supposed to be a big collector). Just posting this as information, not commentary. . .
September 19th, 2006 at 10:49 am
Hi J - yeah, I suspect there’s likely a number of scholars who keep these sorts of collections simply to archive concrete evidence of how pervasive racism was and is. The thing you mention about Cosby sounds familiar - makes sense given his aim in donating for educational causes, really. Although, he’s kind of a weird guy, so who knows what his motivations might be…
October 8th, 2006 at 9:23 am
hi - late reply, but i read about this post on another blog. i was given some of the products by a friend who is japanese (a university professor, by the way, and a cultural critic like me) - my impression was she found the line cute, well-packaged and ironic, possibly offensive, but in that way that so much of our contemporary culture is. it’s pretty hard to exist as a woman without being beaten down by the standard of tall, thin, blonde and perfect. here in germany (where everyone but me is tall and blonde), there’s a tv ad campaign for noodle soup that actually features cartoon asians with slanty eyes who mix up their r’s and l’s. now THAT’s offensive. for me, with miso pretty, i’m just not sure. it makes me uneasy, and that’s an important signal. i think there’s a doctoral thesis in cultural studies in here somewhere.