Country singer Kacey Musgraves is under fire for styling a traditional Vietnamese garment in a way that many people found to be inappropriate for a concert in Dallas, Texas.
Musgraves, who won four Grammy Awards this year, performed last week wearing an ao dai – a form-fitting Vietnamese tunic with long slits up both sides, typically worn over long flowing pants.
But the singer appeared to leave out the pants entirely, and posted several photos to Instagram showing her exposed hips and legs.
Criticism of cultural appropriation quickly followed, with social media users accusing her of disrespecting a culturally and historically significant piece of clothing.
“My culture is not meant to be (sexualized),” read one tweet that gained more than 6,000 likes.
“This is offensive on so many levels and I’m livid.”
Social media users also ridiculed the golden headpiece Musgraves wore in the photos. The headpiece is of unclear origin, with one Twitter user accusing the singer of throwing together “random” items to “look exotic.”
Prominent Vietnamese Americans have also spoken out, with some pointing to the longstanding objectification of Asian women in the American imagination.
“Please don’t further degrade this key part of Vietnamese culture and put on some pants like everyone else that wears áo dài,” tweeted poet Do Nguyen Mai. “When people do things like this, all it does is contribute to the dangerous notion of Southeast Asian femininity as inherently sexual out of subservience.”
Musgraves has not publicly addressed the criticism. CNN has reached out to her representatives for comment.
Musgraves joins a growing list of celebrities to face accusations of cultural appropriation in recent months. In June, Kim Kardashian West faced fierce backlash after she launched a (now-renamed) lingerie brand called Kimono – also the name of a centuries-old Japanese garment – and Rihanna was criticized in July for posing in traditional Chinese clothing on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar China.
While the latter faced outcry from Chinese-Americans at the time, many people in mainland China expressed praise for the photo shoot. Musgraves, however, appears to have angered both the Vietnamese diaspora and those within the country.
Vietnamese actor and singer Ngo Thanh Van, also known as Veronica Ngo, wrote on Facebook that “it is wrong for the singer to wear a traditional costume of another country without understanding it.”
It’s a debate we’ve seen play out many times in recent months – so when does appreciation become appropriation?
Tommy Tse, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Hong Kong, told CNN in July that it’s a difficult line to draw – but people may be able to reduce the risk of backlash by taking context into consideration and consulting people from the culture they’re paying tribute to, he said.
“There (are) ways to do it respectfully – unfortunately, Kacey’s wasn’t one of them,” Nguyen wrote.
At the time of publication, Kacey Musgrave’s representatives have not responded to CNN’s request for comment.