implied denim racism?

[honghonglulu]

not to offend, but what is the deal with "jap" jeans? am i the only one who finds the casual use of this term offensive? is it that we don't have a more accesible word to describe these newly popular items? i mean we can't call them urban, that's code for black kids. don't mean to offend. i apologize in advance if this thread is tired for most of you. just curious.

[jo3 b]

urban is code for black kids...?

[peteyross]

urban is code for black kids...?

To white guys in suits, the "urban market" means young black men. It's hilarious to listen to financial analysts write-ups on Timberland.

But moving on, I don't really think the use of the word "urban" is the issue here. Using the word "Jap" as shorthand is just lame. take the extra .0224 seconds and finish the word.

[CaptMomo]

but if the user is not using the term in malice who cares?

[tangerine]

...take the extra .0224 seconds and finish the word.

It's not that simple.

[denimdestroyedmylife]

how about non-white jeans?

[horriblyjollyjinx]

not to offend, but what is the deal with "jap" jeans? am i the only one who finds the casual use of this term offensive? is it that we don't have a more accesible word to describe these newly popular items? i mean we can't call them urban, that's code for black kids. don't mean to offend. i apologize in advance if this thread is tired for most of you. just curious.

yeah it really is a big issue. I personally call everything made in China "fresh off the boat"-clothing but I dunno what to call jeans made in Japan other than "jap jeans". My vocabulary of derogatory words is not that big, maybe you could help?

"Jeans made by the little yellow fellow" maybe?

[tweeds]

yeah it really is a big issue. I personally call everything made in China "fresh off the boat"-clothing but I dunno what to call jeans made in Japan other than "jap jeans". My vocabulary of derogatory words is not that big, maybe you could help?

"Jeans made by the little yellow fellow" maybe?

i think what Jinx means is that yes, it's just you.

personally i don't see an issue with calling a pair of jeans made in japan "Jap", especially when if anything the term is taken to indicate a standard of quality far higher than anything that much of the world has to offer (generalisation). besides, in denim terms everyone's skin colour is indigo, yes? that notion runs deeper than mere superficial implication...the phrase "denim as a second skin" is probably the best testament to that.

(urban outfitters is hardly a store that caters to black kids...)

[sneakeraddict]

Get a life.

People call us in Britain, 'Brits' - none of us are offended.

People have shortened my username to 'sneak'

People say "I have a £100 budget max."

I myself use the term Jap. denim - its quicker, and I wont stop using it just in case it offends you, sorry. As tweedles said, everyone here has indigo skin, lol, no-one gives a toss about nationality or race as long as the denim is great.

stop making problems that don't exist.

EDIT:

Actually, the only thing I dont like about people living in Japan is they get their jeans much cheaper and with a wider choice than me.

[seenmy]

sometimes i just think the world is going mental,Its threads like this that just prove it how on earth can you be offended by somones reference to a pair of jeans,its the fact that you can feel justified o make that statement in the first place that shows how stupid the world has got when it comes to race.

we could shorten it further to jp denim would that make you happier?that happens to be term i use purely as im to lazy to add the 'a'

[Seething Tortoise]

People call us in Britain, 'Brits' - none of us are offended.

The only difference being that Japs is likened to Nips and used as a derogatory term whereas Brits is not.

I can understand why the OP finds it offensive, but the rest of sneakeraddict and TIP's point about being indigo coloured etc. was a good one Though Jap and Nip is still a derogatory term, whether you can justify its use or not.

[xcoldricex]

here we can use 日本 instead. it's shorter than jap and copy and paste at will.

[MIG]

sometimes i just think the world is going mental,Its threads like this that just prove it how on earth can you be offended by somones reference to a pair of jeans,its the fact that you can feel justified o make that statement in the first place that shows how stupid the world has got when it comes to race.

we could shorten it further to jp denim would that make you happier?that happens to be term i use purely as im to lazy to add the 'a'

word!!!!!!!!

[ddohnggo]

i think this issue is very american-centric. since the way the americans have treated the japanese during WWII with japanese internment camps, as well as general xenophobia, certain words do have a negative connotations that are rooted from racism, such as 'Jap'. I think for a lot of non-american posters, it's a hard concept to understand since they haven't lived with it.

[Dick Danger]

since the way the americans have treated the japanese during WWII with japanese internment camps,

For sure for sure, its not like the japanese ever cut a POW's head off or anything.

[ddohnggo]

so that gave the right for america to hurd ALL innocent japanese americans into a fucking camp to lose their lively hood? by your logic, should we be doing that with all iraqi AMERICAN people right now? give me a fucking break. those japanese americans were naturalized just like you and me and they deserve all the rights to NOT get treated that way.

[Chicken]

For sure for sure, its not like the japanese ever cut a POW's head off or anything.

wow, i thought this was 2006. that's nice of you to equate japanese americans with the japanese in terms of war atrocities. if you're the same type of person who'd rather use the n-word instead of black or african people and call some people towel-heads or something, by all means carry on. i guess it's a free country:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jap

[coleslawyum]

Well, since "Jap" was and still is used as derogatory for Japanese people, IMO, I would try and stay away from words like that. Sure, your intention is not to hurt anyone. And you may be describing something of high quality. But for a lot of people hearing that world still is painful and disturbing. It's a similar argument to the word "negro." To some people, it means black. But, again, a lot people find that word offensive, due to the fact that it's the root of that other controversial word.

Even if one person finds the word Jap offensive, then I won't bother to use it. I mean, like peteyross says, how hard is it to say Japanese denim?

[DJ_Flame]

I've always used the term "Nippon". Try it.

[xcoldricex]

so that gave the right for america to hurd ALL innocent japanese americans into a fucking camp to lose their lively hood? by your logic, should we be doing that with all iraqi AMERICAN people right now? give me a fucking break. those japanese americans were naturalized just like you and me and they deserve all the rights to NOT get treated that way.

a-fucking-men. not to mention they went to fucking war to prove their love for america while how many "real americans" copped out and dodged the draft?

[Chicken]

a-fucking-men, seconded. guess which battalion was the most decorated american unit during world war ii? i'll give you a hint:

http://www.goforbroke.org/history/history_historical.asp

[Chicken]

we could shorten it further to jp denim would that make you happier? that happens to be term i use purely as im to lazy to add the 'a'

this is actually a good idea, especially if being lazy is your reason. jpn also only takes three characters. it can't be that hard.

[denimdestroyedmylife]

NO WORLD WAR III

(just a dead friend)

[keri]

Okay, this thread ticks me off hhl, it proves some shit I hate, I sit here and type out the whole word in fear of hurting someone's feelings, I didn't know how to refer to black people for years because I was terrified of saying the wrong thing. This PC, can't say a damn thing because someone might be racially offended shit is bull. I'm not offended when someone says mutt, I'm a racial mutt: spanish, german, irish, french, a little native american thrown in, but I dont get offended when someone calls a dog a mutt. It's a term referring to denim, they aren't calling you a jap so shut up and quit making issues.

edited: the term jap in use as a deragatory word came about because of anti-japanese sentiments and was shortened for ease of use. If they weren't so damn lazy they would have said japanese in a derogatory manner, would we not be able to say japanese denim then?

[LIVENUDEGIRLS]

all this for a word taken out of context and blown completely out of proportion.

[tweeds]

all this for a word taken out of context and blown completely out of proportion.

exactly. this was a perfectly decent thread say 8 or so posts before this. come on people...

[Geowu]

the term Jap gets a positive meaning here.