Woods Cross senior stands by prom dress decision

WOODS CROSS, Utah – “This isn’t cultural appropriation, this is cultural appreciation,” said 18-year-old Keziah Daum.

The senior says she took a lot of care while looking for a modest dress to wear to Woods Cross High School’s prom.

PROM pic.twitter.com/gsJ0LtsCmP

— Keziah (@daumkeziah) April 22, 2018

“I saw the dress and was like, this is the dress. I thought it was gorgeous. I wore it to the dance and got so many compliments from people I didn’t even know,” she said.

But her choice has received a lot of negative attention, worldwide, especially after someone retweeted her post writing “My culture is NOT your (expletive) prom dress.” So far that has received nearly 42,000 retweets, 180,000 likes, and the comments keep on coming.

“I guess some may have taken it the wrong way and called out cultural appropriation. It definitely wasn’t, because my whole intent was to show appreciation and love for the culture,” she said.

A pose of her and her friends bowing is garnering online angst too.

“That was in reference to a YouTube channel called H3H3 productions where they have these phrases: ‘pop a praise’ and ‘vape nation.’ It was nothing racist or demeaning towards them at all,” she said.

Daum said even with all the negative reaction she’s received, there are even more people who stand by her decision, including folks from China.

“The South China Morning Post, they were basically showing their support and how they were proud that I would be willing to wear one of their dresses to my prom,” said Daum.

The teen does regret initially responding to haters with some harsh language in the immediate stress of the backlash, but she stands by her dress decision.

“Would you pick the dress again?” asked KSL reporter Caitlin Burchill.

“Yes, for sure. I would wear it again to other dances. I think it’s a very beautiful dress that represents some good meaning to it,” Daum said.