Awww! Cute '60s Mexicali boho print with the little bicycles and goats ... so Joni Mitchell circa the "Blue" album ... oh cute little flower pots... awww little green swastikas... wait... wah??? Yes, that's an actual bag sold (until recently) at Zara in the UK. Okay, okay, I KNOW all that ballyhoo about the swastika originally being a Sanskit symbol for good luck or whatever, but um, also, more recently, it was a symbol of HITLER and MASS GENOCIDE! So WTF is it doing on this Zara bag??? Who the fuck is Zara's buyer and how could you miss not one, not two, not even three... but FOUR FUCKING swastikas on a handbag????? Call me Jewish, but that's just bad business right there.
7 comments:
You say that you know the swastika was originally an honored religious symbol (which it was in many, including Hinduism and Buddhism). Perhaps you should acknowledge the religious significance of this: maybe the makers of the bag had the original meaning in mind. By getting outraged and ranting about Hitler everytime you see a swastika, you are denying the other, more sacred (and definitely more humanitarian) root of the symbolism of a swastika.
On the other hand, I don't think the swastika, or any other religious symbol, for that matter, should be appropriated for any commercial purposes. I'm assuming that this bag isn't the inspired work of some artist but simply a conglomeration of what looks good and trendy since its being sold at Zara.
Think about it.
<3,
a reader
uhhh... i don't doubt that this actually was an oversight on Zara's part and not an intentional attempt to flaunt their supposed antisemitism on buyers of inexpensive and trendy (not that there's anything remotely trendy about swastikas) handbags ... but... did you even read the top part of my post? the fact that the swastika DID ORIGINALLY have altruistic meanings does not NEGATE the fact that it was used to represent the systematic slaughtering of over six million people. (duh). it also doesn't mean we shouldn't make fun of zara for having such clearly shitty quality control.
You know, Western civilization is not the be all and end all for all the world. It's a widespread symbol in Hindu motifs, and please, never go to Japan! How dare they signal maps with swastikas! They must be Nazis! (and not, you know, a symbol for a buddhist temple).
Stop the histrionics and Grow Up.
Whatever its original meaning, unfortunately the Nazis have taken that symbol and given it a derogatory meaning (to say the least). I'm sure you've heard about this in history class. Sadly, no one ever talks about the positive history of the swastika symbol before the Nazis.
While the designer might not have had the negative symbolism in mind, most people don't know what the original swastika meant. I would think that most people associate it with the Nazis. So I find it an extremely unwise choice for Zara to have a bag with that symbol sold in their stores.
Also, we are not talking about swastikas on religious objects or on maps...we are talking about swastikas on hand bags sold in fancy Western clothing stores.
Just to clarify, I'm from Japan and a Buddhist background. The Buddhist symbol is NOT the same as the swastika. The legs are left facing, the opposite orientation as the swastika. Zara did f* up, it is the swastika that's shown on the bag.
Me again, when I say swastika I mean the Nazi version.
Guys, the supplier was Indian and the auspicious Hindu swastika is commonly used in Indian fashion. Yes, the symbol is offensive in the target market, but the tabloids don't note the supplier's nationality. The supplier part of the controversy is a tempest in a teapot.
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