Journal of Asian American Studies

Maira, Sunaina, 1969-
Henna and Hip Hop: The Politics of Cultural Production and the Work of Cultural Studies
Journal of Asian American Studies - Volume 3, Number 3, October 2000, pp. 329-369

The Johns Hopkins University Press

Sunaina Maira - Henna and Hip Hop: The Politics of Cultural Production and the Work of Cultural Studies - Journal of Asian American Studies 3:3 Journal of Asian American Studies 3.3 (2000) 329-369 Henna and Hip Hop: The Politics of Cultural Production and the Work of Cultural Studies Sunaina Maira * [Figures] "South Asian guys give more respect to African Americans than to whites because they think the style is cool. The guys look up to them because it's down." --Sharmila, New York University undergraduate, 1997 "Look! She's wearing a sari! Even Indian fashion is in these days." --Indian American woman pointing to the draped figure of the Statue of Liberty, in the filmChutney Popcorn (dir. Nisha Ganatra) Introduction India is "in" these days, appearing on the style map of trendspotters in fashion and music in the late 1990s in the U.S. and Europe. This turn-of-millennium fascination has produced a new Orientalization of India that recreates the countercultural appropriations of Indian styles from thirty years ago, through the consumption of imported goods that signify an exotic "cool." In its February 20, 2000 issue, the New York Times magazine, "Fashions of the Times," opened to a double-page advertisement for Liz Claiborne, featuring a blonde model in a silk sarong made from a gold-bordered pink sari and sporting a mehndi (henna) design on her foot. The caption reads, "Let the sun shine in." A sixties' "innocence" oozes out of the image of the...