Provence Lavender 11: Soap and Showgirls

[leia_solo]

Name: Destiny
Story: The Roaring Belles (Archive/Index/CBB* Belles)
Title: Soap and Showgirls
Timeline: March 1920
Colors: Provence Lavender #11: handmade soap
Supplies and Styles: None
Word Count: 331
Summary: 'What was the purpose of this, Ruth?'
Rating: G
Warnings: Cultural appropriation.
Notes: *CBB stands for Camellia Brook Belles. Ruth is 21 in this piece and she and her family are Chinese-American.



“Ruth!”

Ruth stopped her dancing immediately.

“You better answer her,” said her younger sister, Florence.

“Yes ma’am?” Ruth called from the living room.

Her mother came walking out of the bathroom with something in her hand.

“Ruth, what point are you trying to make with this?” Sarah asked holding up what looked like soap.

“We needed some new soap, so I thought I’d make some.”

Sarah clicked her heels. “I see that. But what are they in the shape of?”

Ruth was quiet. She looked down at her shoes.

“Ruth, I asked you a question,” Sarah said lifting up her daughter’s chin with her finger.

“It’s a pair of legs,” she said quietly.

“And why is the soap in the shape of legs?”

Ruth sighed. “Mama, I just thought it would be cute.”

Sarah groaned. “Ruth Rose, do you know what your father would do if he saw this? You know he wouldn’t take it lightly. So why go through the trouble of this?”

“I want to dance! I don’t care about science or being a doctor or any of what Dad wants me to do. I want to be a showgirl!”

“Ruth Rose, being a dancer is not a proper occupation, at least not as a showgirl. You used to like to do ballet. Why don’t you want to do that?”

Ruth rolled her eyes, which she immediately regretted when she saw her mother’s face.

“Ballet is boring, Mama. I want to dance to the new dances!” Ruth said excitedly.

Sarah sighed and shook her head. “Ruth, you need to be practical. I’m not completely behind your father on the medical route, but it’ll be a good paying job.”

Ruth opened her mouth to say something, but Sarah narrowed her eyes at her daughter. Ruth sighed and took the soap from her.

She walked back to her room. Somehow she would get to New York and she’d join the rank of those famous showgirls. She would. She just had to.

Comments

[bookblather]

...wow, that girl is... that's scandalous as hell. She's brave. Lucky thing it was her mom who caught her, I guess...

[leia_solo]

Lmao yes it was. Her father wouldn't have taken nicely to it.

[isana]

Hmm. As a Chinese-American, I'm concerned about the lack of cultural elements in this story, because in here the characters read like Americans. No offense meant, but I thought I'd point that out.

[leia_solo]

I can understand that. I was kind of going for that though because of how things were in the time period and because of Assimilation.

[rainbowmods]

This particular response reads very dismissively, as though you would have a greater level of knowledge regarding Chinese-American culture than someone who is actually Chinese-American. This can be incredibly hurtful and is problematic, as it was dismissive and even appropriative. Rule #12 is to be excellent to one another, and this comment crosses the line. Please apologize to Isana and listen the next time someone has a comment like this. We would also ask you to add a content note to this piece, indicating that some have found it to be culturally appropriative, as this can be a trigger for some people.

[leia_solo]

I'm sorry, isana and to the mods. I wasn't trying to appropriate the culture. I'm sorry for any trouble I caused.

[isana]

Thank you for understanding: I appreciate it!

[leia_solo]

No problem! I'm sorry if I came off as insensitive. I'll keep what you said in mind next time :D