Daisy Suhwoo Park

During the pandemic, many of us faced the crisis of ‘survival’. Survival from disease, survival for financial livelihood, survival of relationships that could no longer be in the flesh. What was equally urgent for me was the matter of survival as an Asian woman, whether I was in the UK or South Korea. It seemed as if Covid19 coincided at a time of increased explicit Asian hate out on the streets, and an enablement of racists who obviously existed since a long time ago expressing their hate publicly towards Asians. No matter in which country I was located, being an Asian woman, I felt like I was right at the intersection of all forms of hatred. I felt misplaced in whatever society.

Remotely studying from Korea only reminded me that I could not be free from this racism nor misogyny even during lockdowns, even with no physical contact with others. Simply reading the daily news articles, I saw an astonishing number of misogynistic crimes and murders, not to mention misogynistic remarks in everyday life that would never make it to be on the news disguised as jokes. As much as the body contains the mind, it is natural that our mind is not intact when we receive verbal attacks about our looks.

In response, as a masters in fashion womenswear 2021, I gathered the voices of Korea, China, US, UK, Germany, Poland and more. I found empowerment in nature, flower blooms, and the human body. Not female as a metaphoric flower of decorative beauty and passivity, but flower of voice, power and purposeful life. Unlike the old Chinese/Korean term 해어화(解語花, Hae-Uh-Hwa), I evidence that woman is not a flower that understands human words, but a flower that embodies empowerment and makes human words.