Wonton font

A wonton font (also known as Chinese font, chopstick font or chop-suey font, type or lettering) is an ethnic typeface with a visual style expressing "Asianness" or "Chineseness".

The Korean War Memorial in Auburn, NY uses wonton font to imitate brush strokes.

Styled to mimic the brush strokes used in Chinese characters, wonton fonts are often used to convey a sense of Orientalism. They are frequently viewed as culturally insensitive or offensive.

Controversy

Some Asian-Americans find the use of these fonts offensive or racist,[1][2] particularly when paired with caricatures which hark back to the Yellow Peril images of the late 19th century and 20th century. In 2002, the clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch experienced a public relations disaster when it produced a series of T-shirts with buck-toothed images and wonton font slogans.[3] The Chicago Cubs were hit with backlash from the Asian community after a similarly offensive T-shirt was produced by an independent vendor in 2008.[4] The questionable use of such fonts was the subject of an article in the Wall Street Journal by cultural commentator Jeff Yang.[5]

References
  1. Shaw, Paul (17 June 2009). "Stereo Types". Print Magazine. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  2. Fernández, Nichole (November 19, 2015). "StereoTYPES". It Ain't Necessarily So. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  3. Strasburg, Jenny (2002-04-19). "Abercrombie recalls T-shirts many found offensive". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  4. WITTENMYER, GORDON (April 18, 2008). "Fukudome doesn't find racist T-shirts in Wrigleyville funny". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  5. Yang, Jeff (2012-06-20). "Is Your Font Racist? - Speakeasy". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
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