YELLOWFACE Definition & Meaning

yellowface

[ yel-oh-feys ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

facial makeup used by a white, non-Asian actor or entertainer when portraying an East Asian:
In Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, the role of Cio-Cio San was performed in yellowface.

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of yellowface¹

First recorded in 1850–55; yellow (in the sense “Asian”) + face ( def )

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Example Sentences

Kuang’s 2023 novel “Yellowface” looks identical to the original, including the English title.

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Miss Shu Mai, a Taiwanese American drag queen who hosted the K-Pop Night, recalled seeing white actors in yellowface — makeup that made them look East Asian in L.A.’s drag scene.

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Colleen Ballinger is again facing criticism — this time for old videos of her performing in yellowface and a Beyoncé parody that’s called ‘mockery.’

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Christie tweeted a separate video that accuses Ballinger of editing her videos to scrub them of racist content, including a “Talk Dirty to Me” parody, where she appears in yellowface, dressed in Asian garb with a fan, speaking in a vaguely East Asian accent.

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The representation is necessary, Shu Mai said, because the L.A. drag scene has seen acts of yellowface as recently as last year.

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