Next week marks the 79th anniversary of the Rape of Nanjing (also known as Nanjing/Nanking Massacre), one of the bloodiest and traumatizing events in the history of China. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese people, both civilians and soldiers alike, were brutally murdered by the Imperial Japanese Army forces, and between 20,000 and 80,000 women were sexually assaulted. Nanjing, previously the prosperous capital of Nationalist China, was left in ashes and dust. The cries and tears of the violated people would resound across the globe and leave a wound so deep in Chinese society that it's taken decades before the scar has begun to heal.

So it comes as no surprise that people would pay homage to the victims of the massacre and not forget the event. Iris Chang illuminated the horrors of the massacre in her best-selling book "The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II," and the Nanjing Memorial Hall was built in 1935 to commemorate the survivors and victims. The memorial hall is located in the southwestern corner of Nanjing, near a site called a "pit of ten thousand corpses," and it features monoliths with chilling and horrifying emotions.

However, not all events and things are done in the name of memorializing the event.

A little under a month ago, Nordstrom was under fire for a hoodie that not only depicted a scene of the Nanjing Massacre but labeled it as "happy." Following an online backlash from many Asian Americans, Nordstrom removed the hoodie from their website and issued apologies on Facebook.

In an email to Daily Hive, Emily Sterken, public affairs manager of Nordstrom said, "We are truly sorry to anyone we have offended and are updating our process to look more closely at the type of products we’re offering and ensure we’re being sensitive to how our customers could perceive it."

The artist of the hoodie, Andrea Maracinni, spoke out about the issue, stating that "[the hoodie] is not meant to be offensive in any way, on the contrary it's a protest against the bigoted and narrow-minded people. This is a demur kind of art, not a insult!"

Maracinni defends the picture on the back, claiming that it's actually meant to bring awareness to the event since "no one ever speaks of that event [Nanjing Massacre] in the Western World." He also states that the name of the hoodie is "Why Indifference?" from his My Lamb of God series – not "Happiness."There's a fine line to walk when one wishes to bring historical events to the public's attention, especially those as bloody and traumatizing as the Nanjing Massacre.

There may be genuine intentions of goodwill, but the end product, with no context, may be misinterpreted by people. However, more often than not, this is not the case. People will dramatize and romanticize an event into something "aesthetically pleasing," slap it on an article of clothing and call it art.

These past few years have seen several bouts of cultural appropriation, with Katy Perry's 2013 AMA performance sparking debates, Kendall Jenner's "bold braids," eliciting backlash and the NFL team Washington Redskins receiving harsh criticisms for their mascot choice. In a way, this hoodie and the fact that it was still released after going through a number of people who apparently thought something like this was okay only goes to show how rampant cultural appropriation is.

It may be art to you, but for many others, it's humiliating, disturbing and only serves to further perpetuate stereotypes.