It’s called Hula, a new app designed to provide your date with proof you’re free of sexually transmitted diseases and thus help you "get lei’d."
But while the app has earned some nationwide buzz for promoting STD testing and awareness, it is drawing fire from Native Hawaiians who describe it as disrespectful and insulting to their culture.
"Oh my God, that is so disturbing. I’m just sad," said Maile Meyer, owner of Native Books/Na Mea Hawaii.
An online petition signed by more than 650 people at change.org asks the Los Angeles-based Hula to change the name of the app and reaches out to CEO Ramin Bastani in hopes that "our pain and concerns will be addressed."
More than 125 signers left comments blasting the company for co-opting the Hawaiian culture and linking the ancient Hawaiian art form with the crass term "getting lei’d."
Bastani did not return calls to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, but Hula did respond to complaints on its Facebook page, saying it was unaware of concerns about the name.
"In no way did we intend to offend anyone, especially the Hawaiian community — and for doing so, we deeply apologize," the company posted more than a month ago. "We are in the process of learning more from your community, discussing internally and hope to address your concerns shortly."
Meanwhile, the company’s main Web page remains mum about the controversy. It describes the app as an innovative health care tool that allows the user to find STD testing centers, get results online and share his or her verified STD status.
According to the Hula page, the company’s mission is to provide easy access to the information needed to make well-informed sexual health decisions. "Our hope is that we will destigmatize the discussion of HIV and STDs along the way," the site says.
Bastani started the company in 2010 because, according to the site, "a girl slapped me in the face after I asked if she’d been tested. As she walked out, I sat there thinking, ‘There has to a better way to have this conversation.’"
The app has been featured in recent months in Time, Forbes, Scientific American and Men’s Health, among other publications.
The app was originally called Qpid.me, but the name was changed to Hula about six months ago. Bastani has appeared since then in at least one public presentation wearing a multicolored plastic lei and playing up the connection between the app and "getting lei’d."
The petition objecting to the app’s name was started in February by three college students who went to high school at Kamehameha Schools-Maui: Alika Guerrero of the University of Hawaii-Hilo, Kaio Tubera of the University of Rochester and Kelly Luis of Columbia University.
"While we have no opposition to the app’s functions and purpose, we do not believe that our beloved culture practice should be exploited to ensure the app’s success," the petition says.
Luis, an environmental science student at Columbia, said hula is a sacred art form that holds the language, history, music and traditions of the Hawaiian people. Naming the app Hula is a misappropriation of Hawaiian culture and especially distasteful considering the fact Europeans introduced gonorrhea and syphilis to the islands that led to the decimation of 300,000 Hawaiians, she said.
Luis said she, Guerrero and Tubera learned about the new app on social media and decided "this is wrong." She added that she’s gratified the petition is helping to teach others about the Hawaiian culture, especially those on the mainland who might know only the tourism cliches.
"My culture is more than a tourist destination," she said. "It is more than a place to go for the summer. It’s more than just sexy hula girls on the beach. There is a culture there."
Many others appear to be troubled as well.
"The use of the word ‘hula’ in this app is totally inappropriate and culturally insensitive," declared Nanette Napoleon, a Native Hawaiian author and photographer.
Nani Kauka of Kailua said this is another example of the Hawaiian culture being exploited, misused and misunderstood.
"I don’t like it," said Kauka, a hula teacher. "Why don’t they call it ballet or jazz?"
Amy Marsh, a clinical sexologist and former hula student from Albany, Calif., said using Hula as a product name to cash in on the cliche "getting lei’d" is tantamount to naming a shampoo "Scalp" and then putting Native American symbols on the bottle.
"There would be a real uproar over that, but this product is doing the exact same thing," she said. "You’re not supposed to be stepping on these people anymore. It’s the 21st century."
Marsh said that as a sex educator she might be interested in the functionality of the app. But there’s no way she can recommend it because she can’t get past the cultural insensitivity.
Meyer said Hawaiians have to reclaim their culture and language — not by getting mad, but by making this a "teaching moment."
"We have to forgive these people," she said. "But this really is offensive on every possible level."
