#Colourism

[leikeliscomet]

“But We Love Martha Jones!” - The Doctor Who Fandom’s Selective Memory of Racism

Be aware that this article contains explicit examples of anti-black racism and misogynoir.

**Contents** Intro 1. Everybody Hates Martha 2. Utopia-ish 3. Martha vs Bill 4. Martha Triumphant?

Intro

To say being a Martha Jones fan from 2007-2017 was hard would be an understatement. The fandom claimed she was too clingy. Too jealous of Rose. Too bitter. Too bad a companion. For as long as I can remember, Martha Jones wasn’t just an unpopular companion - she was THE unpopular companion. So this recent increase in “my issues with [insert companion of colour here] isn’t about race. Everybody loved Martha Jones!” has me raising an eyebrow. Freema Agyeman as part of Ofcom’s Diversity In Broadcasting Event answered a question on her time as Doctor Who’s first Black companion. She describes her time as “good and bad”. She handled the criticism of Martha as a character “but the racism… yeah, yeah couldn’t rationalise that” as she pauses in the video. In the silence we get a clear answer - Freema Agyeman did not have an easy time as Doctor Who’s first Black companion. So when I see comments about how much she was loved, or how no one knew what Freema was going through when speaking out about the racism she experienced, or “My sus posts about Ryan & Yaz aren’t racist! I loved Martha!” I, and many other Black/mixed Black fans and other fans of colour have bad tastes in our mouths. We remember the real history of how Martha Jones was treated - and her history wasn’t a kind one.

Chapter 1 ->

#martha jones #freema agyeman #doctor who #new who #doctor who fandom #doctor who analysis #dr who fandom #dw fandom #fandom racism #rtd era #rtd critical #fandom analysis #fandom history #fandom colourism #black representation #rtd #rtd1 #fandom antiblackness #antiblackness #colourism

[hoolay-boobs]

Come on now

#downgrade of the century #monster high #mh #clawdeen wolf #what is this #monster high g3 #I like g3 but this is unacceptable #I have so many g3 dolls but it’s just draculaura draculaura draculaura and draculaura. and then a frankie and a cleo bc of the sapphicness #oh and a twyla #I have refused to get a g3 clawdeen for this reason #colorism #colourism #come on now #how did they think this was okay #monster high g1 #clawdeen wolf deserves better #clawdeen deserves better #monster high clawdeen #mh clawdeen #mh dolls #monster high critical #mh critical #monster high g3 critical #monster high gen 3 #monster high gen 3 critical #representation #lightwashing #downgrade

[what-shitfuckery-is-this-ew]

Tiktok white women mad that a brown girl could play Repunzel cause "it's a German story"

And like lets ignore the racism (because if y'all think she'd be a great Mother Gothel but not a good Rapunzel because of her melanin especially after Mother Gothel is already a racist caricature ...) and focus on the fact that the Brothers Grimm went all around the world collecting stories which had been passed down orally and shared between cultures.

Rapunzel is not just a German story first, Even the Brothers Grimm got it as a French story. Rapunzel is an Italian story before that, and before that Rapunzel is a Persian story.

By the logic y'all are using Jasmine should be Chinese, Cinderella should be Egyptian Snow White should be Malay and Pocahontas should be 9 (and not in love with John Smith for god sake she was a real 9 year old girl)

#avantika #racism #white women tears #rapunzel #tangled #white feminism #avantika vandanapu #colourism #tangled rapunzel #disney #tiktok #intersectionality #colorism #oppression #discrimination #eugene fitzherbert #flynn rider #my post

[ymustutortureme]

To all the Zionists preaching about how kind and accepting Israel is, remember that aside from their other war crimes and genocide they are carrying out, they also:

Forcibly sterilised thousands of Ethiopian Jews because they were black, and Israel didn't want their population to grow.

Remember those people who were also victims.

#israel #israeli apartheid #gaza strip #free gaza #palestine #israel is a terrorist state #israel is an apartheid state #ethiopian jews #colourism #racism

[they-them-that]

Don't Buy "Be Fashion Academy" Dolls

I want to put this out there in case anyone is willing to give this doll line the benefit of the doubt.

They're fairly new but they've made several posts already showcasing the dolls in all their pasty glory. They're just ignoring the problem and only replying to comments that point it out rather than making a public post addressing the issue.

Their reason also doesn't fly. Be Fashion Academy should've corrected this mistake before even revealing the dolls to the public, why would you use the white washed dolls at all??? Even if we believe that this is the fault of the manufacturer, Be Fashion Academy still allowed it and put them out to the public the way they are! If they cared about diversity, they should've picked a manufacturing company that did provide other skin tones!

Accurately representing melanin does not get to be an after thought! You can't just say "yeah we're just selling them white for now, we'll add skin diversity later (if you support us enough)". Black and brown girls are being expected to tolerate white washing because their identity is apparently "more work" to portray and Be Fashion Academy does not have the patience for that...

#the illustrated art is light skinned though #even for the darkest skinned doll #and all their faces are the same in both #theres no unique ethnic features?? i cant even tell if the blue one is supposed to be asian or not #and the red and green ones are also super ambiguous and white passing #fashion dolls #dolls #doll community #be fashion academy #colorism #colourism #tw racsim

[newsfromstolenland]

Do you think Asian Americans need to work on anti-black racism in their communities? It seems like some Asian Americans are against affirmative action, even though it benefits them too. And some seem happy it was overturned. Which seems a little racist.

oh absolutely, anti-blackness is rampant in asian communities

opposition to affirmative action from asian communities has been a problem for as long as affirmative action has been in place. it's hypocritical, because many implementations of affirmative action have provided opportunities for asian people as well

it also ties in to the whole "model minority" concept, and the extremely racist idea that asians are the good, smart, hardworking racial minorities and that black people are none of those things

when in reality, non-black people of colour like myself have a leg up over black people for multiple reasons. colourism is a huge factor. also, the stereotype of the "smart nerdy asian", while racist in it's own right, does provide an advantage in accessing education and finding jobs. and then of course there's the fact that many black people in canada and the united states are descended from slaves, making them significantly less likely to have family wealth being passed down to them, because their ancestors didn't own property, instead they were considered property. while all people of colour face systemic racial injustice, there are specific and heightened systemic injustices that black people face and that the rest of us do not

and those are just the systemic factors! there's also cultural factors among asian communities, including my community as an indian person. colourism is rampant in asia and among asians all over the world. stereotypes about black people are shared between white people and non black people of colour, and we are absolutely complicit in their oppression

a few years ago it came to light that the government in india had as a part of its education curriculum for children an extremely racist concept floated by the hindu nationalist government. the story that was being taught in schools was that when the deities created the first humans, they constructed them and cooked them over a fire. and that the first attempt was undercooked, and those were white people. then the second attempt was "overcooked and burned", and those were black people. then the third attempt was "perfect" and when they "got it right", cooked the right amount, and that was indian people.

I don't think I need to explain how racist that concept is and how it negatively impacts how indian people treat black people, and is outright claiming that we're genetically superior in some way

when it comes to affirmative action, a lot of asians have bought into the "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" bullshit, and view it as giving unfair "handouts" to black people. of course, the truth is that affirmative action is nowhere near enough to balance out the injustices faced by black people, and any asian who thinks that it is too much is both a hypocrite and a racist who has decided to side with the oppressor and throw black people under the bus for their own benefit

#asks #anonymous #mine #affirmative action #racism #anti-blackness #anti-black racism #slavery #colourism #systemic racism #racism tw #anti-blackness tw #anti-black racism tw #slavery tw #colourism tw #systemic racism tw

[nahobinobrunestud]

I'm not about to check side by side but it just occurred to me, is the one dark skinned girl in Persona 3 whitewashed in the remake? I know no one else on this site or people in general seem to care about that sort of thing ever but you know.

#racism #colourism #colorism #persona

[birdiewolf]

My feelings on Sumeru now that we’ve reached Fontaine—-(long post btw)

I have a love-hate relationship with Sumeru.

On one hand, characters are memorable, the world quests have brilliant story telling, and there’s new mechanics with each region we unlocked.

And on the other hand—-seeing the blatant colourism from Hoyo in regards to the playable character designs was so disheartening (especially since it triggered a wave of racism against poc in the fandom). Some areas are locked to quests, and omg the underground exploration was absolute hell

- Hoyo has clearly learned a lot from the previous region’s exploration feedback and they’ve done so much better with the maps. Everything shown on the map is specified whether it is on land or underwater. This makes Fontaine so much fun to explore compared to Sumeru.

At one point I completely gave up on finding the dendroculus because I wasn’t able to figure whether they were above or below. And it was this ongoing issue with Sumeru’s exploration in general.

I’m not surprised that players are relieved to leave Sumeru behind. If you were playing as the versions were being updated and new regions were being added, then you would know how frustrating exploration was since navigation wasn’t detailed enough.

Constantly trying to figure your way through complex temples and passages takes the joy out of going into a new area. The scenery and graphics were so beautiful but because there was so much struggle with figuring out where to go and how to get there, many players just didn’t get that feeling of appreciation for the region.

- The world quests for Sumeru had amazing storytelling. The Aranara, Jeht, and Sorush are a cast of characters who I’m so attached to. Their personalities and character development is incredible. What is disappointing is the fact that Hoyo still doesn’t let major world quests be voiced.

Voice acting plays such a big role in bringing a character to life. The way VAs are able to depict a character’s growth by subtly changing the tone of their voice is so incredible and something like that would’ve made such a big impact on the storytelling.

- The archon quests were amazing. There were some parts that felt meh, but overall, they were a major upgrade from the previous regions. Playable characters get a chance to shine instead of npcs.

Obviously we had Dunyarzad but she didn’t take over the spotlight. Seeing the playable cast interact with each other so much really helped the story feel more organic. Not everything was being dependent on the Traveler making the initiative.

Alhaitham, Dehya, Cyno, and Candace all working together. Dehya and Candace being friends beforehand, Cyno mentioning Tighnari…the in-game world just felt more real. The characters really shined in most parts especially the third act.

- Sumeru’s music is fantastic. The forest region is beautiful. The desert is also good enough.

- The mix and matching of cultures was a major let down. Genshin has always mixed cultures for its game but with Sumeru it was a whole mess.

On one hand, I appreciate the level of effort they put into doing research but on the other hand, there was wayyyy too much happening. Had they limited the real world regions from where they would inspiration then they wouldn’t have gotten so much backlash.

There’s an npc in Sumeru City that’s called ‘Berber’—and this is a literal slur against the Amazigh from whom Hoyo took inspiration from for Dehya and Tighnari…

This was the major issue. When you mix regions that are already diverse as hell, you’re taking the risk of making major mistakes unknowingly.

Nahida for example has a lot of Persian elements to her design. But her former title, Rukhadevata, and current title, Kusanali, along with what the Aranara call her, Aranyani, all are rooted in south Asian culture an history.

Kusanali is tree spirit from Buddhism, a religion practiced throughout various regions of South Asia.

Rukkhadevata is linked to both Buddhism and Hinduism.

Aranyani is the name of a literal god from Hinduism.

Many Persians were satisfied with her design, but many South Asians were not. If you don’t know, South Asians are majority brown with different skin tones. Most of us have visible melanin.

So seeing a character that takes so much influence from us, being even whiter than the literal white characters from the game was absolutely disappointing.

Sumeru’s colourist issue could’ve been solved had they actually shown a diverse range of skin tones for the playable cast. Many racists in the fandom pretend poc want every Sumeru character to be darkskin which isn’t true. Most of us have been asking for a proper balance. Some characters could have been light skinned, others could’ve been darkskinned (and I mean proper darkskinned, not the level of dark Cyno and Candace are…), and others in between.

You can’t take so much inspiration from people who are so diverse and then expect them to be okay with a mostly white cast reflecting their regions…I honestly think if Hoyoverse wasn’t so colourist then the initial backlash could’ve been avoided.

- All in all, I’m relieved to be moving on to Fontaine. There were good parts but the bad parts were so unbearable.

Sumeru brought out the worst of the worst in Genshin’s fandom. Racist ideologies being spread left and right, fans of colour getting death threats for criticizing the colourism, light skinned Arabs being absolutely unbearable and acting as if the colourism isn’t a big deal, and of course, the sudden selective behaviour towards fan art and edits.

Never had most of the genshin fandom gotten mad at a fan making a random edit of a playable character, until people started making edits of the Sumeru casts with culturally accurate clothing and skin tones. Even now, if a poc edits a character to have a little bit of blood circulation, the KKK lot will go off on them. These racist idiots always exist but they increased with Sumeru’s release.

#genshin impact #mihoyo #hoyoverse #sumeru #fontaine #mypost #genshin fandom #alhaitham #genshin dehya #genshin candace #genshin cyno #genshin traveler #genshin impact lumine #genshin sumeru #genshin jeht #aranara #sorush #colourism #genshin racism #fandom racism #lesser lord kusanali #greater lord rukkhadevata #aranyani

[sharloola]

Black Girl Walking

It seems that my body speaks before I do. Tells the room I am proud and aloof  Before I have been allowed to enter. Warns of aggression and sex In my dark and the curve of my spine, Of simplicity and calculated cruelty. Announces that I am ready to be consumed, Like a corpse flirting with grinning vultures.

And maybe my body is loud because My existence has never belonged to me. It is in the hands of those who grab my hair, And force me onto their hot mouths, So enthralled by the black girl walking. 

Sometimes I dream of being invisible, Of being given the grace of weakness. But it seems that my body is screaming,  And isn’t it such a blessing to be heard?

s.o.

#poetry #poem #original poem #black poets on tumblr #writing #black girls #black women #misogynoir #colourism #colorism #sharloola

[moonfirebrides]

Vivienne Westwood

#black beauty #natural hair #beauty #vivienne westwood #black woman #bridal #misogynoir #black bride #black women #dark skin #colourism #racism #wedding dress #black men

[leikeliscomet]

“But We Love Martha Jones!” - The Doctor Who Fandom’s Selective Memory of Racism

Chapter 3 - Martha vs Bill

Moffat took us to a Bristol university in 2017, to meet the bright, friendly, chip-serving Bill Potts, the first Black lesbian companion of Doctor Who. Bill’s entrance wasn’t met with sunshine and rainbows either, with complaints of “PC agendas” and the accusation of her sexuality being “shoved down our throat” following her throughout Series 10. She was often called annoying and accused of being too angry. Her outbursts at Twelve weren’t fully well received, despite them only happening as a response to being emotionally manipulated and being shot and converted into a Cyberman against her will. Overreactions, right? That being said, Bill seems to have a more positive reception than Martha did and this can be pointed towards the writing. Moffat decided S10 would focus on Bill’s race and had the 12th Doctor bravely punch Sutcliff after his anti-black comments about her. This was mostly well received by the fandom and the Doctor was praised for taking initiative. How I feel about this scene and how Doctor Who handles race can be explained in way more detail for later but I can sum it up by saying I didn’t hate the scene: but I don't love it either. The racism Bill receives is barely mentioned again apart from a small comment in Oxygen, plus I see this scene constantly used to shut down any valid criticism about how race was handled in the Moffat era. Twelve is centred in this scene, not Bill. The fact this scene is referred to as “Twelve punches the racist” and not “Bill experienced racism” speaks for itself.

Leading back to Martha, a weird parallel is made between her and Bill. Yes, RTD and Moffat are different people who wrote different people but a parallel is there regardless; A brown-skinned woman expected to defend and save her white male incarnation whilst barely praised for it and constantly compared to her blonde white female predecessor, versus, the light-skinned woman who was actually defended by her white male incarnation. It's not the best look. The show set up the parallel by having Bill reference Martha’s butterfly effect conversation with Ten and the fandom carried this on. As much as I love Bill, her being held up as the Black companion “done right” has always felt wrong because not only are there critiques to be made about Moffat’s handling of Black characters too (Danny Pink anyone?), it reinforces Martha as the “failed” Black companion. “Moffat wrote Bill to do XYZ whilst RTD wrote Martha to do ABC” became “Bill did this and Martha didn’t so Bill was better Black representation!” Bill spoke about racism and Martha didn’t (even though she did in Shakespeare Code and Human Nature/Family of Blood), Bill wore her natural hair and Martha didn’t (even though Freema didn’t control the costumes), Bill did everything right (as if Martha did everything wrong).

Bill being placed on the pedestal of the “perfect Black companion” not only erases the antiblackness her character also experienced but reinforces how her darker counterparts, Martha, Mickey and Ryan, “fail” in comparison and “fail” in their Blackness, over reasons the characters nor actors themselves had any control over. It really begs the question of how different Bill would’ve been treated if she was darker, but I guess we’ll never know. If we’re gonna praise and uplift POC in Doctor Who, specifically Black characters, we need to uplift them in all shades. Only supporting the lightest person in the room whilst saying they’re better than the darker ones is not the anti-racist serve this fandom thinks it is.

<- Chapter 2 Chapter 4 ->

#martha jones #bill potts #doctor who #doctor who fandom #dw fandom #fandom racism #antiblackness #rtd era #rtd critical #moffat era #moffat critical #colourism #colorism #fandom colourism #black representation #fandom analysis #fandom history #freema agyeman #new who #doctor who analysis #doctor who series 10 #dr who fandom #rtd #rtd1 #fandom antiblackness

[whitepassingpocs]

So what does white passing look like in America today? I have largely switched to saying white-presenting as opposed to white passing. The historical context of white passing is rooted in violence and disenfranchisement of fair-skinned Black Americans. However, we cannot acknowledge this without mentioning colorism, when light-skinned Black people and white Americans tend to turn their internalized racism towards darker-skinned Black people. For example, there was a higher monetary value set for enslaved people who were light-skinned, and even historically, Black sororities and fraternities have been known to show colorism in member selection. (Nova Southeastern University). Even today, light-skinned Black Americans are less likely to encounter the same barriers as their darker-skinned counterparts (Time). 

Why I Shifted from Saying “White Passing” | Nia Norris | Anti-Racism Daily

#white passing #white presenting #racism #anti blackness #colourism #colorism #article

[hidingfromfriends]

While I do think Sydney Agudong is a miscast for Nani, there is something to be said about MSM twice now using the PALEST possible picture of actresses when announcing casting for a woman of colour character. Same happened with Kiawentiio when she was cast as Katara for the live-action version of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

I do think Sydney is too pale for the role but it's NOWHERE as bad as the MSM makes it look. I think it's purely to drum up hate and anger so the articles get more interaction. But ultimately the actresses get the brunt of the hate. Both Sydney and Kiawentiio's social medias got filled up with angry comments and I can't imagine what their DMs looked like too if they were left open.

This below is what I'm talking about. Including an image taken from other screen gigs the actresses had been in prior.

Sydney Agudong

Kiawentiio Tarbell

We absolutely should be talking about colourism and if the role could of gone to someone who's fully Native Hawaiian rather than someone mixed race who lives in Hawaii. But I don't think Sydney is as white as the MSM makes out for rage clicks and engagement. And I think that's the other side of the colourism debate we should be having. That often WOC are often the brunt of hate for calculated schemes by MSM and often celebrity information sites use the palest pictures too.

#Sydney Agudong #Kiawentiio Tarbell #lilo and stitch #Nani Pelekai #Katara #avatar the last airbender #ATLA #Colourism #remakes #disney

[autisticlancemcclain]

why are so many people so upset by the idea of lance having brown eyes? genuinely perplexed rn.

racism and colourism! popular media has a real problem of whitewashing their characters of colour. this can be obvious like lightening a character’s skin in an adaption (like the hunger games, the hate u give, original teenage mutant ninja turtles etc). it can be more subtle, like refusing to allow Black/Brown characters to have kinky/non-white appearing hair (high school musical, the owl house i think). the most common, most debated, and least overt is the lightening of character’s eyes or changing of their other ethnic features such as their nose/bone structure. this last one is so ridiculously common that it’s genuinely upsetting.

there is nothing wrong, of course, with blue or light eyes. nor is there anything wrong with light hair. there is never anything inherently wrong with someone’s features.

HOWEVER.

when over and over again in media, some features are characterized as ugly, like long, hooked noses (snow white, tangled, almost any disney movie really) or big/curvy body shapes (this is a mix of a hatred of fat people and racism; remember that not only are fat people endlessly mocked in almost every single tv show but figures that are more common in Black people, such as a curvy figure, is often over sexualised or mocked, especially in disney channel TV shows), it is now a pattern. when ATLA, a show about indigenous/asian coded characters has almost EXCLUSIVELY light eyed characters, that’s questionable. when almost every ‘pretty’ Black/POC animated character has white/light hair and light eyes (think allura and Yue), it bears conversation.

what is wrong with brown eyes? nothing. what is wrong with dark skin? nothing. what is wrong with curly kinky hair? nothing. what is wrong with large noses, gapped teeth, fat bodies? nothing. in fact every single one of these features is breathtakingly beautiful. to write any character with these features is to write a character that is undeniably gorgeous. but so much of our (western, at least, i can’t speak for everyone) media is so anti-Black and racist and colourist that we have been conditioned to believe that the most beautiful are the blue eyed wonders, and to change that feature in a character is to make them ‘worse’.

i’m not interested in that garbage. lance is CUBAN. cuba is a caribbean country, which speaks to a difference between it and other latina countries — it has, and has for as long as there has been a cuba, a largely african/afro-descent community. while it’s not impossible for a character from cuba to have light eyes or light hair, it is unlikely. was dreamworks interested in actually representing characters of colour with the respect BIPOC deserves, they would have remembered this.

but they didn’t. no surprise. but i don’t have to listen to dreamworks. no one in this fandom does anyway. but what this fandom does have is a history of vile racism, and so i’m not surprised that brown-eyed lance brings so much outcry.

#i don’t give even one half of a shit if you’re a fan of blue eyed lance #but if you’re going to come on to MY blog and give me shit about it then you’re a dickbrain end of story #piss all the way off #not you anon you just asked a valid question #colourism #voltron racism #ask #longpost

[thepaintedroom]

Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell (Scottish, 1883-1937) • The Red Chair • c. 1923

#art #fine art #painting #colourism #francis cadell #paintings of interiors #making room blog #paintings of domestic interiors #scottish artist #modern art

[tepkunset]

Fellow whitepassing ndns I need y'all to understand we are not getting hurt by addressing colourism in the entertainment industry. We live in a world where systemic racism especially oppresses and neglects those with darker skin. That's just an unfortunate fact.

#colourism #racism