The paradox of whitewashing, blackfishing, and racial fetishization

Hey everyone! Welcome back to my blog, nextjenbeauty. If you want to check out my last post, click here to read my friend’s interview and learn about influencer culture. Today, we’re going to be talking about my interview with my friend Caira! We had a really thorough conversation about things like Filipino beauty culture, racial fetishization in the beauty community, and the evolution of the meaning of inclusivity and diversity in the makeup industry. I can’t wait to show you all what she shared with me. If you want to see how to achieve this ~editorial~ colored inner corner look inspired by her interview, watch my video! (coming soon) :)

How do you identify?

[I identify with] she/her [pronouns].

What role does your identity play in your makeup use? Do you feel that there are stereotypes/biases associated with your identity in the beauty community/industry?

… The drag culture in the Philippines is very different from normal culture, and when I was young, I loved playing with makeup because it was just… expressive and you’re not really supposed to be that expressive. You’re supposed to be a good girl, you’re supposed to be put-together and quiet in church… Makeup was a way where I could be really loud and I didn’t need to talk.

If I think about it, I liked makeup because it was [a way] to make myself look white. But over time, it moved towards - oh, I actually like my eye shape. Oh, I like my eyebrows. Oh, I actually don’t need to change this.

How do you feel that your identity is represented in the beauty community/industry?

There are a lot of really good Filipinos like Patrick Starr and… Bretman Rock… Filipinos get hyped a lot, but it’s to a point where it’s kind of fetishizing. But when they became popular, people were like “Oh, this is what this is. This is what that is...” Thank God for those two, but other than that, obviously, the space is mostly homogenous. I wish it wasn’t, but I’m glad [there are] a lot of brands like Juvia’s place… or a lot of indie [brands], like Beauty Bakerie, and there’s even a lot of brands from the Philippines that are kind of coming up and being used by Western makeup artists.

Bretman Rock x Morphe collab campaign

What changes would you like to see in the beauty community/industry?

I think more transparency. Especially with ingredients. Sourcing, labor, and even creations…. When a lot of influencers collab on a project, sometimes it is the influencer’s creation but it’s also sometimes not. While I love things that have been inspired by culture, like Bretman Rock’s highlighter palette was Oahu-themed, you can also go to the other side and see how Kim K was really disrespectful to that culture with [a different collection].

I guess [I’d like to see] more sensitivity, because… it’s not enough to just do it, you have to do it well. I wish there was more of an awareness, because there are still, for example, a lot of brands like Too Faced that are like, “We’re trying!” ...They want a pass for very questionable things.

NikkieTutorials' collab with Too Faced, which resulted in brand scandal.

(If you want to learn more about the scandal surrounding NikkieTutorials' collab with Too Faced, click here.)

What is your favorite thing about makeup?

I love the ability to, as cliche as it sounds, transform, but not into someone else other than me. I love playing with my eye shape. I used to think I couldn’t do it, but over time you figure out different techniques. I don’t have monolids, I have hooded eyes, and it’s very interesting because for the longest time, I would copy certain people who had different eye shapes than me. Now, I kind of tailor my own stuff. I love experimenting with stuff, I love splashes of color in unexpected places… My favorite thing is just having a dash of color on the eyes and mascara and clear gloss. I think that’s so pretty. Editorial, fresh, but also experimental…

I feel like it’s easy to start with small things - like you can do a colored inner corner. It’s really pretty, even if it’s dark - it’s interesting because depending on your eye shape, like if you have close-together eyes, it’ll look really intense. Versus [on] me, it’ll still look intense but in a different way. Just because it’s different doesn’t mean it doesn’t look good. Besides the color thing, it’s also different colors of blush or even different colors of lipstick, like fading it out or ombre-ing it. It’s just very fun.

This look was inspired by this portion of her interview!

… That’s another thing, makeup is kind of like a protective shield. Like a barrier. I used to wear concealers that were like four shades lighter than my face. It’s very interesting because I think I have a common skin tone - like I’m right in the middle of the spectrum, but I’ve also been told in the Philippines I’m dark for my family. [Shades] are starting to expand, but not really. Here, it’s funny because I’m technically light skinned, but… some people will be like, “I wish I had your dark skin color and your dark tan,” and other people will be like, “You’re so light skinned it’s crazy.” ...And so for the longest time I was like, “I need this shade of concealer. I need to look the part of the lightness that I am, or I am not, I guess.”

What makeup skill would you like to develop or improve?

I would do skin. I really want to be able to do skin that doesn’t cover up - like I love Patrick Ta’s skin… I don’t want perfection, but I also love Mariah Leonard’s glass skin.

Also, [this is] not even a makeup skill but just embracing texture. You can’t cover up texture and I learned that really young because I used to have such bad skin, and now I just let [it] breathe…

It’s just ironic that a lot of makeup is made for a person that doesn’t really exist. Even the people in those photos, they don’t look like that. I love Instagram, but that is one thing I hate. The editing. I hate when people are like, “I need to look like this picture.” No you fucking don’t, because that’s an image and you’re a person and you move and breathe and you’re dynamic.

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I kept the majority of our interview in this post, so I’ll try to keep my supplemental info short. Talking to Caira was really refreshing; she’s just as much of a makeup junkie as me, so we were able to talk about specific collections and creators that reflected certain ideals.

Something that stood out to me was her mention of the fetishization of different cultures and races in the beauty community. One popular example of this is “blackfishing,” a term that refers to the use of makeup, fake tan, wigs, fillers/botox, and other aesthetic manipulations in order to appear black or mixed. This is a scary and gross trend that I’ve seen way too many times on Instagram and Twitter.

Blackfishing: Instagram influencer Emma Hallberg

This is toxic for many reasons, one being that these women are able to capitalize off of the very features that black women continue to be mocked for. It creates this weird paradox of a whitewashed community that profits off of the idea of not being white, all while shutting down the artists and creators that actually aren't white.

That’s not limited to just physical features. Many influencers also capitalize off of black ideas and get significantly more recognition than the original creator or even pass them off as their own. An example of this is Chelsie Worthy @wvrthy, an Instagram influencer I discovered because of her “traptorials.” I’ll insert the link to one here because the first time I saw this was literally a life-changing experience.

Chelsie is an incredibly talented artist and video editor, but she rarely gets the recognition she deserves. Last year, makeup artists with huge followings (we’re talking several million followers) started copying her traptorial style - and yes, I’m just going to straight up say that they were copying. I feel like her style is extremely distinct and different from what the majority of influencers create, so when other artists switched from the typical Instagram makeup tutorial to this style, it was glaringly obvious to say the least. She responded with this statement:

She put it into words perfectly, and it really makes you reflect on how small influencers in the beauty community, especially POC, get exploited for their appearance and their original ideas.

Along the same line, something that bothers me as a Latina is when products are named using Spanish words that are heavily associated with the “fiery Latina” stereotype. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel like a lot of the time when I see products named in Spanish, they tend to be red, orange, or generally warm-toned products with names like “picante” (spicy) or “fuego” (fire). On the surface, they seem harmless, but in a way they perpetuate the stereotypes surrounding Hispanic/Latina women, especially when the products weren’t designed or produced by Hispanic creators.

Have you guys noticed any of these trends on social media? Have you seen examples of it aside from the ones I mentioned? Comment below with your thoughts and opinions. Thank you so much for reading - I’ll see you next time!