Girls from Krasnodar were accused of blackfishing because of photos with curls and self-tanner

Girls from Krasnodar were accused of blackfishing because of photos with curls and self-tanner

After the scandal in the comments, Beyoncé’s brand account deleted the photo of two Russian models.

The brand Ivy Park deleted from its account photos of models Alyona and Anastasia in clothes from their collaboration with adidas after a flurry of hate hit them in the comments. English-speaking users accused the girls of racism and blackface. In their opinion, the girls purposely used self-tanner and curls to look like dark-skinned people. Users criticized the brand and its creator Beyoncé.

Translation of the tweet, “Just asked the Yvy Park guys to delete this post because these ladies are blackfishing. I had to speak out because this brand was created by a dark skinned woman, Beyonce.”

Reasons for the scandal

On December 4, Alyona and Anastasia posted pictures in the brand’s clothes, after which the official account reposted the photos. When commenters realized that the pictures showed Russian girls, they accused them of blackface and cultural appropriation. Critics felt that the models used attributes from a minority culture to gain popularity. Under the post, people were outraged: “These white Russians are insulting our rights”, “Why the hell are they wearing braids and braids?”.

Russian-speaking commenters stood up for the models, who were also accused of ignorance. Although some people wrote that the ethnicity of the models is unclear, so they can’t be unequivocally accused of racism.

Models’ reactions

Alyona and Anastasia were surprised by the hashtag in their direction. “At first I was happy, and then I was horrified by the comments under our photo,” – commented on the situation in her account Alyona.

Should we have been photographed in a kokoshnik and with a long Russian braid? Ah, no, braids are also theirs… And what next? Forbid me from listening to hip-hop music, wearing jeans and tanning salons? Yeah, yeah, the fact that I’m too tan offends them too.
Camooooon, guys, there’s not only “black” and “white” in the world, there’s also southern gals with gypsy and Caucasian roots. And yes, we are darker than most Russians. So what now, should we frantically smear ourselves with SPF +100 so that no dark-skinned woman gets upset?

Anastasia noted that “the line between absurdity and blackfishing is very thin, and those who carry racism see it everywhere and everywhere in others.” The girls say they have admired blackface culture since childhood.

Support in the comments

Despite the fact that the models never waited for feedback from Ivy Park, they thanked for the support from Russian speakers. Commenters continue to defend the girls under the brand’s new posts. “Well for that matter, take the black dots off my nose,” “Can Eminem still rap? Who knows?”, “A counter question – when black people straighten their hair and dye it blonde, what court should I go to?”. – wrote under the photos users.

Alyona noted, “There’s nothing wrong with being inspired by and utilizing the heritage of other races.” What do you think, did the girls really engage in blackfishing? Where is the line between cultural appropriation and inspiration by another’s culture?