Troubling language regarding skin tone

I would send them a message. Maybe even with some better fitting names for the skin tones? I think it might have bigger success, if they can go: oh yes the name fits and sounds nice. Instead of them having to search and discuss new names. Maybe you can find one or two names in context of the intented story line they want? Or overall. ^^

 

I agree with most of you're saying here, but I wanted to a add a couple of tips about the language barrier.

Keep in mind that most Asian companies don't have an official translator working with them, some don't even have count with anyone fluent in English on their staff, so it's quite common for them to oversimplify their descriptions and character's stories, causing texts as the one the OP mentioned.

On this same topic, my experience when dealing with BJD companies tells me that if you try to contact them with a whole wall of text they will simply don't read it. They're more than likely translating your text to their language with an online translator, so it's better to be direct and use simple phrasing.

 

may i ask what company posted this?

 

As an Asian, it’s only the tip of the iceberg of how rampant racism is in Asian culture. Im a bit of a pessimist about these matters but just don’t be surprised if they don’t care.

 

Also, for everyone saying this is racism, technically it is discrimination against color, not racism. It is not targeting a direct race, but rather "darker skin" which is something that is seen in MANY different cultures throughout time. At one point in time, many cultures thought that pale/white skin (like the kind that has never seen sunlight) was seen as a status symbol...like you didn't have to toil under the sun in the field, and thus your skin was creamy/pale. Even in cultures with predominantly melatonin-rich skin, there has been an emphasis on paleness being beautiful...but not from a racial standpoint. I actually watched a documentary on how some Jamaicans bleach their skin to extremely dangerous levels because 'pale is beautiful' versus their naturally darker tones.

I'm sure some people are going to scream "but it's racism because they don't want to look like darker skin tones" and, to a degree I'm sure you are right, but at the same time it doesn't always stem from such a place. The company is not saying the doll is ugly because it's (ethnicity/race here)" which would be racism. If the doll's race was naturally blue and the side effect made them darker blue it would still belong to the same race, but the darkness would be the negativity, not the race itself.

 

@errinreynolds I think what you're trying to point out is that it is more accurately described here as "colourism" which is a pretty universal thing (unfortunately) but can be more..overt in Asian countries. However, colourism is often racist by extension, since there are races that are all people with darker skin; but yes it is consequence of the larger issue which is colourism.

Unfortunately OP this seems like nothing out of the ordinary if the company is Asian, like others have been saying. In China I have heard common phrases and jokes about literally white washing people that I don't dare repeat. Skin bleaching is also a larger industry there and it is standard to wear foundation that makes your face lighter than your actual skintone. Colourism is deeply embedded into the culture. I guess what hurts the most is the fact that much of the time, it's not intentional but just taken for granted that the world works that way, because of the social environment many of them grow up in. A lot of people in Asian countries literally don't know better, but of course it depends on where you are. With all of this being said, there are totally people across Asia who aren't racist and promote anti-racism and anti-racist action. It's just that the expressions of racism and colourism there can often get away with being more obvious, for a lot of reasons.

 

Light = good vs dark = bad is mythology coming from a time in human evolution when we *all* were still dark skinned, and it lives on as a motif in today's fantasy literature etc.

Fight racism wherever you can, we all must - but this isn't it.

 

I agree with @Mandagore. I completely understand how it's easy to be offended by this sort of thing (hey, I'm Jewish, and I cringe every time I see an SS styled uniform like the ones that so many companies, especially Ringdoll, love so well - yeesh, Hitler, much? And yet I know that's not really what they're intentionally going for), but I think that in this case, while easily interpreted as negative, in the company's eyes it's just the skin color reflecting the soul...like 'their skin turned more and more green, the more envious they became'. Dark equivocates evil in almost every mythology. Not that that they're saying people with dark skin are evil, but people with dark souls are evil.

I see a lot of dismay regarding skin tones, such as 'normal'...and I think people have every right to be disturbed, worrying if that indicates that everything else is somehow not normal. But...I'm pretty sure it's just an expression of the baseline color - as in, this is our standard (i.e., normal) color, plus we have the following colors. Beautiful white is an ancient Asian stylized perception of perfection, which is why Geishas painted themselves so - it's not like anyone can actually be that flat, white tone. I've also seen people offended by naming a resin color tan, as well. What? Tan is gorgeous. I sit out in the sun every summer in a most unhealthy way to achieve it.

I think it's great that you've contacted them and they're so open to a customer's concerns - and for the sake of the happiness of yourself and others who feel the same, I hope they comply - but honestly, I also think people read way too much into these things. Sorry, but I'm a devil's advocate by nature.

 

Yes, light vs darkness is an ancient human theme, but I think the issue here is the particular way it's expressed - turning one's skin from white to an actual human tan shade and being described as something that's "suffered." Especially given the wider context of colorism in Asian culture (something I've experienced firsthand as an Asian) I don't think the troubling implications can be dismissed so easily, and I'm glad the company was open to changing it. They often use language like this out of ignorance but I find a lot of companies and artists are quite willing to listen if they're informed of the problem. Like Sio2 changed the name of their "normal" color because of feedback.

I do think saying "it's just their culture" is a bit of a copout. It's an explanation and we obviously can't expect the same standards across every culture, but the BJD hobby is a global one and these Asian companies are selling internationally, so I think it's fair to consider how things would look to a wider audience. Hopefully as people become more aware of these issues colorism will become less of a problem worldwide (and it absolutely is a global issue, look at the huge amount of business skin lightening creams do not just in Asia but India and Africa as well. That's why I think it's always worthy to at least discuss even if it may seem minor.)

 

Not sure I understand. Are you saying that people should change their cultural standards of beauty in order to become more PC? That's not happening. Each person's aesthetic is their own, and demanding that they say otherwise is demanding a lie. If they change their text to please a wider audience, it's all about the almighty dollar. Personally, I don't think colorless skin is particularly appealing, but I'm not offended by people who do. I have a mid colored skin tone and way too many freckles. I am what I am, and I don't care if an Asian culture finds it less than beautiful - because the people who love me disagree. Is it so wrong to accept cultural differences when it comes to aesthetics?

 

Ah well, don't want to argue at all - one can only agree to disagree. I believe that you can change people's words but not their hearts.

 

Yes, I read that. Go back and read my original post, not the most recent one, and then disagree with that. It's just what I think, no offence intended. I never meant to cause distress, and I don't want to argue, it's just how I feel on the whole subject. And I really don't care to say more, because apparently it's misinterpreted. So anything further on the subject is the last word, and I don't mind.

 

Ditto, lol...it can't be any worse than 2020!

 

I can't help but to note the "and" in the last line of that text. It does not actually say that the dark skin is a side effect, it says the suffered side effects and that their skin got darker. That makes it sound like two separate things, the way I read it. I'm not a native english speaker either, but wouldn't that be the same kind of sentece as if I said "I saw many colourful birds and a horse." No one would believe that the horse also was colourful, nor that it was considered another bird, right?

About the "normal" skin tone, while I do agree that it's not a good name for it now, I believe it originally stems from the fact that earlier in this hobby most companies offered only white and a light skin tone and between those two I think most would agree that the light skin tone is a lot more normal for a human than a solid white is.
By now, though, with all the colours available it makes more sense to simply describe the colours. Personally I don't care if they use food references or whatever, as long as the name holds some information on what the colour it is.

 

This exactly. People are entitled to have subjective taste in aesthetic but we also can't pretend that beauty standards exist in a vacuum free of historical and sociological context. There's a difference between having a preference purely from aesthetic and having a preference because one is thought to be inherently lesser than the other


Anyway I hope the company will rethink their perspective after being emailed. I don't think it is bad to reach out to BJD makers about it and be informative. No actual witch hunts though (as it has been brought up earlier in this thread), that doesn't exactly encourage people to listen let alone change their perspectives at all.