The Fox Eye Trend and Its Harmful Effects
- frontpageinitiative
- Aug 14, 2021
- 2 min read
Time and time again, the characteristics, traditions, and actions of people of color are appropriated. One instance of cultural appropriation of Asian features that has gained popularity this year is the ‘fox eye’ trend, which emerged as a challenge on social media and generated tons of makeup tutorials and was propagated by celebrities like Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner and Emma Chamberlain, who all participated in the trend. Makeup tutorials show audiences how to make eyes more slanted by using a combination of eyeshadow, eyeliner and fake eyelashes in order to make the eyes appear winged. People participating in the trend have taken it one step further by pulling their temples back with the hands, elongating their eyes.
The ‘fox eye’ trend is inherently racist. For decades, Asians have been mocked by other races because of their “slanted” eyes, but now it has conveniently turned into a trend and glorified, classifying it as an act of cultural appropriation. The media has long portrayed Asians satirically with thin and small eyes and demeaned them – “slanted” eyes is one of the most common insults used against Asians. Many Asians growing up in the West have been subject to bullying and mockery because of their eyes, so this trend could lead to an increase of marginalization for the Asian community. Makeup artists in early Hollywood used similar makeup tactics to make Caucasian actors’ eyes appear more Asian when portraying Asian characters in the role of villains, a practice known as yellowface. Negative associations with “slanted” eyes have led to blepharoplasty – the procedure to create double eyelids – becoming one of the most common cosmetic procedures among East Asians, who want to surgically alter their eyes in order to appear bigger, thus conforming to mainstream beauty standards.
Even if the fox eye trend was not intended to be offensive, it is still racist, especially in the current political and social COVID-19 climate, when racism targeted at Asians is at its peak. The trend, which has garnered millions of views under its hashtag on major platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, ignores the racism and discrimination linked to it and appropriates an Asian feature that many have been mocked for. Raising awareness of the harmful effects of the fox eye trend and calling out those who engage in it is essential in preventing cultural appropriation from continuously occurring.
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Published October 20, 2020
Written by Lindsay Wong ~ Edited by Deeba Mehr ~ Graphics created by Elwin Fu
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