Blackfishing

Blackfishing describes the phenomenon of non-Black influencers and public figures using bronzer, tanning, Photoshop, or even cosmetic surgery to change their looks to appear Black or mixed race. The word stems from blackface, and like blackface, blackfishing also treats Black features as a costume that can be removed at will. The act of blackfishing inherently commodifies Blackness, and reduces an entire culture to key elements easy to appropriate and exploit. Public figures such as Kim Kardashian and Ariana Grande continue to normalise blackfishing by darkening their skin and getting surgery as a way to adopt ‘Black features’, despite the countless times they have been called out for engaging in this process.

Yes, it is trendy at the moment to have big and full lips, to be curvy and thick, but so much of this look is rooted in Blackness, and while we idealise and adopt these looks through fillers or exercise regimes, actual Black people face discrimination for their inherent appearances. We are obsessed with Blackness and Black culture, but we don’t do enough for Black people. As Leslie Bow, a professor of English and Asian studies states, people who blackfish "have the freedom to walk away from that. Black people do not have that freedom. They can't pick and choose or compartmentalise. That's the notion of the privilege of it—the idea of taking it on as a masquerade or a costume though it appears to be an homage, like a Halloween costume."