Jesy Nelson addresses blackfishing claims

[Married the Night 3,955]

I learned who she was a few weeks ago. I thought she was black. 

[KORG 4,756]

2 hours ago, Blastertoyo said:

 

“Don’t black up”

You think white people don't tan like this naturally? She likely has been sprayed (often white people are sprayed darker to counteract stage lights) but I know plenty of people that can tan that dark. They use carrot oil, or accelerators.

Please understand that you are not an authority on this nor do you live it daily.

[Blastertoyo 22,728]

5 minutes ago, KORG said:

You think white people don't tan like this naturally? She likely has been sprayed (often white people are sprayed darker to counteract stage lights) but I know plenty of people that can tan that dark. They use carrot oil, or accelerators.

Please understand that you are not an authority on this nor do you live it daily.

It’s not just the tan hun. The fact that most on this thread and people on the internet are surprised she isn’t mixed or black proves she’s done enough to make people believe she passed as a black woman.

[KORG 4,756]

2 minutes ago, Blastertoyo said:

It’s not just the tan hun. The fact that most on this thread and people on the internet are surprised she isn’t mixed or black proves she’s done enough to make people believe she passed as a black woman.

Again. This is how Britain is. Go for a walk in East or south London, you'll see white girls that look mixed race everywhere. For that matter, listen to them talk! They have a mixed accent too! It's not abnormal here.

[Blastertoyo 22,728]

6 minutes ago, KORG said:

Again. This is how Britain is. Go for a walk in East or south London, you'll see white girls that look mixed race everywhere. For that matter, listen to them talk! They have a mixed accent too! It's not abnormal here.

Right, tell me how East London this is 

[PartySick 144,830]

4 minutes ago, Blastertoyo said:

Right, tell me how East London this is 

A few mods are from the UK, we were talking about this earlier amongst ourselves, and the word "chav" came up. Apparently it is a thing. It reminded me of the rednecks here in Florida that spend so much time listening to rap and hip hop and either living in or being good friends with people from "the hood" that they end up adopting their slang and style.

To @Economy's point earlier, generally speaking, it is nice that people are mingling and cultures are blending together.

At what point does that cultural interchange become cultural identity theft though? Idk and since I'm a mixed hispanic American, I can't speak for black people in the UK or tell them what to find offensive. That's for them to determine and for her to consider going forward.

 

Regardless, I hope she cleans up her PR

[Blastertoyo 22,728]

3 minutes ago, PartySick said:

At what point does that cultural interchange become cultural identity theft though? Idk and since I'm a mixed hispanic American, I can't speak for black people in the UK or tell them what to find offensive. That's for them to determine and for her to consider going forward.

I think it’s definitely a combination of the aesthetic of the video and the song sample in conjunction with her obviously enhanced physical features (hair, skin, lips etc) that pushed people to a point of believing she had appropriative intentions.

Considering she started out looking like 

I can see how people are saying she put all this on, especially for her debut solo single and video to have such a stark contrast.

[PartySick 144,830]

Just now, Blastertoyo said:

I think it’s definitely a combination of the aesthetic of the video and the song sample in conjunction with her obviously enhanced physical features (hair, skin, lips etc) that pushed people to a point of believing she had appropriative intentions.

Considering she started out looking like 

I can see how people are saying she put all this on, especially for her debut solo single and video to have such a stark contrast.

Yeah, and it'd be one thing if it was just the clothes and hair. That's simply a stylistic choice and she could go on about being inspired by whatever culture or region she's drawing from to show appreciation. But she's literally changed her appearance, even her skin tone, to come off as another race

Whether someone considers that offensive or not, they have to admit it's at least strange

[StrawberryBlond 14,076]

All I will say about this is that British and American culture could not be more different on this one. Overly tanning has been a thing in Britain for decades. People don't do it to look black, they just want to looked tanned and healthy (some also think it makes them look slimmer too). Unfortunately, so many of them don't realise how dark they look even when they're told and they find other ways to artificially tan quicker on top of that. I've never understood the fascination with it but then, me embracing my natural skintone is the exception among people my age, not the rule. People are also more likely to tan before going on holiday somewhere hot because they don't want to stand out next to darker people and look sickly pale by comparison. If everyone you're around is darker than you, you start to wonder if you look too pale to the point of looking unattractive next to them. Pale doesn't translate as beautiful in the minds of many Brits, it translates as "unhealthy," "sickly" and a very Scottish term, "peely walley." It even weirdly suggests that you're really young because underage people aren't allowed to use tanning beds and may be disallowed to tan by their parents in case it damages their skin. Naturally, when you're young, you want to look older than you are. For a few select people out there, they do want to look black, particularly if they're dating a black or mixed race person, but for the majority of us, we don't even look at it as anything to do with race. It may seem odd to outsiders, but that's just the way it is.

Jesy also has naturally curly hair, she straightened it for years to fit in but her natural hair is very curly, she even brought this up in her documentary. Yes, white people can have hair as curly as this. She also grew up in a very multi-racial part of Britain and such areas are melting pots, everyone looks like a mix of everything because so many styles and cultures mix as we make friends with, go to school with, date and work with so many different races. In the end, they don't even realise they're doing it half the time. It all becomes like a mono-culture. So, I have no doubt that Jesy tanning and over-lining her lips while dressing in street style was even noticing that she was looking a bit racially ambiguous. For those of us who knew of Jesy right from the start, we always knew she was white so we don't even notice if she's looking darker and are surprised when anyone assumes her to be anything other than a white girl with a tan. And for what it's worth, a lot of black Brits don't care about white girls adopting these styles, I've heard them say as much. As long as no one is claiming to be black when they aren't and nothing is meant disrespectfully, they tend to be flattered their culture is being shared and having impact.

You have to step outside your own country's culture and way of looking at things sometimes and realise that not every other society operates under the same way of thinking you do and they mean no harm in what they're doing. Not everything needs to be changed to fit American standards of acceptability.

1 minute ago, PartySick said:

A few mods are from the UK, we were talking about this earlier amongst ourselves, and the word "chav" came up. Apparently it is a thing. It reminded me of the rednecks here in Florida that spend so much time listening to rap and hip hop and either living in or being good friends with people from "the hood" that they end up adopting their slang and style.

To @Economy's point earlier, generally speaking, it is nice that people are mingling and cultures are blending together.

At what point does that cultural interchange become cultural identity theft though? Idk and since I'm a mixed hispanic American, I can't speak for black people in the UK or tell them what to find offensive. That's for them to determine and for her to consider going forward.

 

Regardless, I hope she cleans up her PR

Yeah, that's also a culture that Americans are unaware of partly because there's no solid American equivalent of a chav, except maybe the Jersey Shore lot from the 00's because they incorporate a lot of the same things - over tanning, over-lip lining, sportswear, loving getting drunk at the weekend, recklessly partying and being loud and obnoxious. And yes, they did adopt a lot of black culture, style and slang but they weren't doing it to appear black, they just follow whatever's cool and popular and when so much black culture was big in the 00's, they of course followed it.

I think it only become identity theft if you claim to be of a racial heritage that you aren't, which is the literal definition of identity theft. And of course, saying anything actually racist whilst enjoying the culture of the race you're putting down is of course unacceptable.

[ANTI WP 19,799]

5 hours ago, Gimme More said:

Well of course you don't see it like that as I said it is British culture, well I personally believe she looks like most other british girls and find it weird how it's suddenly an issue 10 years later after she's left LM.

I guess you forgave Ariana and forgot all about it whilst supporting ROM, people need to stop being hypocrites and picking and choosing when it fits them.

I feel like most people are snowflakes today and will cancel someone over anything.

 

5 hours ago, Gimme More said:

Why did you not say all say something about it and continued to support her and praise Gaga for working with a 'blackfisher', it makes no sense.

It's just people being hypocrites.

Well many Brits DO overly tan like Jesy, to me she quite blatantly looks like a white girl with a tan. But you say whatever you want to say while you support others that 'blackfish'.

So doing blackface is a part british culture 

3 hours ago, Gimme More said:

 

When it suits you?

 

Pulling all the strings to defend your girl  you aint slick with this sh!t 

 

OT : You can tan yourself but she clearly went overboard with that 

[vyle 647]

Haven’t people been saying this for years tho? Like I remember seeing tweets about this way before she left the band so that statement doesn’t really hold up.

Idk why but I get real bad vibes from her  I know that’s pretty judgmental but idk she seems to keep getting into controversies 

[janetjackson 234]

I feel like all of the issues folks are having with Jesy also go for Miss Ariana Grande.  Both are white girls utilizing R&B music and heavily altering their appearances with tans, lip injections, etc. I see no reason we should accept it from AG and not from Jesy.

Can someone explain to me what is different here? Is there a difference?

[dopega 3,686]

4 minutes ago, janetjackson said:

lip injections

I'm sorry but full lips aren't only a black facial feature hunny

[Fuffy 1,020]

I feel like Jesy's style is questionable and awkward in today's society, but most importantly it makes me wonder why she has to change so much from her natural appearance. 

Given her mental health battles and stress, I reckon this style might be a way to regain her confidence. She's always shown an interest in R&B and rap. Now as a solo artist, she gets to be who she feels she is. This just happens to be black-led genre and is happening at a difficult time. 

I absolutely understand how some people would feel upset that she gets to look that way without facing the societal barriers. Jesy doesn't experience the same challenges that a POC would. Though it doesn't make her struggles any less significant.

It just goes to show how we really have to think and not attack each other over everything. 

Blackfishing is an all-consuming topic that has minimal impact compared to real systemic barriers like criminal injustice, poverty, and lack of equal opportunity that aren't really being addressed. 

Cancel culture has a really toxic way of keeping itself alive by feeding off individuals and sidestepping the wider issue. 

 

[RAMROD 104,131]

34 minutes ago, Gogo Yubari said:

I feel like Jesy's style is questionable and awkward in today's society, but most importantly it makes me wonder why she has to change so much from her natural appearance. 

 

My guess is that she is trying to be accepted into US scene. It have always been something that anyone from UK seems to want to achieve. She probably sees how Ariana did the blackfishing and the R&B/hip hop inspired sounds, and became successful, and takes example from it.

Her first single is blatant attempt to it. It sounds very American hip hop, especially since it uses sampling from popular P.Diddy song.