Thoughts About the New Hairstyles (Gatekeeping and Restrictions)

[6iixx]

i haven't skimmed literally every post here, but i just want to say: it's a game. a fictional game. if i want to have literal white skin (hex colour #ffffff), i'm allowed; they even added green skin and kept it as an available option. i can literally make my AC rep look like anything i wanted to, especially with custom designs. why is it that much of a bother if someone wants to have a "black" hairstyle to begin with, regardless of their character's skintone.. or their real life skin tone for that matter?

growing up, my best friend's brother was white (they have native, but their skin tone is caucasian) but his hair was ridiculously curly if he left it grow out. he was constantly made fun of for having a 'white fro', but that's just how his hair naturally was if it was allowed to grow to a certain length. if he were to make an AC rep in his likeness, he'd be using one of the 'black' hairstyles to match his own hairstyle in real life. is that really that big of an issue?

video games are video games / real life is real life. i don't have grey hair in real life; does that automatically mean that my island rep isn't allowed either? no. some people just take things ridiculously out of proportion. at the end of the day, if what you're doing isn't malicious and you aren't hurting anyone or yourself, who feckin' cares what hairstyle you put on your animal crossing character?

 

[saucySheep]

tbh i'd probably wear the hairstlyes just to piss them off
my game, my character, i'll do what i want, thx

 

[Perri]

I'm half-black. Twitter is a cesspool that doesn't reflect reality. The "Space Buns" situation is absolutely ridiculous. I think it's just funny that she's wearing afro puffs with cornrows. The offensive part is her defensiveness. But, then again, Twitter isn't the place to have a well-intentioned, meaningful discussion on race, culture, and the respect of BIPOC voices. Even anti-racists will dox and threaten others. The internet's cool.

Take into context why these hairstyles are in the game: black gamers, particularly one dedicated black woman, advocated for the further representation of black people in this game. A video game development team listened. This is a celebration for people with this hair especially, but someone without ill intention liking and using a hairstyle is not dangerous or offensive. There are black people of all shades, and there are people with curly and kinky hair of all shades. If a non-black person thinks kinky hair is beautiful, what have I lost? Let's rejoice for what we've gained.

I understand being protective, and I hope I don't come off as rude. I am sensitive to this stuff and what others are comfortable with, especially regarding respectful cultural acknowledgement. It's okay to be protective of part of your being that has been insulted and then fetishized. I am deeply upset that our natural hair has ever been treated as such. But Animal Crossing players are not the problem here. Hold real people and real systems accountable.

 

[jokk]

while i can understand why some people feel defensive about it after being overlooked by nintendo and mistreated for having these hairstyles in real life, ultimately, it's a game. i think you can play pretend if you want to, it's not directly harming anyone

 

[trashpedia]

I've noticed this too and I feel like the AC community outside of TBT (although let's be real: the release of NH was super controversial on these forums for a while) got a little bit rabid. I don't think it was this awful during the NL era, and I remember how back then people would constantly praise AC for having a "wholesome" community but not anymore. I guess this is the price from having NH be a more widespread game.

The fact that doxing is such a common occurrence on Twitter is super disgusting. I think one user was threatening her about how she should delete the post before "something would happen" is already telling about what a horrible common tactic it is on there. Twitter really needs to work on monitoring their platform because doxing people should not be something people should do on there at all.

 

[Vintage Viola]

I got curious and tried to look at her Twitter, and she actually deactivated it.

 

[MozzarellaSticks]

If you're not black and black people are telling you to please refrain from something, refrain from it.

 

[avieators]

i'm a pasty ass white girl but i 1) have decently curly kind of poofy hair and 2) have ocs that are poc, and one of the hairstyles in particular i'm super excited about bc its so close to one of my favorite ocs hair! my acnh character is not me and i plan on being a lot of different characters with all different types of skin color but theres always that feeling in the back of my head,,,am i being racist on accident? its not a good feeling and i rationalize it by telling myself theres really no harm being done, that i wouldnt, say, try and wear dreads irl. if any poc have input i'd love to hear!

 

[kemdi]

I've noticed this too and I feel like the AC community outside of TBT (although let's be real: the release of NH was super controversial on these forums for a while) got a little bit rabid. I don't think it was this awful during the NL era, and I remember how back then people would constantly praise AC for having a "wholesome" community but not anymore. I guess this is the price from having NH be a more widespread game.

It wasn't nearly this bad during the New Leaf or earlier eras. I've been saying that I felt like this current crop of AC fans is extremely unpleasant to deal with, but I couldn't figure out why I felt that way. And now I can pinpoint why, like you said, a piece of the fandom has gone rabid! Maybe I sound like a gatekeeping old hag, lol. But idk how else to describe it. Its not just this hair thing, its, EVERYTHING! And yeah you're right, outside of TBT and a few other spots that have a lot more of experienced AC players than just NH experienced ones, its pretty bad.

Ok so like on reddit for example, TTing went from: 'I don't play that way but do what you do' to: 'you're totally playing the game wrong if you do it and you're not a real ac player, you're disrespecting the developers etc.' Like...what?? AC exited before NH you know, and there used to be direct options in the game for TTing before the system itself took over looking after the time. It really isn't that serious.

Then there's this hair thing on twitter. Like honestly, as another Black person, I say just call them what they are, afro puffs, and enjoy wearing them in the game if you thing they're cute, because they are cute! Like nobody has a problem calling the cornrows cornrows, or the afro an afro. So why are the afro puffs such a big deal?? If you like them, wear them. I can't speak for everyone, but just for myself: I don't care if you wear them!

Then there's this thing, idk what to call it, like this mindset...where people keep insisting that AC was totally created to be a 'therapy' game, but wanna completely forget that the GC game and WW exists, and those villagers were totally not therapy, with the way they were talking, lol. Like I get that playing NH makes you feel good, but maybe try not to load a corporate gaming company with the duty of caring for your mental health? Please get real help if you need it.

And believe it or not, some people actually get OFFENDED for bringing up NL, because they didn't play that game, and you're just being mean to them if you talk about it, because you're just trying to shut them out of an experience they don't have...yeah, that lady seriously said that!

And apparently having southern hemisphere friends or fishing/bug hunting/diving on a southern hemisphere island makes you a cheater.

Oh and don't forget to spoiler tag your items...yes, your ITEMS. No, not your events, not your special character's or holidays, your ITEMS...because if I haven't seen it, even if its in the game since launch, its considered a spoiler, its only not a spoiler if I see it first.

Then there was the whole using the game as a political platform?! ..Yeah, I'm just gonna leave that one alone.

I can keep going, but yeah, this is already long, and I think you get the idea lol. I didn't mean for this to turn into a rant but I guess it did, so sorry about that. But yeah, you're right, the days of the 'wholesome' ac community are long gone. 2020 already sucks, I didn't think it could ruin AC for me too, but here we are.

 

[helloxcutiee]

Just use whatever hairstyle you want on your character it's not like these people will show up on your front door step and beat you up about it so who honestly cares.

 

[mocha.]

Like @Perri mentioned, AC players aren’t the issue here and the problem is deep-rooted in society, I feel like the anger should be directed more towards that. As much as people may try, you can’t police a game and tell people how to play. As much as someone may voice their opinion, it’s important to remember it’s not fact and the person being blamed could easily continue to use the hairstyle or dress their character however they wish without publicly sharing it. I feel like the majority of Twitter who publicly shame others for things like this are white, and although they may think they’re helping I believe they’re making things worse by demeaning real issues. Ironically, they’re speaking over POC by voicing their opinions on the matter.

Saying that, I don’t think there’s any harm in educating yourself and I thoroughly encourage it. The girl in the screenshots was clearly hostile and showed nothing but ignorance. Twitter is one of the most toxic communities out there so it’s no surprise lol.

 

[trashpedia]

Absolutely not at all! I have many characters that are POC as a Southeast Asian person myself and as long as they aren't racial stereotypes, you'll be fine. I think making diverse characters (and doing plenty of research beforehand) can actually help you learn more about the world and other people.

Then there's this thing, idk what to call it, like this mindset...where people keep insisting that AC was totally created to be a 'therapy' game, but wanna completely forget that the GC game and WW exists, and those villagers were totally not therapy, with the way they were talking, lol. Like I get that playing NH makes you feel good, but maybe try not to load a corporate gaming company with the duty of caring for your mental health? Please get real help if you need it.

I think this is definitely a strong point you made. It kind of adds on to my theory that even though Nintendo added more inclusive hairstyles, we also have to acknowledge that it also means they can make more profit off of other groups of people. At the end of the day regardless of whether the community decides to gatekeep hairstyles, Nintendo is a business and will try to expand their playerbase if it means making more money off of it. It sounds kind of messed up, but that's pretty much how most businesses tend to be.

 

[Uffe]

Like @Perri mentioned, AC players aren’t the issue here and the problem is deep-rooted in society, I feel like the anger should be directed more towards that. As much as people may try, you can’t police a game and tell people how to play. As much as someone may voice their opinion, it’s important to remember it’s not fact and the person being blamed could easily continue to use the hairstyle or dress their character however they wish without publicly sharing it. I feel like the majority of Twitter who publicly shame others for things like this are white, and although they may think they’re helping I believe they’re making things worse by demeaning real issues. Ironically, they’re speaking over POC by voicing their opinions on the matter.

Saying that, I don’t think there’s any harm in educating yourself and I thoroughly encourage it. The girl in the screenshots was clearly hostile and showed nothing but ignorance. Twitter is one of the most toxic communities out there so it’s no surprise lol.

Any white person getting upset over things like this are most likely doing so because they've been told, "If you see racism, call it out." Then when they do, they get mocked for it. It's never made sense to me.

 

[Faux]

Any white person getting upset over things like this are most likely doing so because they've been told, "If you see racism, call it out." Then when they do, they get mocked for it. It's never made sense to me.

The problem is they're not understanding what racism is. People need to learn when to pick and choose their battles. It's the same level of ignorance in my mind as someone seeing a guy who likes to wear skirts running over to him and telling him unless he's a transwoman, he can't wear them, or something else equally pointless.

Sort of like neopronouns [ people trying to make bun(ny) or kit(ty), etc into a pronoun ], all this bullcrap does is make everyone who wants to be taken seriously look like a damn joke. Like ... As it is, it's impossible to get even singular they to be normalized with some people.

Spoiler: spoilered for unrelated lol

I tried introducing my mom to the idea of they/them using my parakeet, as they're albino and I have no idea of their gender and while my bird sure doesn't care what we call them, it felt like a good education point. My mom countered with the fact Almonds doesn't care, and I said real people on the other hand do, and it's a good point of practice. I heard her later talking to the bird, saying she's not gonna call my bird ' a good them, so you'll have to be a good girl or boy, ' and I ... tried telling her it's as simple as saying ' good bird ' instead, to which she just shrugged and continues to refuse to even attempt they/them.

Anyway, non POC need to stop telling other people what they are or are not allowed to do if it does not fall into blatant racism. If you're unsure, rather than acting as if you have the definitive handbook, just say something akin to, " this could potentially be seen as racist/problematic, but I'm not sure. You should possibly consider why you are doing/wearing/saying [ x thing ]; if you feel it is entirely out of good intentions, or purely for personal choice and you do not feel it has any negative connotations to you, then go about your day. "

Acting like you're the go - to know-it-all just makes it look like everyone is ridiculous, unwilling to budge on anything at all, and refuses common sense. It's frustrating.
Basically, stop talking for people; bring attention to issues and let other people who have the say make the decision/final call, unless it is blatantly and unquestionably harmful.

edit: spoilered my unrelated story to keep the focus on my point.

 

[mocha.]

Any white person getting upset over things like this are most likely doing so because they've been told, "If you see racism, call it out." Then when they do, they get mocked for it. It's never made sense to me.

^ what the above user said, basically. It isn’t up to white people to decide, instead they should be elevating the voices of POC and stopping blatant racism. If someone using this hairstyle in game has attached racist stereotypes to the character then of course it’s wrong. Using a hairstyle because you like it isn’t racist or wrong, and like many POC have said they don’t mind and some are happy to see the hairstyle being celebrated.

 

[Uffe]

The problem is they're not understanding what racism is. People need to learn when to pick and choose their battles. It's the same level of ignorance in my mind as someone seeing a guy who likes to wear skirts running over to him and telling him unless he's a transwoman, he can't wear them, or something else equally pointless.

Sort of like neopronouns [ people trying to make bun(ny) or kit(ty), etc into a pronoun ], all this bullcrap does is make everyone who wants to be taken seriously look like a damn joke. Like ... As it is, it's impossible to get even singular they to be normalized with some people.

I tried introducing my mom to the idea of they/them using my parakeet, as they're albino and I have no idea of their gender and while my bird sure doesn't care what we call them, it felt like a good education point. My mom countered with the fact Almonds doesn't care, and I said real people on the other hand do, and it's a good point of practice. I heard her later talking to the bird, saying she's not gonna call my bird ' a good them, so you'll have to be a good girl or boy, ' and I ... tried telling her it's as simple as saying ' good bird ' instead, to which she just shrugged and continues to refuse to even attempt they/them.

Non POC need to stop telling other people what they are or are not allowed to do if it does not fall into blatant racism. If you're unsure, rather than acting as if you have the definitive handbook, just say something akin to, " this could potentially be seen as racist/problematic, but I'm not sure. You should possibly consider why you are doing/wearing/saying [ x thing ]; if you feel it is entirely out of good intentions, or purely for personal choice and you do not feel it has any negative connotations to you, then go about your day. "

Acting like you're the go - to know-it-all just makes it look like everyone is ridiculous, unwilling to budge on anything at all, and refuses common sense. It's frustrating.
Basically, stop talking for people; bring attention to issues and let other people who have the say make the decision/final call, unless it is blatantly and unquestionably harmful.

Perhaps they don't understand racism, but it's not just white people I saw getting offended over that one girl wearing the "space buns".

Post automatically merged: Dec 4, 2020

^ what the above user said, basically. It isn’t up to white people to decide, instead they should be elevating the voices of POC and stopping blatant racism. If someone using this hairstyle in game has attached racist stereotypes to the character then of course it’s wrong. Using a hairstyle because you like it isn’t racist or wrong, and like many POC have said they don’t mind and some are happy to see the hairstyle being celebrated.

Like I told Centuria, it wasn't just white people getting offended over that one girl using the "space buns". I'm about over Twitter.

 

[John Wick]

If you're not black and black people are telling you to please refrain from something, refrain from it.

Are you serious?

People of ALL color can choose whatever hairstyles they want.

You don't own a patent on dreads.

That's pretty racist to white folks telling us to refrain from a hairstyle in a GAME.

This whole thing is toxic, IMO.

People will always find something to moan about, even if deep down, they don't really care one way or the other.

 

[Faux]

Perhaps they don't understand racism, but it's not just white people I saw getting offended over that one girl wearing the "space buns".

Oh, I know. I was mostly referring to the fact you said people are criticised for pointing out what they view as racist. The reason is just what I said: they think everything is racist and that mindset needs to stop. We also need to not assume people have malicious intent over something they could be genuinely ignorant about.

It's far from on the same level, but even crossing the wrong side of your kimono/yukata can imply something entirely different, and sometimes, even Japanese women don't know how to properly wear their kimono! Something like 70% of women do one or two things wrong from the traditional way. And crossing the wrong side overtop can imply you're dead, lol.

Sometimes, people just don't know, but everyone who tries to defend against racism are extremely volatile and think they need to fight everyone they see.
More often than not, the criticism people receive is well - deserved, even if their intentions were good.

 

[Perri]

Sort of like neopronouns [ people trying to make bun(ny) or kit(ty), etc into a pronoun ], all this bullcrap does is make everyone who wants to be taken seriously look like a damn joke. Like ... As it is, it's impossible to get even singular they to be normalized with some people.

Not to derail the thread, but I'd to speak on this. I understand where you're coming from, but it's not the job of lgbtq+ people to restrict their own identities and comforts. People will be transphobic and enbyphobic regardless, and it's no fault but theirs. Personally I think neopronouns are valid. ((I'm so intensely against policing identities and gender expresson.)) I'm really not sure but I think the majority of these people don't use these pronouns outside of their social medias or close friend groups, but those who do still deserve respect.

I think your idea and consideration of others, and your parakeet, is super cool, and I hope that someday your mother will respect your wishes.

 

[Faux]

Not to derail the thread, but I'd to speak on this. I understand where you're coming from, but it's not the job of lgbtq+ people to restrict their own identities and comforts. People will be transphobic and enbyphobic regardless, and it's no fault but theirs. Personally I think neopronouns are valid. ((I'm so intensely against policing identities and gender expresson.)) I'm really not sure but I think the majority of these people don't use these pronouns outside of their social medias or close friend groups, but those who do still deserve respect.

I think your idea and consideration of others, and your parakeet, is super cool, and I hope that someday your mother will respect your wishes.

Maybe I'm just old and tired, but I really don't like neopronouns personally. I'm not gonna go out and tell people to knock it off, but I absolutely roll my eyes at them and choose not to interact with those people. Lost a good friend trying to tell them cake is not a gender and I refuse to utilize it in that sense. Everyone has a choice, but I think there does need to be a limit to the push for 'please understand that I look at a cat and have decided my gender identity aligns with the very being of a cat.' Just too much for me to take seriously in any sense. Though it's fine if people want to have their in - friend jokes about it.

As someone who's lived as non-binary for over 15 years, I just don't have it in me to deal with people who effectively make the whole LGBTQ+ group to be a joke because we try to incorporate animals and inanimate objects as gender suddenly; especially difficult with ESL people, but that's another story. It's one thing to feel connected to something, it's another to turn something into a thing that it isn't. Feel as soulfully moved by the moon as you would like, but it is just a rock floating through this hellspace we all live in, it is not a gender identity.

She's set in her ways, but it would be awesome if she could at least not have the typical 'men will pretend to be trans to use the bathroom and become predators' thing, someday ... haha. Maybe I sound the same, but, so it goes, I suppose.