Thoughts About the New Hairstyles (Gatekeeping and Restrictions)

[peachycrossing9]

I can't remember if I have already posted in here yet- But I think people are taking it too far. Yes we should respect everyone and everyone's cultures. But this is a harmless game that we are talking about here. Most people just want to wear the hairstyles because they are cute, they don't mean any harm or bad intent by it. Or at least I don't. I personally have chosen to just not wear them, but people shouldn't be restricted from wearing something in a GAME.

Social media is so toxic these days. I'm not surprised by the tweets people are making about the hairstyles in the ac community. I have being avoiding it as much as possible.

Anyway, you do you. As long as there is no harm or bad intentions behind wearing it, I don't think it should be a problem.

 

[Cosmic-chan]

I'm just so disappointed in the ac community. A lot of people brag about us being a me of the most chill communities known today and yet we have toxic people like this telling someone they're racist for miss classifying a hair style and telling them "it's not for people like you". That's so stupid. What does that even mean ?? Ugh. I'm so upset. How do you even know who she is and to say what hair she can't have ? A lady complained about my hair irl at work and wasn't even upset and yet people trying to doxx someone and tell they they're a piece crap ?? Ugh

 

[skarmoury]

When it comes down to it, I get where they're coming from. Like, I get it. Us black people have long had to endure people taking things considered 'uncouth' or 'unprofessional' on us only to turn them around, give them quirky-cute name like 'mini knots', then turn them into a trend much more palatable to the greater, less melanated, populace. It's the bread and butter of the Kardashian-Jenners and everyone knows it. There's a lot of residual upset in the community over this. We're told time and time again that styles and fashions that we've coined are ghetto and ugly when we wear them. But once an outsider comes in and cops it, it's all of a sudden cute or a daring statement.

This! You've put these thoughts together so well, and I share them completely. If a group of people ridiculed and shamed me for so long then turned around and used aspects of my culture to pretty themselves up, I'd feel pretty weird and angry as well. I hope more people understand these and not dismiss the comments as moronic etc. It takes a bit to understand the other side beyond "they're just overreacting", especialy if you're not in the situation of the oppressed.

To be picky with words, I think the only people who shouldn't use the hairstyles are those who don't respect the culture it came from in the first place. If you were racist towards Asian people then used their culture to pretty yourself, that's wrong. You just come off as extremely hypocritical; you can't just call other people's styles ugly then used them for your own because you thought it would look better on you. I think that's why people are being pretty gatekeep-y when it comes to these hairstyles, especially with the rampant racism towards black people.

That being said, if you were a person with white skin and curly hairstyle, then there's absolutely nothing wrong with using curly hairstyles in-game. Genetics are vast and wide and while some hairstyles are predominant in some groups, it's not impossible for those characteristics to be passed on to other groups.

TL;DR in my opinion, just respect the culture of people before using their styles and items. If you're racist towards a group, you have no business trying to appropriate their culture.

 

[Crowsie]

I'm just so disappointed in the ac community. A lot of people brag about us being a me of the most chill communities known today and yet we have toxic people like this telling someone they're racist for miss classifying a hair style and telling them "it's not for people like you". That's so stupid. What does that even mean ?? Ugh. I'm so upset. How do you even know who she is and to say what hair she can't have ? A lady complained about my hair irl at work and wasn't even upset and yet people trying to doxx someone and tell they they're a piece crap ?? Ugh

Unfortunately, I've long since lost faith in the community.
Okay that's a bit dramatic. Let's just say I'm no longer surprised at the fandom's antics, just disappointed.

I feel like every month since the game came out there has been some kind of nonsense. People begging Nintendo to release the game early when the worldwide release was 2 days from then. The Raymond thing. Hating 'ugly' villagers. Players fighting over time traveling. Funny business over at Nookazon. All the tattling to Nintendo on people who decorated their islands with hacked items. Arguing over the ethics of purchasing NMTs with IRL money, so on and so forth.

 

[Cosmic-chan]

Unfortunately, I've long since lost faith in the community.
Okay that's a bit dramatic. Let's just say I'm no longer surprised at the fandom's antics, just disappointed.

I feel like every month since the game came out there has been some kind of nonsense. People begging Nintendo to release the game early when the worldwide release was 2 days from then. The Raymond thing. Hating 'ugly' villagers. Players fighting over time traveling. Funny business over at Nookazon. All the tattling to Nintendo on people who decorated their islands with hacked items. Arguing over the ethics of purchasing NMTs with IRL money, so on and so forth.

so basically this is you

 

[kemdi]

I sometimes have a habit with certain ways I phrase things, so I totally understand. And honestly, I’m very sorry I came across so defensively and strongly. The response sounded passive-aggressive, so I went into argumentation mode, and I really should’ve just responded with my first paragraph and asked why you wanted to know if we were new. I guess I got more defensive with the wording and also cus you didn’t mention anything else about my Harriet response, so that only enhanced how I was writing. Sorry, friend . And I also wasn’t trying to be passive-aggressive back, nor aggressive, but basically defensively argumentative, which I guess is worse in a lot of ways :u. Unless people put all sorts of emotes, or phrase things softer, then idk how to take it, so I usually try to respond nicer—unless it’s like in this context with our conversation. Again, I should’ve checked myself better, and I’m glad you owned up to your own faults with typing.

Its ok, its not really your fault. I'll try to be more careful with how I write.

 

[Aloha]

I saw people talking about the braid deal but I don't think they were specific to what kind of braids so it confused me.

I actually saw a few comments either on reddit or a youtube thread section where a few people were saying dutch braids are cultural appropriation. So it is unfortunate but some people that are very VERY extreme do exist. Although they are just a loud minority.

My short unpopular 2 cents is that I get where the Black community is coming from and I understand it 100% with irl,where Black folks are looked down on and rejected at job interviews or even in school for wearing their hair naturally. But I feel like in a game as (I would like to think) is as wholesome and inclusive as Animal Crossing is,I feel like the twitter heads went just a bit far. As another user has stated there isn't really a way to stop players from picking the hairstyle since it was not locked to certain skin tones. For me,I thought mostly that yeah these players are picking afro puffs to wear for their characters. But if a straight hair version of the afro puffs hairstyle was to be released,or a similar hairstyle like space buns,I can't help but wonder would those players change their hair from afro puffs to the straight version? I haven't played the game in a long time and still didn't check the new update but I feel like some of the people that selected afro puffs did it because it looks cute,but there is no straight hair version so that is the closest thing they will get to double puffs/buns for their character.

 

[Aloha]

Update: I saw that apparently twitter users doxxed the original poster of that one image of a white animal crossing avatar with afro puffs. This is the kind of stuff I disapprove of. It's way too extreme and too far.

 

[Cosmic-chan]

Update: I saw that apparently twitter users doxxed the original poster of that one image of a white animal crossing avatar with afro puffs. This is the kind of stuff I disapprove of. It's way too extreme and too far.

Darn that's so awful wtf

 

[King koopa]

As a black person, I like that Nintendo added the hairstyles, but they shouldn't be gatekept. Like you can't just see a white person with cornrows then say "No, only black people can have them" That's messed up! If a black person can have blonde hair, then a white person should be able to have cornrows.

 

[thatveryawkwardmayor]

As a black person, I like that Nintendo added the hairstyles, but they shouldn't be gatekept. Like you can't just see a white person with cornrows then say "No, only black people can have them" That's messed up! If a black person can have blonde hair, then a white person should be able to have cornrows.

blonde hair isn't exclusive to white people though. i could care less if someone nonblack wants to wear cornrows personally, but lets not pretend they're the same thing.

 

[Rika092]

This has got to be the most ridiculous thing i've heard that stemmed from the AC community. The idea of gatekeeping hairstyles in other people’s games is just silly. lol how do you monitor other people on how they play their game? and what is the punishment for not doing so? I guess the rebel in my would make me want to do it even more if someone tells me that i can't play in a certain way. After all, this is my game that I paid $ for, and i'm not taking orders from anyone else as I'm not breaking any law for using a hairstyle that may not be realistic for me to have in real life.

Additionally, I think as many have mentioned, non-black people IRL could also have puffy hairs naturally. On top of that, nowadays people style their hair however they like it in IRL, so why can't they have the freedom to so in an innocent game like animal crossing, especially if they have no malicious intent whatsoever? By the same token, just because a race, or a group of people doesn't have straight hair naturally, does this mean they can't use the straight hairstyle in the game? This all makes no sense.

Honestly, some people just get too sensitive and overreact on everything. Realistically, you also can't please everyone, because people are individualistic and they are (rightfully) entitled to their opinions, even though it may be different than ours. So just play how you want to and ignore the haters.

 

[maria110]

People are free to do what they want but other people are free to judge them for it.

 

[Glake]

I'd like as many new people to use them as possible, so the chance that Nintendo ever back pedals or includes less POC styles in the future entries is decreased.

 

[maria110]

I'd like as many new people to use them as possible, so the chance that Nintendo ever back pedals or includes less POC styles in the future entries is decreased.

I hope Nintendo would not do this. I am white and would not wear a Black cultural hairstyle out of respect for Black women and their culture. But if Nintendo tries to reduce the hairstyles, people will start another petition and hopefully Nintendo will listen again. I signed the first petition and I imagine other white people did even though they didn't intend to use the hairstyles themselves. I think Nintendo gets that.

 

[John Wick]

I'll wear whatever hair I want.

Hair is just hair and AC is just a game.

People really need to just move on and accept that everyone has a right to dress/style hair the way they want to.

It isn't disrespectful at all.

The only disrespectful thing I see going on, is people harassing others for simply choosing a hairstyle.

Geez, move on.

 

[thatveryawkwardmayor]

I'll wear whatever hair I want.

Hair is just hair and AC is just a game.

People really need to just move on and accept that everyone has a right to dress/style hair the way they want to.

It isn't disrespectful at all.

The only disrespectful thing I see going on, is people harassing others for simply choosing a hairstyle.

Geez, move on.

yeah in the context of a video game I don't think it really matters but my hair is still seen as unprofessional in some schools and the workplace which is the bigger issue at hand.

also ngl it sucks that curly hair is an afterthought to most game devs. the fact it wasn't included in the beginning of the game speaks volumes (also not to mention this is the first ac game where you can customize your skin??) but I am happy it's there.

 

[Mad Aly]

I mean... The fact that Nintendo released these hairstyles means they're intended to be used by all players. And while it's understandable why some people would gatekeep, I don't think it's anyone's place or authority to tell others what they should or shouldn't do... especially in a game. Over hairstyles. Basically, I second John Wick's comment.

 

[FaerieRose]

Make straight and textured variants of hairstyles. Problem solved.

 

[annex]

I'm just so disappointed in the ac community. A lot of people brag about us being a me of the most chill communities known today and yet we have toxic people like this telling someone they're racist for miss classifying a hair style and telling them "it's not for people like you". That's so stupid. What does that even mean ?? Ugh. I'm so upset. How do you even know who she is and to say what hair she can't have ? A lady complained about my hair irl at work and wasn't even upset and yet people trying to doxx someone and tell they they're a piece crap ?? Ugh

This is how I feel, as well. And what's worse? A (possibly) white player having fun and trying new hairstyles or people treating them like human waste and trying to destroy them. Do they even understand what racism is anymore? These people are hateful, and some of them are acting racist themselves. I'm very disgusted by how this person was treated, and unfortunately it's not just the a.c. community that these people attack. Cancel culture is huge these days, and people need to stand up against it. I'm happy to see so many players on here that agree that they are wrong. It gives me faith that there's still decent human beings in the world that would never treat someone like that over something so trivial.