Influencer and YouTuber Emma Chamberlain has apologised after posting an Instagram photo posing in a way that some fans said was insensitive to Asian people.
The photo — which has since been deleted — showed Emma pulling her eyes back. Many Asian fans said the post disappointed them and made them uncomfortable.
"The pose has been appropriated by white women to be 'trendy' and a symbol of beauty when really it's a symbol of oppression for us," one person explained.
@emmachamberlain it’s the gesture itself that we find offensive bc non asian people have been pulling their eyes back for years to make fun of natural asian eye shapes. the pose has been appropriated by white women to be “trendy” & a symbol of beauty when really it’s a symbol of oppression for us
Another added that the "fox eye" trend of people removing the tails of their eyebrows to make their eyes look more "upturned", which has taken off on TikTok recently, can also be considered offensive.
personally as an asian, emma chamberlain’s post made me uncomfortable. the whole “fox eye” trend isn’t cute in general. people have been slanting their eyes as a way to mock asians for years and i’ve literally had people purposely slant their eyes when i tell them i’m asian.
And while some did defend Emma, saying they thought it was clear she never intended to be racist...
why is everyone cancelling emma chamberlain- as an asian myself she did not intend to be racist? can we all agree on that?
Others said no one should try to tell Asian people whether they should consider it offensive or not.
y’all really defending emma chamberlain for posting a pic mocking asian eyes? don’t tell asian ppl if they should be offended or not and know the “aesthetic” pose has been used to mock asian eyes for years
A few hours later, Emma posted another apology note to Twitter, this time regarding a resurfaced screenshot of an old video showing her wearing a foundation several shades too dark, which resulted in people accusing her of blackface.
"I want to give some context," Emma wrote. "This was in a video where I was giving myself a makeover using dollar store products. I grabbed the wrong shade by accident and didn't realise the shade was incorrect until I was already putting it on."
She went on to say that she deleted the video after receiving comments explaining why it was "insensitive and hurtful".
She wrote:
After this happened, I took steps to educate myself. I have learned so much over the past few years and I am so grateful for that. Thank you guys for helping me learn. I would never EVER do something intentionally to disrespect anyone. I am learning and growing every day, and I TRULY apologise.