Here's Why You Shouldn't Be Trying the Fox Eye Pose
An increasing number of beauty influencers are taking a stand against the fox eye pose and its sister trend, the fox eye look. Read on for more.
Aug. 28 2020, Updated 5:39 p.m. ET
Dozens of beauty influencers are calling out against the increasingly widespread use of the fox eye pose, a gesture that involves pulling with both hands at the back of the temple to make the skin look tauter and create a slanted-eye look.
According to Instagram users like Issa Okamoto, the gesture is inherently racist, as it has long been used to mock Asian people.
An increasing number of influencers are taking a stand against the fox eye pose.
Emma Chamberlain, Dixie D'Amelio, and Lexi Rivera are just some of the trendsetters who have attempted to recreate the fox eye trend in the course of the past few weeks, a recent Instagram post by Issa reveals.
As Issa states, the latest beauty trend deliberately ignores the history of racial discrimination against Asian people in the U.S., while also perpetuating the false idea that subtler forms of cultural appropriation shouldn't be condemned.
With the post, Issa briefly alludes to her personal experiences as well, emphasizing that her peers would use the same gesture to poke fun at her for her appearance during her childhood years. Within this context, the beauty trend calling on makeup lovers to pull at the back of their temple to make their eyes look more slanted doesn't seem that harmless.
The fox eye look is just as offensive, claim a number of social media users.
Issa is far from the only person to take it to social media platforms to protest against the fox eye pose and its sister trend, the fox eye look.
The fox eye pose refers to the gesture some beauty influencers adopt while taking photographs showcasing their newest makeup looks. The fox eye look references the makeup styles worn by Asian characters appearing in Old Hollywood movies.
The look comprises of well-defined, sharply-tilted eyebrows and a cat-eye flick pointing towards the temple. In addition, a smudge of eyeshadow is added to the inner corner of the eyes, a previous article by Teen Vogue reveals.
As some critics argue, the trend is tantamount to cultural appropriation — the practice whereby the members of a dominant culture hijack certain signifiers, such as rituals, dances, items of clothing, or makeup looks created by a minority. Others claim it's plainly insensitive.
"So I've seen the fox eye challenge going around and I have to say everyone's missing like one, giant point to it, and it's like, the smallest hack you can do and it makes all the difference ... just apply your makeup as you normally would and then from there, you're gonna stop, and you're not going to do this challenge cause it's really freaking insensitive," Leah Melle explained in a recent TikTok video. "So how about we pick a whole new trend and throw this one out."
Annie LeBlanc has recently been called out for trying the offensive pose as well.
15-year-old YouTuber Annie LeBlanc garnered a great deal of scrutiny for enthusiastically describing the fox eye makeup trend and demonstrating the pose in one of her videos.
According to J-14, the Nickelodeon and Brat TV star has already posted an apology, explaining that she didn't realize that it was offensive and will be more careful of her poses in the future.
