brownface
Offensive skin darkening
Brownface is the practice of darkening one's skin to portray a person of South Asian, Latino, Middle Eastern, or other brown-skinned ethnicity—typically through makeup or cosmetics.
Like blackface, it is considered offensive, reducing ethnic identity to a caricature.
The term often appears in criticism of casting choices: The studio faced backlash for putting a white actor in brownface.
Art of traveling performers
- blackfaceRacist performance makeup tradition
- yellowfaceStereotyped Asian portrayal
- redfaceVisible sign of embarrassment
- makeupProducts for beautifying faces
costume · impersonation · parody · caricature · Halloween costume · spray tan · prosthetics · wig
Misusing another group's traditions
- stereotypingOversimplified group-based judgments
- exoticismAllure of the unfamiliar
- mockeryScornful ridicule or travesty
- misrepresentationFalse or misleading statement
commodification · fetishization · exploitation · reductionism · tokenism · cliché · trope · turban
Unjust differential treatment
- prejudicePreformed unfavorable opinion
- bigotryIntolerance toward differing views
- colorismBias based on complexion
- colonialismDomination through foreign settlement
orientalism · white supremacy · dehumanization · othering · apartheid · segregation · racialization · racial hierarchy
Fierce moral indignation
- condemnationSevere disapproval expressed formally
- cancellationVoiding of plans
- apologyStatement acknowledging wrongdoing
- controversyProlonged public disagreement
accountability · callout · criticism · social media backlash · public shaming · resignation · boycott · offensive
minstrelsy
Art of traveling performers
- blackfaceRacist performance makeup tradition
- yellowfaceStereotyped Asian portrayal
- redfaceVisible sign of embarrassment
makeup · costume · impersonation · parody · caricature · Halloween costume · spray tan · prosthetics · wig · typecasting
cultural appropriation
Misusing another group's traditions
- stereotypingOversimplified group-based judgments
- exoticismAllure of the unfamiliar
- mockeryScornful ridicule or travesty
misrepresentation · commodification · fetishization · exploitation · reductionism · tokenism · cliché · trope · turban · bindi
discrimination
Unjust differential treatment
- prejudicePreformed unfavorable opinion
- bigotryIntolerance toward differing views
- colorismBias based on complexion
colonialism · orientalism · white supremacy · dehumanization · othering · apartheid · segregation · racialization · racial hierarchy · systemic racism
outrage
Fierce moral indignation
- condemnationSevere disapproval expressed formally
- cancellationVoiding of plans
- apologyStatement acknowledging wrongdoing
controversy · accountability · callout · criticism · social media backlash · public shaming · resignation · boycott · offensive · insensitivity
- representationproportional representation, diverse casting, visibility, representation matters, marginalized voices
- cultural borrowingblackface, redface, yellowface, minstrelsy, war bonnets
brown, face, browned, browning, browns, brownish, brownness, faced, faces