Snapchat
raises eyebrows with Women's Day filter that lightens Frida Kahlo's skin
Three custom filters in honor of International Women’s
Day drew criticism for notably lightening users’ skin and adding a full face of
makeup to Marie Curie
Snapchat is celebrating Mexican artist Frida Kahlo on
International Women’s Day with a filter that lightens the skin of users.
Snapchat debuted three custom filters for the day, which
is being marked in the United States with protests
and strikes. The filters allows users to take self-portraits as Kahlo,
civil rights activist Rosa Parks, or scientist Marie Curie.
But on a day to celebrate international feminism,
Snapchat’s filters have raised some eyebrows.
The Frida Kahlo filter lightens a user’s skin and eyes
and applies bright red lipstick, a floral headdress and braids, and the
artist’s signature unibrow. The skin color change is particularly noticeable on
faces with darker skin – as becomes apparent when Kahlo’s own self-portrait is
put through the filter.
Kahlo, who was of mixed indigenous and European heritage,
painted herself with brown skin and dark eyes. Much of her work engaged with
indigenous themes and imagery.
The Kahlo filter is not the first time Snapchat has
courted racial controversy with its filters.
In April 2016, the company debuted a Bob
Marley filter many users decried as digital blackface. A few months
later, the company faced a similar backlash over an anime-themed
lens that transformed selfies into Asian caricatures with buck teeth.
The company has also faced criticism in the past over how
“beauty” filters (as opposed to humorous filters, like dog ears) lighten the
skin of people of color, raising questions about the standard of beauty the
company is trying to promote.
Those beauty standards are also being questioned with one
of the other International Women’s Day filters.
The filter for Nobel Prize-winning physicist and chemist
applies smoky eye makeup and lengthens the eye lashes. Curie is best known for
her groundbreaking research on radioactivity. She was awarded the Nobel Prize
twice, once for chemistry and once for physics.
Snap Inc went
public on 2 March, jumping to a market value of $28bn and turning its
co-founders into billionaires. The stock price for the loss-making company has
since fallen.
Snap has consistently refused to release statistics
revealing the demographic diversity of its staff. The company did not
immediately respond to a request for comment on the filters.
Frida Kahlo
0 Komentar