Apparently, Using Food to Describe Skin Tone is Racist?

[foxnflames]

Exactly. Like most racial conversations, this will devolve into POC saying something is racist and others “well actually”-ing each statement to death. If we strictly look at it in terms of writing, it’s lazy, cringe and cliche, like you said. There are so many words to describe brown, light brown, dark brown, hair, eyes, whatever without using food or the like.

[foxnflames]

It’s easy to say that it’s stupid to get offended by other’s ignorance when said ignorance has caused massive genocide the world over. Some things aren’t easy to ignore, especially if those ignorant people are the ones in power.

And why wouldn’t being compared to an object be dehumanizing? Like I said further up, there’s a difference between saying someone is the same color as something and someone being (insert object/food/etc) colored. I found the same article someone linked earlier but one example is that it perpetuates fetishization. Here it is again:
“One of the most common faux pas is to describe skin as food items. I’ve read so many lesbian romances where the tall, hot doctor/barista/art teacher/astronaut is described as having skin like smooth caramel/coffee/honey with creamer/chocolate icing. Not only is this a lazy description, it’s plain ’ole offensive.

The reason is that these words fetishize brown skin. Imagine if we compared white skin to after-dinner mints, yoghurt, or boiled rice. It’s ridiculous. In the same way, to imply that brown people are “edible” objectifies them, which is the last thing you want to do.

This is the same reason you don’t want to describe Asian (and, by the way, Asia consists of people from India, Cambodia, Singapore, Japan and 44 other countries) as having slanted eyes, or being exotic. All this does is imply that white is the norm, and anything that subverts whiteness is other.”

I also found this: “ Well, to describe People of Color, going forward referenced as POC, emphasis on the PEOPLE part, at the least it is othering non-white characters in your narrative, and at the worst, you are fetishizing non-white characters by giving them exotic descriptors that don’t tell you anything about them besides they remind you of a favorite desert or your am cuppa.

It’s tied in to the dehumanization of people of color in media, in life and history. If you can imagine for a moment, (assuming you are not a POC and reading this post) how would you feel if you were always described as milky, mayonnaise, mashed potato, and other kinds of food words as stand-in’s for your skin colour? You wouldn’t would you?

I know some white people get bent out of shape when described with such words, even as inoffensive as ‘mayo’. I mean mayo isn’t a great condiment, but no one has died from being called mayo-white. So consider the weight of words, the cultural ramifications tied to describing a POC as sinful as cinnamon, luscious as dark chocolate, or worse, tying food descriptors to moments of intimacy in a work.

I’ve seen too many people describe fair skinned POC (assuming they actually are writing them as a POC) as lapped up like cafe au lait, devoured like a chocolate bar, etc etc. Just stop. Additionally, it’s tired, it’s cliched and shows me you can’t play with words well enough to come up with a new way to describe people. It’s laziness, and if you as a writer can’t come up with something better, it makes me wonder about the rest of your word crafting.

Secondly, there are plenty of ways to describe POC with words like brown, dark brown, light brown, sandy brown, so many words that can be used to describe us that don’t need to be related to food, again it’s delicious but we’re not edible. We’re people, people! That would like some depth in our descriptions. We’re not coffee brown either, considering coffee can be had from a milky white with enough extra cream to a very, very, dark black. We also don’t taste or smell like chocolate, coffee, or cinnamon. No person does, even if they work in a coffee factory with a chocolate shoppe across the way.

Third, and it might seem repetitive but this is important. Do the work, look to authors you feel have done character description well and learn from how they do it. Look up resources on writing the other, especially if you get a second or hell a third set of eyes on your work and get feedback on the descriptions. Or use Google, it’s there for a reason. It’s a SEARCH engine, so search things. Keep a dictionary and thesaurus bookmarked for your use.”

From https://cypheroftyr.com/2016/05/20/so-you-want-to-describe-a-poc-character/

[mikeampao1]

In year 2030 Apparently, Using Animals to describe Skin tone is Racist now? So they had a right to kill animals because it looks racist? I just don't understand what is racist now and it can be use everything to make excuse of it. It feels like a Communism where you should do accordingly not to be Racist whether be objects or environment. This is why president Xi jingping ban Winnie the pooh because it looks racist to him and i hope people need to double check first before they're making an assumption.

[JWZagst]

One of the reasons I use descriptors like "chocolate" or "mocha" or "milky white" or "pale as snow" or "dark as night" is because I want the reader to properly envision my characters the way I see them in my mind. Just saying "brown" over and over doesn't suit my writing style. When I refer to a character as having "chocolate skin" it means the skin color is very similar to a bar of milk chocolate. If the character is African-American but a lighter complexion, I may say "maple" or "oak" or "hazelnut" or "cinnamon." If a character is Caucasian but very tan, I may say "sun-kissed bronze" or if they're really mad or horribly sunburnt, I may say "red as a tomato." I try to not repeat the same word multiple times within the same story when using descriptors, so that requires me to be creative.

[Random_Guy]

I might start using food to describe the skin tone of my more supernatural characters as a joke.

This is my boy Crypto, he's an unholy undead with skin like grape jelly.

[TAMAnnoying]

What happens when our characters are actually made of food like changelings

[Random_Guy]

Well then they still have skin like said food.

[byelacey]

This is such a great post, thank you for taking the time.

[foxnflames]

I get that and there are more imaginative words than brown. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with someone saying someone blushes or is flustered and and turns red as a tomato. The articles references aren’t talking about that. But calling someone a tomato or a tomato colored person is weird. And there’s always a more imaginative way to say something

[foxnflames]

No problem. I want to keep this on the side or educational rather than a dumpster fire. That’s why I provided links that can be resourceful. I may need to bookmark them myself

[R.n.P]

lol sounds like social justice bull to me, so i would disregard it, its probably some woke white kid that wrote it XD

[TAMAnnoying]

I also find it funny that describing someone as food is demeaning do people not respect food? It helps you live! millennials! It’s their fault for only respecting green people with their damn Avocados! 🥑

[DiegoPalacios]

I think the issue with using food to describe skin color is that it often comes up as sexualizing, which often doesnt fit a story character.

Example: Describing an imposing and tough military general as a Mocha-Chocolate will lead to the wrong impresion of what kind of character you are trying to convey.

Maybe it works in some erotic context if well excecuted, but otherwise....... it often comes of as cheesy.

If people wanna use food analogies, is up to them, but if they wanna do it well, they need to figure out when this trope works.

[TheDoublekey]

I think it's ok, as long as you don't make fun of the person or disrespect said individual.

Unfortunately, as of today, we have to worry about every little thing that could be deemed as offensive and overall politically incorrect. Sometimes we don't mean to offend anyone but it still passes off as bad.

In the end, it's not good to overthink every little word or scene you do just because it could potentially make some people angry. It's right to question yourself in order to grow, but you shouldn't worry too much. I'm afraid of controversy as well, but I try as much as I can to avoid it.

Always be polite and respectful to others and people will know who you really are

[TAMAnnoying]

This is why context is so important! better to judge it on an individual level then say “you can’t do this anymore cause we said so.”

What if it’s a good story where the person relates everyone to food? That’s how they de stress!

Sometimes you do want that slightly erotic connection so that the audience KNOWS “oh! That’s the love interest”

Sometimes tropes and plataudes exisit for the very reason that everyone can catch on to what’s going on

[DiegoPalacios]

True, also, forbiding food analogies removes a goldmine for parodies.

[Cavechan]

With describing a person as having "chocolate" skin, does anyone else think of like... the texture first rather than the color? Or am I weird?

I get like "milky white" or "chestnut brown" but "chocolate" just seems weird. Especially since chocolate can come in all different colors.

[JWZagst]

Well, I would never say a "so and so" color person, I refer specifically to the skin. I posted it earlier here, but I'll give some descriptions below of characters in my most recent novel, which focuses on four teenagers who become superheroes of sorts:

Emmett Haldeman was a couple inches taller than Mallory, and was actually in fairly decent shape. His chocolate skin flowed taut over his muscular physique, which displayed his prominent shoulders and chiseled jaw. His eyes were hazel but took on a golden tone in direct sunlight, and his black hair was pulled back into short cornrows. He had spent a few years in sports after his father – United States Air Force Major General John Haldeman – had pressured him into athletics, but eventually he was allowed to pursue science as he desired.

Sully MacFarley, on the other hand, barely stood five and a half feet and was quite portly. He was covered in freckles and red body hair, sporting a hipster-style pompadour that really brought out the ginger in him. His eyes were a bright emerald green and he wore thick black-framed glasses that sat atop a large, bubble nose. His father Gerald was a Detective as well and partners with Nathaniel – that was actually how the two boys met, back when their fathers were young patrol officers on the same beat. It was the following year at school where Emmett had joined their 'adventuring party,' as they called it.

A few of the other interns were waiting outside, including Mallory’s crush – Selena Azar, who was smiling and talking with a few of the girls. Her makeup accented her puppydog brown eyes brilliantly, her long dark hair cascading in waves halfway down her back. Her skin was a beautiful shade of mocha, her frame petite yet curvy, and a cute little button nose. She wore a pair of black jeans and a long AC/DC shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, and her bag strapped over her shoulder. She looked up and smiled as she saw the three boys approaching.

[foxnflames]

I'll assume that out of this trio, Sully isn't a POC. I can tell by the name, freckles and ginger hair. The "problem" is that out of all these descriptions, only Emmett and Selena have their skin color referred to as chocolate and mocha, respectively. It kind of perpetuates that white is the default race when it comes to characters because you effectively got across that he was white without saying so. The other descriptors you used for the other two are done well, I feel like they can do without the food references. And if all else fails (in Emmett's case), there's nothing wrong with just saying he's black

[JWZagst]

Yeah, Sully's ethnicity was made pretty clear with the reference to freckles, red body hair, and that he was a ginger, but I do see your point. Perhaps I should put more thought into descriptors moving forward.