Whitewashing of Cottagecore

the whitewashing of cottagecore

to cultivate and develop society. For there is no reason that cottagecore an entire aesthetic to ignore their needs to focus on White people, nor contributions and fantasize about a is there a reason people of color Recently, the rise of cotvery whitewashed world is extreme- should be discouraged from partagecore has warranted itself a lot ly harmful to people of color. ticipating in cottagecore. In another of attention online. Effectively, the It might be simpler to dismiss video, she reiterates, “It’s me in a cottagecore aesthetic is a sort of the inherent whitewashing of cot- space where it’s not as diverse as idealized, outdoor escapism full of tagecore, but even so, the fact that it should be. So yes, it’s Black girl flowy dresses, flower crowns and there is backlash shows the intrin- cottagecore.”homemade pottery. It’s designed to sic racism that cannot be ignored. Cottagecore is not the only romanticize the outdoors, to create Even if no one is outright gatekeep- aesthetic that has been claimed to intimacy without making it sexual ing the aesthetic from anyone, cot- be whitewashed or racist, and this and to feel free in nature without any tagecore is deeply ingrained in its only tells us more about typical fashof its poisons. It’s no wonder why whitewashed roots. ion and beauty standards. Particit has become so popular: when One TikTok user with nearly ularly with the rise of social media, compared to the monotonous life- 35 thousand followers, Aniyah (@ fashion trends tend to lean heavily style the pandemic has brought cottage.cosmetics), has labelled towards Western beauty and Eurous, yellow daisies and a secret centric features. hut in the forest seem almost too good to be true. And as it don’t dismiss people parThe fix for this issue seems simple enough: don’t dismiss turns out, they just might be. As you scroll through the near 5.5 billion videos unticipating in fashion just people participating in fashion just because they fail to conform to the standard of “White der the cottagecore hashtag on TikTok, a pattern soon because they fail to con- beauty.” Instead, welcome the inclusion of the style and ememerges. What is not among the flowers, sourdough bread form to the standard of brace the diversity that comes out of it. However, like most and tiny homes in the middle of the woods, are peo- “White beauty” “simple fixes,” it is much easier said than done. With whiteple of color. A simple Google washed values so intertwined, search will tell the same story: a like with cottagecore, most vast majority of the people getting people already have their own contraction off of cottagecore are White notation of what a style looks like, women who look like a perfect imand anything beyond that is subject age straight out of the 1800s (think her brand as “Black girl to hate comments and rejection.Jane Eyre or Pride and Prejudice). cottagecore,” to which she has re- Fashion styles and aesthetAt first glance, it might be easy to ceived multiple comments asking ics shouldn’t be limited or defined overlook this detail of its aesthetic her why the emphasis on “Black by a single race. Those invested for the beauty, but upon further un- girl” was necessary. She explained in cottagecore have the opportucovering, some fascinating truths in one video, “It’s simply represen- nity to welcome this diversity, and around the idea of cottagecore are tation. When you see these aesthet- they should take it. Western beauty revealed. ics, the forefront of them is White is only the standard if we let it be, If something is considered people, which is okay, it’s great. But and it’s fine time the flood gates “ideal,” as cottagecore is, having when people of color, especially open so we can cela large majority of the style focus Black people, do it, it’s all of a sud- ebrate the true on White people definitely brings den ‘you’re trying to act White’ [...] goodness up some concerns. As often taught Having representation of people of of nature’s by our history classes, the Ameriyour race in there, it’s just us nor- beautycan landscape was created on the malizing that different races and backs of racially diverse people. ethnicities can do this stuff without Colonists stole the land from Indig‘trying to be White.’”enous people and used Black labor Aniyah explains it simply: