Kdotfann - Black Beauty

racism in fashion app games

ok so i’ve been playing this fashion game called “covet fashion” which started off being SUPER fun.

u basically build ur closet up by completing missions, jet setting off to other countries, and attending events.

here’s the problem: u submit ur outfits to be judged by the masses of OTHER ppl who also play the game. their votes determine ur score—whether u pass and score more swag for ur closet or fail and have to try again.

but after the first three missions i was having a REALLY hard time. i would put together outfits that met the mission requirements but i couldn’t ever seem to get a high enough score to move forward and/or build up my closet. i would look at the top scoring outfits for the contest i entered and couldn’t understand why my outfits kept failing when those winning looks weren’t even that special.

and then it hit me.

EVERY time i submitted an outfit my model had the darkest skin. ALWAYS. and why not? my model was an extension of myself and i have darker skin so i wanted my model to have the same. the top scoring looks always featured white models or models of color with lighter skin. when i would go to vote on looks i noticed that whenever a darker skinned model was up against a lighter skin one REGARDLESS OF WHAT THEY HAD ON THEY ALWAYS LOST.

what i was thinking seemed legit but i HAD to be sure. so i put together a few more looks but i used much lighter skin tones and ALL OF A SUDDEN all these levels i couldn’t pass before i was passing with flying colors. i shit u not—i would win even when i put on shitty fucking outfits.

so i got curious about the low star reviews of the app and SURE ENOUGH there were few reviewers that had actually noticed the SAME THING! they pointed out the obvious racial bias and asked the app makers to come up with some other way to score outfits that wasn’t entirely user generated and ITA.

cause i was REALLY enjoying the game and i kept getting so frustrated when i couldnt win thinking i was the one who was doing something wrong when it had nothing to do with me at all. i mean shit— i kno i cant even enjoy the simplest shit thanks to racism but this is some BULLSHIT. i felt sincerely distressed because i wanted to win but the idea of having to pick lighter skinned models when i didnt want to just to do so didnt sit well with me so i ended up just deleting the app.

aint that some shit?

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kdotfann

1 year ago

To Do List:

pop out

show niggas

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kdotfann

9 years ago

Fuck yeah!

Do not try telling me melanin don’t got a play in this

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kdotfann

2 years ago

Play MONOPOLY GO! with me!

Play MONOPOLY GO! with me! Download it here: https://s.scope.ly/1fnZc0qkniI

App Store

‎MONOPOLY GO!

‎Become rich beyond your wildest dreams in this newly reimagined version of one of the best-selling board games ever created: MONOPOLY! Let

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kdotfann

10 years ago

To my daughters and sisters: Don’t fall for his words, fall for his actions.

Shaykh Waleed Basyouni (via thatkindofwoman)

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kdotfann

9 years ago

ISIS Taps Dark Web, Encryption Apps to Coordinate

U.S. law enforcement officials say ISIS terrorists may have planned the Paris attacks with user-friendly encrypted messaging apps that have now become nearly impossible for police to crack.

Former CIA deputy director Michael Morell said this weekend that ISIS and other terrorists are able to communicate under the radar of Western intelligence agencies as a result. “I think this is going to open an entirely new debate about security versus privacy,” Morell told CBS’ Face the Nation.

Jihadist groups have abandoned email and cellphones for secure systems created by big Western social media companies. Google, Facebook and Twitter have started using an encryption technique called “perfect forward secrecy” that creates a unique key for each encryption. It does not create a long-term master key, or “back door” that can be used to unlock them.