u/Ok_Professional1526

Now, I haven’t seen anyone on here talking about this, but it feels to me like the elephant in the room.

Fingers crossed people don’t raise pitchforks at me for being “too woke”, but the way Erica is portrayed honestly makes me scratch my head at times.

Yes, I get it. She’s a side character. She’s meant to be funny and exist mostly in the background, so naturally won’t be as fleshed out/dimensional as a main character. And she IS funny! I love watching her scenes.

It just felt extremely outdated to me, for a show running from 2016-2026 to have one of the only- if not the only black girl(s) in the show fit the “sassy/angry black girl” stereotype to the T.

No, I don’t think the Duffer brothers are anti-black nor do I think the show hates POC. The show addresses racism in a realistic and good (imo) way with Billy and Lucas. But I can’t help but scratch my head with Erica, lmao.

And I can’t be the only one that has noticed, though I’ve barely seen posts about it. It’s something I would’ve expected to see in media from the 90s- early 2010s. It just rubs me the wrong way, as a black girl.

EDIT: It’s a hassle to keep re-explaining this and I’m tired of typing lol so I’ll say it here. Yes, Erica is a funny background character as I mentioned. The fandom loves her. I like her. I also find her funny.

I just found it an interesting writing choice for her to be very on the nose stereotypical “sassy black girl”the way one would if say, there were one East Asian kid who seems like they were plopped in from some show from 2001- written in the same stereotypical template of “nerdy, smart, rule following” and that was literally only all to their character amongst other relatively dimensional background characters.

In such a case, I wouldn’t think it’d absurd if an Asian person went, “Hey, character X is kind of… a walking stereotype”.

I’m not “cancelling” stranger things. I acknowledge that other kids have their own moments of rebellion and sass. It felt like an older style of writing for a black girl character pasted into a modern show

Asking in a broader sense rather than specific because I noticed this pattern throughout history of colonized peoples- notably in Africa, North and South America, Australia.

Aside from the non consensual instances of rape and sexual violence (often backed by power dynamics) why does this seem to be a common pattern?

I’m asking specifically because in many cases the indigenous populations weren’t exactly being treated as equals and buddies- just to rule out the obvious “people are gonna reproduce, duh” answer.

How come people still intermarry despite living in societies where one party would have been considered subhuman?

I’m new here!!! Do y’all know if the actual product is dropping tomorrow or just the announcement? Anyone have an idea when it might come out at Sephora?

I’ve only seen teacup on lighter skinned girlies, and I’m desperate to know if it’s saturated enough to show up on dark skin!!

Unfortunately Rhode doesn’t have any pinky blushes that work on dark skin so far so I’m really hoping Teacup does. So far I’ve been limited to the warm-red ish blushes

I think I cracked it. What if Aunt Lydia is Nicole? And Garth is Serena and Tuello’s son?

Matter of fact, I think Shu may be Eleanor and Lawrence’s from before Gilead. They pretended to be childless to keep her safe. They hid her and gave her a new identity to protect her!1!1!1!!

I saw a TikTok about how some people seem to have lost the plot when it comes to de-stigmatizing voluntary childlessness; talked about how some attitudes have shifted to being thinly veiled misogyny- for example, people commenting abt “the girl with the list” completely unprovoked and in regards to the pregnant woman’s body/appearance.

That specifically has always rubbed me the wrong way…especially if she is genuinely just existing and the video has nothing to do with, say, the physical challenges of pregnancy. It’s rude. But that’s not my main point.

The creator (I can’t find the original post) went on to say that it’s worth unpacking and analyzing why some people are extremely put off by pregnancy, and that a lot of it has to do with misogyny. It had me thinking.

I for some reason feel a deep aversion to pregnancy specifically. I do not think it’s gross or anything dehumanizing. However when women talk about birth, morning sickness, C sections etc, I feel deeply uncomfortable. Even when talking with family and my mom about the future, potential kids (which, having kids is basically a default in my culture- and probably everywhere else tbh), etc. My mind seems to zoom in on the bodily factors of it all.

I might get downvoted to hell, but again I want to emphasize that I do not look down or think of any of this as “gross” or “less than”. I can’t explain it properly. I don’t want to accidentally add to stigma, especially being female and a feminist myself.

Do you think it may truly be an issue of internalized misogyny, or is it a harmless way to feel? I obviously do not want children, but after hearing about how it just perpetuates misogyny and stuff, I’m very curious as to if there’s anything to actually unpack or not.

This has been an issue especially on TikTok! Shipping in this fandom seems to be an oddly sore spot/sensitive topic. I know ship wars and whatnot exist in fandoms, but I genuinely have never seen this extent of “yucking another’s yum” 😭

There’s this abundant need to moralize everything too, sometimes solely to paint supporters of it as weird or problematic.

I’ve seen deep dives under fan art and posts abt how Zutara is inherently problematic and romanticizes/reinforces colonialism, paragraphs abt how Kataang is somehow misogynistic and “reduces Katara to a caretaker and prize”, discourse about how (ADULT!!) Toph x Zuko ships based on new clips is “problematic”…but tbf maybe that’s just TikTok being TikTok.

Again, I want to emphasize that people can have their opinions about whatever they want. I’m not the opinions police. But it’s extremely obnoxious to intentionally crap on something in a space where people enjoy said thing. I am not a fan of Maiko or Kataang but the last thing I’d do is do a deep dive abt why I find it boring under a post of someone raving about their love for it!!

The one that especially gets me is when someone makes fanart or wtv about a non canon ship or rare pair like Katara x Azula or Toph x Aang and everyone is up in arms about how it’s “ridiculous and odd” because “actually, in canon-“

Like y’all that’s nearly the entire point of shipping. Fans almost never strictly stick to canon material when engaging w media they like.

Again, i certainly don’t think people need to agree with or like every ship. You can certainly have critiques, etc. I’m just wondering if hostility is necessary to the degree it currently is.

I’m either going to have a lot of people agreeing or get downvoted into hell lol

Bought the huda beauty powder during the sale and it mattifies + blurs BEAUTIFULLY. However it seems my skin will make even the most bulletproof product greasy after a couple hours. Yes I’ve tried matte primers, hydrating primers (bc apparently dehydrated skin can cause oiliness), hydrating concealers/skin tints and matte concealers…

Such a shame bc my favorite products also happen to be dewy. Tower 28 concealer, Rhode and saie’s blushes.

I probably wouldn’t be as frustrated if my makeup became oily but at least stayed intact- but no! Color slips, blends into one orange-y base toether, loses definition, and my face looks blurred…in a wipe-an-oily-finger-over-a lens way rather than a real life filter way.

PLEASE if anyone relates and has somehow fixed this for themselves drop recommendations 🫣🙏🏾 Have spent too much trying different products all for the same results!!