To think this product at The Range/Wilko is just plain racist?

[GardenNope]

I've been complaining about this range of products since I saw them in my local store a few weeks ago.

I keep getting fobbed off with no response, or 'we aim to provide products for all tastes'.

This just seems to me like a blatant racist stereotype of Polynesian culture. But the company doesn't seem to agree at all. Am I losing my mind here because it seems very blatantly wrong to me?

https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/single-solar-tiki-water-sports-ornament-in-assorted-styles/p/8087004

It is arguably cultural appropriation but I wouldn’t say it’s racist

It's not right, and I don't think it should be on sale..

BUT

I do love when crusading folk go on a fishing expedition

Reminds me of Crash Bandicoot.

Not sure what you mean? Are you referring to me as a 'crusading' person?

Its arguably inappropriate but really i can't get worked up about cultural misappropriation i feel that undermines real racism

I am not sure that I agree with a lot of claims of cultural misappropriation, but how is this not racist? How is this anything other than a depiction of a Polynesian person, in a 'gollywog' style?

I wouldn't say it was racist exactly. If you made one out of white chocolate with a European person - eg a copy of the Venus de Milo or a famous piece of art - that would be OK. I think it's the kind of representation that would be used in art by say, Polynesian people - it's not meant to be a regular person!

It's just trivialising and in poor taste - but not racist. The face isn't meant to be naturalistic, is it? It's meant to imitate Polynesian/Macronesian masks and sculptural art. It might be the sort of image these indiginous people have made themselves...but the fact that it's a chocolate novelty is the 'offensive' part, I think - it makes a joke of it.

B

FFS

I cannot say it provokes anything in me.

Just don't buy one and move on with your life?

It's actually a garden ornament and the eyes light up (there's a range of them in different positions).

I do think that a lot of tiki products are fine, and not cultural appropriation, but depicting actual people in this way feels completely wrong to me.

@GardenNope contact the Daily Mail, practice your sad/cross face until they get back to you ....sorted

Don't forget to tell them how much your house is worth!

I have to say, I can't believe people would pay £18 for that, but apart from that I don't see the issue?

It's fully in the style it's supposed to represent. It's not superimposing something else in there or mush mashing styles.

I'm sorry if I'm missing something, but I don't see it's any different to e.g. if they sold a toy NY police car or soft toy kangaroo.

@Lochroy I always wonder who buys the gnomes Asda sells!

Its fucking awful for sure, and may well be racist as well.
At the least its a stereotype

Imagine having so little to worry about in your life that you repeatedly complain about an ornament. Personally I think it's hideous and tasteless, but maybe after a few weeks of moaning about it to Wilko, you should just let it go?

It doesn’t matter, the world where you can get people to care about that sort of thing is over now. The wheel has turned. Soon a question like this is going to look as outmoded as asking whether you should be covering up your piano legs.

I suspect you are right, and we will basically return to the days when it was absolutely fine to throw around sexist and racist tropes.

I live in a part of the country where 'blacking up' is still very common and I genuinely do find this product offensive.

I think you're being absolutely ridiculous. But I do think it's hideous! 😆

Wondering if the '91 people looking at it now' are all mumsnetters. Surely no one would buy something so hideous!

Tiki masks and figurines are intended to be grotesque, they're traditionally used to stand in for deities and protect their users from evil spirits by frightening them away. They’re not meant as depictions of real people, this isn’t a racist caricature. I’d agree this is appropriation because Polynesian tribal artwork is incredibly detailed and takes a lot of skill and time to make, but anyone buying this from a highstreet bargain shop was unlikely to ever invest in the real deal so I doubt it would attract that much outrage from traditional artists.

The word racialism gets thrown around too much now, this is a prime example

You are projecting stereotypes of western culture onto a foreign one, and you should decolonise your mindset first, problem 1

Problem 2: If this character exists in traditional Polynesian design, what does it mean in their culture?
It may look like a gollywog but represent a very benevolent god in Polynesian culture especially if the eyes light up… thing is you don’t seem to know a thing about Polynesian culture yet you scream racism solely based on a white culture perspective.

You clearly fall into the "easily offended" category, OP.