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

Racism that should say

Came on to say this.

It’s not a “blacked up” person. It’s a Tiki Mask.

More Buddha than Golliwog. Obviously for use in a garden Tiki Bar. To me (and I’m not White), it’s not any different to having a cute garden gnome.

If you ever go to Disney World you’d best avoid the Polynesian Hotel and the Enchanted Tiki Room if you find Polynesian Artwork so problematic!

@Thefaceofboe for future if you realise you've made an error you have 5 mins to edit your own post ( I'm always making spelling errors!)
Use the three dots to the top right of your block, drop down menu choose edit

Exactly - once was enough!

Focus on actual racism to be disgusted about

Would anyone buy it? It's awful.

Why don't you go after every other retailer that sells such tat OP? I wouldn't buy it personally, but clearly people do. What about gnomes, gonks or Krishna toys?

Also remember to tell them how much the value of your house has dropped precisely because of this ornament. They'll love it!

It's nit depiction of actual Polynesian person but based on style of statues ya melt😂

Is it fugly? Quite. Is it Gollywog? Absolutely not

Assuming you’re in the UK, which part of the country still commonly ‘blacks up’?!

Is it a replica of a Polynesian artefact? I. E how Polynesian folk artists present images
Or a made up depiction of Polynesian people?

Would love to know where you live where "blacking up" is still very common

Was going to post along the same lines: Polynesian sculptures and masks are all in this style - though more tastefully depicted in wood or stone. Without more detail as to the manufacturer and designers’ ethnic origins we can’t say whether it’s racist. But it is not a caricature (like the gollywogs of old which were pejorative even when socially acceptable on jam jars) but a gaudy plastic replica of a known Polynesian art style.

However, I do think these are a bit ugly/garish and an odd thing to have in a UK garden, frankly, so think Wilko buyers have got this wrong.

I'm sorry, but I just burst out laughing reading this.

You know they'll have this photo next to your name for when you email them, right?

To me it's just turning those statues into a racist stereotype.

(Re. blacking up: one example is that the local Morris dancers still do this locally, but it's actually very common in local carnivals and festivals too.)

People who like a bit of tat

£18 for that? Are they mad?

The massive wedding-themed ones are a sight to behold.

You realise you are actually showing quite a racist and uneducated midset unless you are trolling...

Ah - thank you! Well, I've outed myself as a complete chocoholic!!! 😂 Wishful thinking...

It reminds me of a terracotta figure someone gave me of an Aztec deity called a chacmool, I think, but since it was an exact copy of the real thing, not in any way a cartoonish image, I didn't think of it as offensive in any way. Mind you, I put it at the end of the garden when I read that the figure holds a bowl to contain the torn-out hearts of Aztec sacrificial victims!!!

It's the cartoonish aspect of this which is a bit 'off' - but I still don't think, racist. I think it trivialises rather than offends, personally.

Which part? Cringing at the blacked-up Morris dancers?

I have "masks" from New Zealand Tanzania & other places, proper handcrafted pieces. I also own carved tiki necklaces from New Zealand, hand carved deities from different religions. Chosen or given from places I've been to.
I'm white, am I'm racist for owning them? Or is it just cultural appropriation on my part?

I would pay £18 to not have that in my house.

It's meant to represent a Tiki God not an actual person. Look at it properly, it's even got wooden texture on its arms.

Or do you think the statues are racist too?

Yes I agree it's partly the trivialising (in an area of the country where this is commonplace). One of them is posed as though they are drunk in a rubber ring. That seems crass at very best.

Have a look at the Polynesian hotel at Disney world. Figures with tiki masks such as the one in the picture literally adorn the whole hotel because they are a depiction of an element of Polynesian culture in a Polynesian themed hotel (the clue is in the name). They aren’t a depiction of a Polynesian person’s face!
Should that entire hotel be closed down due to cultural appropriation?
😵‍💫🙄 you would think someone would have raised it already if it was a genuine example of racism.