Images by Jason Leung (@ninjason)

It may be the Year of Ox for Eastern cultures that celebrate the Lunar New Year, but according to TikTok, the beauty community, and explore pages, it’s actually the year of the Fox (eye). 

Beauty trends pass like the seasons. In the last decade, something I like to call “snatched culture” has become more and more prevalent in makeup YouTube tutorials. Using makeup to reshape cheekbones and jawlines birthed snatched culture, then nose contours became all the rage, and now, slimmed, slanted, and slender eyes are “in.” 

The cooly-dubbed #FoxEye creates an illusion of thin, almond-shaped, and upturned eyes. Popularized by supermodels like Kendall Jenner and the Hadid sisters, social media latched onto the fox eye. 

Upon Googling “fox eye trend,” almost all images are of someone showing off the results of a makeup tutorial. Surprisingly, they all pose similarly too. While pulling at their temples with both hands in a beauty-coined “migraine pose,” they attempt to further exaggerate the illusion they’ve created. 

Despite the popularity of the look, this behavior isn’t cheeky or attractive. It is culturally insensitive. The frustrating lack of discourse about the look and the denial of how this makeup trend negatively affects the Asian (specifically East Asian) community is harmful, to say the least. It contributes to a vicious cycle of adoring aspects of Asian cultures without acknowledging Asian people. 

I’ve seen it before. On elementary school playgrounds. On the faces of bullies as they jeer and taunt. On Yellow Peril propaganda posters. 

The fox eye isn’t modeled after foxes. The beauty bloggers that have co-opted this trend are accentuating their eyes to mirror a common facial feature of many East Asians: slightly upturned eyes that are smaller in comparison to other ethnic groups. 

When a physical trait has been heavily stereotyped and used to discriminate against certain populations and promote racist sentiments, it is not acceptable for white beauty bloggers to turn it into another fashion fad just to throw it out when it is no longer deemed in-season. The irony is that it was Western beauty standards that have deemed smaller, tapered eyes as less desirable in the first place. 

I grew up hearing “Chinese, Japanese, Indian chief” taunts and watching classmates pull their eyes correspondingly (up, down, and back) to imitate what they believed people of those ethnicities look like. But at such a young age, I was confused by my own uncomfortable emotions. I knew it didn’t sit right with me, but I couldn’t yet grasp the racist nature of these schoolyard chants. So, like any other kid who wanted to fit in, I just went with it. 

At home, I would hear aunts and Chinese media praise wide, round eyes and criticize small, monolid eyes. Somewhere, mixed in with the internalized racism and experiences of being first-generation, I ended up loathing my distinctly Chinese features. I also became convinced that my eyes were small. It didn’t matter that they objectively are not; the conviction and stereotypes surrounding East Asians convinced me otherwise. 

I, alongside a generation of young women, have been ingrained with the notion that “doe eyes” are the conventional form of pretty. If this was a theme in literature, doe eyes would be the foil to fox eyes. It’s always the big, round-eyed, and innocent damsel-in-distress against the sharper-featured, scheming villainous seductress.

Therefore it’s not surprising why so many young Asian-American women feel compelled to get expensive eyelash extensions. Even now, I don’t consider my makeup routine complete without a strong flick of eyeliner. (“It opens up the eyes!” the beauty tutorials claim. And who wouldn’t want that after being told to “Open your eyes!” followed by a large helping of slurs?) 

Images by Jason Leung (@ninjason)

Asians are continually being erased from the narrative.

When General Tsao’s Chicken and Pad Thai takeout sits on their coffee tables after calling our food stinky and foreign. When they show off tattoos of Chinese characters they cannot read while making fun of accented English. When they decided that mahjong needed to be revamped for a white audience and sold for over $300 a set, erasing the cultural meaning of the original design at the same time. When historically Asian representation in the media revolves around the fetishization of Asian women as exotic femme fatales and the emasculation of Asian men. When they decide to “borrow” our eyes for a beauty trend. 

Selective pieces of Asian culture and heritage are praised, but there is a disconnect. This constant gaslighting has created an instrument of double standards. It tells Asians that they are a spectacle, made to be borrowed from and desired, but not accepted as people. 

Stop taking our culture and trying to add value to it by bringing in a white perspective.

It is cruel to use Asian-Americans when it is convenient and forget about us when not taking our money, culture, food, language, and music. Temporarily imitating facial features that have been used to oppress a whole race for centuries is not a trend. 

Call it what it is: cultural appropriation. 

Anti-Asian racism and xenophobia have existed long in this country even before the COVID-19 pandemic. It exists in our classrooms, in the media we consume, and on the streets. The hate speech and aggressive foreign policy of our former presidents only incited more aggression and deepened the divide.

Stop condoning racist rhetoric to be used against the Asian community.  

However, now there has been a resurgence in hate crimes against Asian-Americans. In the last year, hate crimes against Asians have increased by 150% in major US cities. Elders are being assaulted and killed in the communities they had deemed safe. As early as February, when Asian-Americans geared up to celebrate Lunar New Year, they were fearful of leaving their homes when preparing for the festivities. 

Now, it’s March and we should not be waking up to the horrific news of the deaths of eight people across several spas in Georgia; six of whom were women of Asian descent. Many Asian-Americans have service roles in this country, but they are not subservient nor are they only here to fulfill others’ needs. Respect your waiters, nail technicians, laundry attendants, small store owners. 

Asian-Americans should not have to hold their breath every day, waiting to see what else will add to their trauma today. Every phone call with family should not end in, “be careful.” 

Stop choosing to ignore the violence. 

Even when the scale of such incidents has risen to death, Asian-Americans are still not seen or heard. The names of the victims are often omitted and unknown. Yet, I can see vividly the face of the assailants, because the intimate details of their lives are shared and given precedence over their victims. 

Major news outlets had not been reporting these crimes with the attention they deserve. It was relegated to social media infographics to inform people about these hate crimes. The news outlets were more interested early on in reporting celebrity outcries to the attacks than the attacks themselves. It is embarrassing that it took over a month before President Biden even addressed these transgressions.

It’s time to take the enthusiasm and attention off of the fox eye trend and turn it towards boosting awareness of these incidents. Simply saying #StopAsianHate is a step in acknowledging the issue, but not enough. We need to dismantle the stereotypes, jokes, policing, and “casual” racism. 

Take the time to read, then share the infographics that you see on social media. Discuss it with the people in your circle. Check in on your Asian-American friends and ask them what they need, and listen. 

Support Asian-American content creators and businesses. Consume the stories written, directed, and performed by Asian-Americans. (Masterfully crafted pieces outside of Crazy Rich Asians exist!)

The Asian-American community is begging for our non-Asian friends and supposed allies to care. It is essential to stand together in solidarity and acknowledge and prevent what is happening from continuing. 

Stop using “model minority” as an excuse to not address how the Asian community is hurting. (We are, and we are grieving.) Do not let this myth exclude AAPIs from identifying as people of color. 

Supporting the Asian community does not diminish the concerns of other people of color. There is enough room for all of us. 

To learn more about these aspects of the Asian-American experience, here is a compilation of content from AAPI folk to explore: 

• Associated Press: As virus-era attacks on Asians rise, past victims look back

• Asian American Journalists Association: a thread of guidance to newsrooms reporting on events around Asian-hate

• Dear Asian Youth: Stop The Hate Crimes Against Our Asian Elders

• Anna Akana: 6 Asian Women Have Been Murdered.

• Brookings: Why the trope of Black-Asian conflict in the face of anti-Asian violence dismisses solidarity

• TIME: Hate Crimes Against Asian Americans Are on the Rise. Many Say More Policing Isn't the Answer

• CNN: The 'fox eye' beauty trend continues to spread online. But critics insist it's racist

• TeenVogue Op-ed: The Fox Eye Trend Is Just Cultural Appropriation of Asian Features

• Common East Asian eye shapes sketch by @Zeldacw 

The following non-exhaustive list includes some resources to support AAPI and spark discussions: 

• Asians 4 Antiracism @asians4antiracism

• Angry Asian Feminist @angryasianfeminist

• Asian Mental Health Collective @asianmentalhealthcollective

• Dear Asian Youth @dearasianyouth

• #HateIsAVirus @hateisavirus

• HuffPost Asian Voices @huffpostasianvoices

• NBC Asian America @nbcasianamerica

• Stop AAPI Hate @stopaapihate

By Ivy Fan

Playlist maker, houseplant collector, coffee drinker, and poet exploring the intersectionality of identity.