Animal Crossing’s ‘space buns’ hair controversy erases black fans

Animal Crossing: New HorizonsThe big winter update was cause for much celebration in November, as the new hair options meant some black fans could be more fully represented in the game. But what was meant to be an inclusive addition to the life simulator has become controversial, especially as non-black fans have started to appropriate and bleach hair options.

The problem came to a head when an Animal Crossing gamer on social media made the mistake of calling the new puffs “space buns,” a cheesy nickname used to describe hairstyles popularized by stars like Ariana Grande. While that post may be the most discussed instance of the controversy, discussions about whether or not non-black gamers might wear the new hairstyles, or whether they were exclusively black hairstyles, began immediately after Nintendo revealed they existed in the first place. . Now that hair is widely available, the conversation has largely turned to what the new options really are and what fans should call them.

This apparent confusion over hairstyles has led some fans to explain that while puffs can Look Like the buns, if you zoom in you’ll notice that the new two have a different texture than the standard options. Some went even further, pointing out that Animal Crossing has already depicted something like space buns in games like Pocket camp, and they don’t look like the new puffs on New Horizons.

Part of what makes this a tiring topic for some black fans is that the series has taken a long time to recognize this segment of its user base. New Horizons All in all, it’s better than previous versions, which forced players who wanted to have darker skin in the game to tan their characters for hours, if not wearing masks, just to represent themselves in the game.

As critic Funké Joseph said at Gamespot in June, “My villager can be me now, and I love that, but it took me a long time. It’s hard for me to even praise Nintendo for including it now when I, and many others, needed it years ago. The render bar feels so discouragingly low that companies are being praised for including content that should have been there since [the] Start; that we celebrate having our hair in a game as a ‘victory’, or having a black character that is not a stereotype as something innovative ”.

Speaking to Polygon via Twitter about the space bun controversy, Joseph added: “It’s obviously a black hairstyle, something that people pushed a lot to get in and the obvious trolls will say things like ‘space buns xP’ in a seemingly quirky, but they know what they’re doing, who they’re erasing. “

On social media, reactionaries have seized this opportunity to get down to business on the issue, often posting images of white characters sporting the Afro puffs as defiant. Opinions on this phenomenon differ; some black players have proclaimed they have no problem and it doesn’t matter what other fans are wearing in the game. The players Polygon spoke to for this story recognized that they cannot necessarily control what others will do. The potential problem is that by calling them space buns, fans are erasing the context of a hard-won and long-awaited inclusion to the game.

“At least call them Afro puffs if you must use them,” says Animal Crossing fan Morgan who has been enjoying the new update.

“So these people appropriated a hairstyle and changed the name to be able to pretend it is not a black style,” he continued in a Twitter message. Morgan told Polygon that since writing a tweet where she asked people to stop calling them space buns, she was harassed by users who pointed out that she has pronouns in her bio, among other things. This, in turn, has led Morgan to believe that this isn’t really about Animal Crossing at all – some of the people arguing about puffs may not even be gamers, but rather people who rage at the mere idea of ​​inclusion. racial wherever it appears. .

This is just the latest battleground for watchers who may not have any interest in the larger Animal Crossing community. Namely, a moderator from the largest Animal Crossing community on the internet told Polygon that, on their forums, fans largely spoke of the topic with respect, even if they disagreed with each other. Rather than becoming a source of bullying, the discussions about the puffs faded fairly quickly.

“However, I don’t like paying attention to users like that,” Joseph said of the space bun brigade. “I am happy that these hairstyles are here for my whole family !!”