If you've checked your social media feeds over the weekend, you'll have seen a stream of celebrities showing off their Halloween costumes.
But when Love Island star Faye Winter shared a snap of her with boyfriend Teddy Soares as the Na'vi species from the Avatar film, it was met with a mixed reaction as some accused the influencer of cultural appropriation.
People have assumed that Faye is meant to resemble Zoe Saldana's character Neytiri in the film, who wears braids with beads in, similar to Faye although Faye does not have the exact same accessories as the main character such as a feathered breast covering.
Cultural appropriation is the act of inappropriately adopting aesthetics or aspects of a culture which you do not belong to, typically done by someone who is part of a more structurally powerful group in society.
Advert
Faye has been given the label as people noticed her wearing braids as part of her costume, a hairstyle traditionally associated with the Black community.
One person commented on her Instagram post: "Box braids is part of a culture, not to be part of a Halloween costume."
Someone else on Twitter put simply their unease over the costume choice: "This feels wrong".
While a third person couldn't see the excuse that it was true to the Avatar characters: "avatar ain't even have micro braids girl what".
Some people were also concerned about Teddy's 'complicity' in Faye's costume: "The fact that the brudda is cool with this is hella disturbing. I still blame his brothers for not saying things with chest when the families met at the villa."
Advert
Others defended the Love Island star however, with one person saying: "The hate y'all have for Faye and Teddy is scary... its just Avatar costume on Halloween day. How is this "culture appropriation"".
Another person agreed in response to others' reactions: "the outfit looks hard, I don't get the hate? You're meant to look like the character, the character has braids, they completed the assignment no?"
In response to those who said that Faye was just staying true to the characters in Avatar, one Twitter user wrote: "the actor who played Neytiri is black. And Jake’s avatar’s braids and hair texture are way more European than Neytiri… because the actor is white. She could have just braided her own European hair… like??"
Faye hasn't addressed the accusations yet.
Advert
Faye Winter's representatives have been contacted for comment.
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/Faye WinterTopics: Celebrity, Love Island, Style, Fashion, Halloween