And when are we going to start calling her out?
Gala Darling likes to sign her posts, “love letters and feather headdresses”, fully cashing in on this bullshit hipsters in headdresses trend that has become much maligned.
Here is a post on my pal garconniere’s tumblr, where she quotes one comment I made on one of Gala’s posts in February, asking her to rethink that tagline.
For the record, here is Gala’s initial response:
So many things I love are from cultures foreign to my own (hip hop, Indian music, Buddhist concepts, etc.), should I ignore those things because I’m a white girl from New Zealand? My life would be much less fabulous if I did! I absolutely believe that culture is something to be shared, delighted in, learned about & cherished…
Gala · Feb 28, 03:29 PM
See, if Gala wasn’t allowed to appropriate other cultures, her life would be less sparkly! And since Gala’s livelihood is based on women wanting to read about her sparkly life, well… she is gonna keep appropriating because hey, it (indirectly, I admit) makes her some cash. On fashion blogs, fabulousity = remuneration, and we shouldn’t forget it.
Today, Gala has released a new chapter of her book. Folks can buy installments (which she is selling here) or subscribe annually. She describes this installment as
whizzing around our heads right now, landing with a splash in the inboxes of international playgirls, glamorous savages & doll-faced geniuses all over the world!
(emphasis mine).
For fucking real. Glamourous savages.
Are we gonna boycott her or what?
I was talking to a friend online who has a blog but who has been told by bigger more established bloggers not to take on Gala because she is part of the blogging establishment or whatever. If Gala likes you, she will tell other people about you. Don’t say shit about Gala Darling. She’s so… darling! She gets so much internet exposure.
Well, I am not internet famous, and I don’t particularly aspire to be internet popular. So I am just going to say this, and I hope you will say it with me: not seriously considering your white privilege when you are repeatedly called on it, and calculatedly using cultural appropriation to make yourself seem marketable and “glamourous” is racism. And deleting comments that call you out on this behaviour is unsurprising, but equally shitty behaviour.
Here is the (admittedly frustrated) comment I left on Gala’s post:
Glamourous savages?
Really gala? I know I only comment when I am asking you to stop being a cultural appropriator, but it is racist, when you say that stuff. Racist.
iris · May 29, 08:17 PM · #
She deleted it, of course, but I have the screencap to prove it.
Ok I tried calling her out once for being fatphobic and it went down like a [heavy thing] in a [fluid medium].
I am on board! She has a track record of deleting comments that challenge problematic things she’s written, and that really bothers me. She has many readers and it’d be nice if she actually owned this appropriation issue :(
I was hoping that after Threadbared posted about headdresses Gala would find a new cutesy thing to sign off with, but she’s still doing it!!