Swedish Girl's Makeup Habit Prompts Racial Appropriation Claims

Emma Hallberg

Swedish Instagram Model Insists She’s Not Pretending to Be Black

In a trend that is not new or surprising, white women seem to be adopting the features of black women on social media in their quest to develop themselves as models and influencers. The most recent iteration of this is Swedish Instagram model Emma Hallberg, who shocked some of her followers when they realized she was white.

Earlier this week, a 19-year-old woman named Deja tweeted a screenshot of Hallberg’s page, along with a screenshot of a DM from a follower informing her that the model was not, in fact, black, with the succinct caption “PARDON????” “Finding out Emma was white was so shocking due to the fact that this girl has done everything to look the part of a mixed black girl,” Deja told the Cut via email.

Honestly, I can't figure out what she looks like racially. To me, she appears to have crossed into "uncanny valley" territory.

“I genuinely believed this girl was Afro-Latina,” she continued. “She had been mimicking black features and getting famous for it. She has been darkening her skin several tones deeper than her natural shade, braiding her hair to make it look similar to mixed people’s curl pattern, and even been featured on Instagram accounts made for black hair styles and spotlighting black women. The sad part is she really fooled everyone into believing she was a mixed girl.”

 Even that makeup doesn't appear to be as dark as she seems to be in most of her photos, and it's pretty clear that underneath, she's pretty pale. I can't imagine any sun gets through there, let alone the weak Swedish sun.

Hallberg, for her part, has denied trying to intentionally look black; one Twitter user posted what appears to be a DM conversation with the influencer, in which she wrote, “I’m white and I never claimed to be anything else… I’m NOT ‘posing’ as a colored person as you claim.”

Hallberg reiterated those statements in a recent interview with Buzzfeed, saying that she never “claimed or tried to be black or anything else.”

“I do not see myself as anything else than white,” she added. “I get a deep tan naturally from the sun.”

 Smile a little! It would make you look more human. Of course, the pancake might crack.

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