Again and again I realize, Mattel and other brands profit off of antiblackness and the likeness of blackness at the same time. I noticed how in the monster high livestream, they were using the fang vote Catty for diversity points. I'm not saying monster high isn't diverse, but sometimes the brand is so performative. I'm tired of them spamming the word "diversity" for a brand based around monsters at the end of the day. As much as I love many things abt monster high, it's actually very dehumanizing to use monsters to rep marginalized ppl and contrast them with normies being humans. I'm not completely bashing the artistry behind the brand either. Of course I enjoy and appreciate parts of all the characters' designs. I have related to multiple characters despite the issues. I really like Catty, but she shouldn't be the only black character with a darker complexion bc that basically equates ppl with darker skin to animals with essentially black fur. It's kinda like when ppl perpetuate Shadow the hedgehog as a "dark skinned dreadhead" stereotype. I love a black coded mythical being, but like not in a way that dehumanizes black people. Also, most black characters in the recent monster high series either have minimal melanin (i.e. the entire Wolf family) or none at all (Venus and Phoenix). Catty Noir is kinda an exception but she's literally a black cat and she has long, straight hair. Headmistress Bloodgood, while being a nice character that actually has black hair, is boxed into the black caregiver trope. In contrast to the entire Wolf family of wolf-girls and a human dad, Clawd is the only one allowed to have more afro-centric features, particularly when he's in his werewolf form, which is just extra dehumanizing bc racists frequently depict blackness as hypermasc dog caricatures. Because of this stereotype, I have very mixed feelings abt how every gen of monster high has a big issue of making their main reoccurring black characters werewolves.
It's disturbing how social media and corporations keep trying to create "diversity" with as little blackness as possible. Colorism is so normalized ppl just don't see anything wrong with it and get irritated when black ppl bring it up. If you really care abt representation and diversity, you should be aware of colorism erm the helly lol??? Also, I've never felt comfortable discussing how antiblackness in monster high contributes to why black people are excluded from disabled and noncishet representation. Twyla being a positive autistic character or Frankie being nonbinary, queer, and having a prosthetic, while Clawdeen isn't really treated like a main character she is and Howleen is introduced as a brief antagonist (who hasn't gotten a single g3 doll btw). Fans see this happen and say we should just be grateful for what we can get. We, as in black ppl, are generally expected to accommodate without any reciprocation. That's part of why I'll always have mixed feelings abt monster high. The franchise boasts abt diversity, but it's very conditional. Nonblackness is overrepresented. There's no quick fix to the racism either. It's racist to characterize black characters as canine monsters (Wolf Family) and racist to whitewash black characters (g3 monster high). It's both bigoted to write a story that characterizes marginalized ppl as monsters and to treat certain marginalized characters (transwomen, "fat" ppl, dark skinned black ppl with tight coily natural hair) as more of an afterthought in the story. It's also racist for an old white-ass brand like Mattel to profit off the likeness of black ppl. Ofc this is why the monster high fandom is so important to me. I mean I feel like everyday I find monster high fans doing much cooler shit than Mattel frl lol. Black monster high fans genuinely deserve better.
