Kiowa
Well-Known Member
I was in Trader Joe's...I literally had just got my braids done that morning, they were all the way down to my butt. But on top of that, my head was still a bit tender.I heard a little girl behind me saying "Mommy, Look...", next thing I know I felt tugging on my braids. Looked down, and little old yt child had grabbed handfuls of braids, rubbing her face all, in them....and all the stuff she had been eating, was now smeared in my newly done braids..
Creator Momo Pixel designed the game after she was tired of people making unwanted touches of her hair. And other black women are squally tired of undesired touching, which is why the game, released on Wednesday, has gone viral. Pixel is an art director and pixel designer for Wieden+Kennedy in Portland. Her boss tried to imagine what she and other black women experience when people touch their hair without warning.
Pixel says she wants people to know "how much of an invasion of privacy and personal space this is." She admits that she made the game difficult because she wanted to create a sense of anxiety, since that's what a "hair nah" moment induces.
One of the worst memories she has of a "hair nah" moment was when she was checking out at a grocery store. The cashier reached over the conveyor belt and grabbed her braids. This ironically happened during the time she was designing the game.
"It felt like getting molested, because she was caressing them," Pixel said. "Even thinking about it now, I just want to throw up. I was uncomfortable."
Gamers are taken on a journey in this game. Literally. There's a choice of going to Osaka, Japan; Havana, Cuba or the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, California. You can even craft your own black woman avatar, choosing the skin color and hair style, so you're truly in character for this experience.
It's a conversation that keeps happening, although black women have repeatedly said, "Don't touch my hair." The message has been relayed in the news, in entertainment media and now in video games. Pixel says the message needed to be shared once again "so we don't have to keep having this conversation."
When players enter the video game's website, there's already a black hand swating away a hair toucher's hand.
She remembers trying to explain this phenomenon to her boss, who's white.
Creator Momo Pixel designed the game after she was tired of people making unwanted touches of her hair. And other black women are squally tired of undesired touching, which is why the game, released on Wednesday, has gone viral. Pixel is an art director and pixel designer for Wieden+Kennedy in Portland. Her boss tried to imagine what she and other black women experience when people touch their hair without warning.
Pixel says she wants people to know "how much of an invasion of privacy and personal space this is." She admits that she made the game difficult because she wanted to create a sense of anxiety, since that's what a "hair nah" moment induces.
One of the worst memories she has of a "hair nah" moment was when she was checking out at a grocery store. The cashier reached over the conveyor belt and grabbed her braids. This ironically happened during the time she was designing the game.
"It felt like getting molested, because she was caressing them," Pixel said. "Even thinking about it now, I just want to throw up. I was uncomfortable."
Gamers are taken on a journey in this game. Literally. There's a choice of going to Osaka, Japan; Havana, Cuba or the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, California. You can even craft your own black woman avatar, choosing the skin color and hair style, so you're truly in character for this experience.
It's a conversation that keeps happening, although black women have repeatedly said, "Don't touch my hair." The message has been relayed in the news, in entertainment media and now in video games. Pixel says the message needed to be shared once again "so we don't have to keep having this conversation."
When players enter the video game's website, there's already a black hand swating away a hair toucher's hand.
She remembers trying to explain this phenomenon to her boss, who's white.
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