Furthermore, inspiration of Beyonce's Drunk In Love lyric of watermelon was incorporated in the look of the model, which explains why watermelon was placed in the image. Neither John or Anna were actually present during the shoot, but the photographer at this time was responsible for organizing it. After the image was removed from the GLW sites, he was upset and issued his own statement along with the model, Coco Montrese.

After learning this, I had to still state how the act was careless. But even so, I couldn't help to notice an authentically earnest tone in his voice as he spoke to me. It also didn't dawned on me that there are different divisions that work for bigger companies. So the entire company as a whole doesn't always necessarily agree with every executive decision.

Assumption #2: Dollite and First Public Apology

Another accusation GLW got was segregating all of the black models to a different site from the others they already had up with the other models. The site was called Dollite which catered towards black women interested in natural colored wigs. Volunteer intern, Elizabeth Losoya, replied to those concerned on a Facebook thread, but understand that English is her second language. I will try to interpret certain points made in her response:
To reword some of this, she stated that they brighten the image of their skin to create a more dolly look. She also said the best way to market towards black women is to take away the kawaii aesthetic of the models.

The last point seems fair to my standards, and here is why.

Customer profiles for targeted demographics to any business is a commonly practiced marketing technique. Even your small businesses do this to ensure they are getting exposed to the right potential buyer of their product. This same method is taught in a lot of business and marketing courses at my university as well, that I have even taken. Are there generalizations made in this process? Of course. Is it effective in appealing to the majority of the demographic your company is trying to appeal to? Of course. Studies are made to learn more about what particular groups of people like and do not like so that businesses can learn more about who they are selling their products towards.

To put it simply, what I think Elizabeth was getting at was that there needed to be a site where black women in the market could see a mirror of themselves. Black women in everyday attire, make up and most importantly hair. As such, this calls for models that most accurately represented them in as opposed to the models seen on the other GLW sites.

Quite honestly, I can see why they thought of executing this idea. Not only is it efficient, but it is fair to the actual customers of the wigs displayed on these sites.

So let's think of the sheer quantity of black women who want natural hair colors with little to no interest in cosplay and kawaii fashions. Personally, I pictured a lot just now that it made my head hurt. Their needs would not be met on the sites of GLW, so the business would easily miss out on a large group of customers as a consequence. Having that said, it does to a large degree make sense when assessing who the customer is, what do they find most attractive and give it to them on an inviting site. Relating with their customer in other words. When I shop for naturally colored wigs, 80% of the time I search for them on women closest to my skin tone.

What GLW did here was make that process easier by providing a site for black women to see other black women wear wigs they wanted to buy. From that point of view, this seems like a harmless act that got thrown into the controversy with little inspection.

Assumption #3: Shadism and Second Public Apology

Let's talk about this one.

Claims of dark skinned women being lightened were said to be false by Reger during our phone call, as he informed me that they do not alter skin tones during any part of the photo editing process. The same can be said about how their MUA does the make up for all of the models in their studio. Mr. Harvey and James worked on my own personal shoots and neither of the two modified the appearance of my skin tone.

See for yourselves:

click to enlargen

For the last 23 years, I have woken up with the same skin every single day. So it'd be wise to trust me when I say that they kept the color of my skin in these photos as close to what it looked like on the day of this shoot.

In regards to Elizabeth's comment on brightening the skin, I feel differently. Based on my own personal experience with photography and videography, brightening the skin isn't always necessary under perfect lighting conditions. Fortunately, this was the case with my own photos after using their superb lighting set up in their studio. No lightening of my skin had to be done because my skin was already evenly well lit with the equipment that day.

If they did do this before, it's no longer being practiced by them now. I would hope they remain consistent on no longer practicing that as I know very well that shades of brown skin glows best when it is not washed out by overly exposing their pictures.

....again, if they did it in the first place.

Because we are capable of looking dolly without needing to adjust the levels of brightness. In fact, that is largely the point of why I took up the offer in being a spokesmodel for them. So I could prove to everyone that black girls are naturally just as kawaii as every other race is. I have always wanted to communicate that message through my online activities, and I am now also doing it through this company.

Since originally speaking with John, they released another newsletter you can view below to email subscribers:

Sent on May 22, 2015

If you received their emails during this time of the year, you can sort through your inbox to find this same one. John told me that their Facebook apology post received little attention which could be for a number of reasons. Typically, Facebook has funny way of highlighting posts that get the most engagement so even when they addressed this concern, only a fraction of their customers saw it.

In the newsletter, take notice how he left his cell phone number and email for concerned customers to reach him at. Knowing how busy he is to still do this shows to me that there is a level of authenticity with his statements. In these cases, I would expect businessmen to pass off this work to their PR managers to handle instead, but he responded differently. On the phone, he encouraged that I should tell all of my friends and followers to contact him directly to further talk about these problems.

Model Treatment Evaluation

Keep in mind that it has only been a few months since I started working with GLW as a model, so our current relationship could change. I will say this. From the moment I was introduced to John through the trip to their studio leading to today, I have been treated exceptionally well.

I was sent over 10 wigs to keep and use for their site's photos. When planning my trip to their studio for a photoshoot, Victoria and I were provided accommodation in The Westin Oaks Hotel at the Galleria for the entire day and night we were there.

Hotem room they paid for us to stay in

Victoria laying on the bed

There's even more. By the end of the day, I felt more than happy with all of what they did for us, but they still gave me payment for my work done as a model. Truly, they made me feel valued as a new addition to their team. Even speaking with them was comfortable because they knew how to make me and Victoria laugh! I'm usually timid and socially awkward especially around business people, but they opened up with us as we did with them. Ultimately, they made the entire trip enjoyable and stress free, and I knew that I welcomed into their brand.

Of course I cannot speak on behalf of the other models, but I personally am treated well.

Conclusion

In the moments I learned more about how NOT racist this company was, I realized I had fallen guilty of the online mob mentality that I hated so much. Unfortunately, mob mentality does not only exist in the physical world, but also in the virtual world. It's natural for a lot of us because of how we detach ourselves from our morals when engaging in online activity. However, we all know that bad habits aren’t an excuse to keep doing them. I forgot to check myself during the frenzy on my Facebook and Tumblr feeds during the time of the GLW controversy. I didn't stop to think about how the post came to be, who ran GLW and or most importantly where all of the allegations’ sources were coming.

I've seen it happen in the gyaru community and lolita community. Hatred for another entity brings people together in some sick way...but I have never been about that.

Had I never reached out to John after attending Anime Matsuri with the same close minded mentality I had, I wouldn't have learned so much about who they really are. Information like this only comes when you are open to hearing both sides of an event, not just naysayers.

Plastering Gothic Lolita Wigs as a racist company to me now no longer seems reasonable. It was a poor move on their end, yes, but they are certainly not racist. Racist companies are those like Limecrime with no shame attached. But the staff behind GLW are good people willing to learn from their mistakes and welcome a diverse representation of models and customers into their business.

If after reading all of this, you are still skeptical about anything I've shared, then you know where to reach John through his email or phone shared above. If you have further questions to ask me on anything I did not address in this post, let's have a discussion in the comments below about your thoughts.

Hopefully this cleared up any misinformation you all have received about GLW and also gives you the right idea about me working with them.

I sincerely love spreading positive messages of black women through any means possible in the Asian pop culture communities. Never would I support anyone who demeans us because I know how difficult it is having the unique interests we share on top of being in a minority group. So I understand why a lot of you questioned why I worked with them and do not blame you for being worried. But after all of my experiences with them thus far, my gut is telling me that I am in the right hands.

Seeing so many beautiful black girls and guys show off their looks inspires me to continue doing the same. Working as a spokesmodel for GLW gives me a chance to expand that message to an even bigger audience than my own. I do it for the dreamers like us. My intentions don't change with the promise of free items, money or status. But they do change for more of our voices to be heard. More of our faces to be recognized.





More of us to be seen as equal in every possible way.