It looks like Kylie Jenner is taking a page from the playbook of her sisterKendall and using cultural appropriation to sell one of her products.
Jenner recently dropped some new beauty merchandise in her Kylie Cosmetics line, including four shades of lip gloss. She decided to name one of the shades Besitos. It’s described on her website as “sheer watermelon pink.”
Plenty of social media users took to their platforms of choice to voice their frustration with Jenner using a Spanish word like “besitos” to sell her makeup. TikTok user Jackie M, best known online as @gordacorajuda, spoke about why Jenner’s business decisions weren’t sitting well with her.
“Nobody cared about our culture, our identities, our languages until it became ‘trendy,’” Jackie said. “Like Bad Bunny says, ‘Ahora todos quieren ser Latinos.’” Jackie was referring to Bad Bunny’s song “El Apagón” from his 2022 album Un Verano Sin Ti.
She continues: “And it’s not because they generally want to learn about our identities and our cultures. It’s because they see it as a trend. We are ‘trending’ to them right now. And, so, then you have people like the Kardashian-Jenners who want to cash in on the trend. And that’s what we’re annoyed about.”
Other social media users, besides the ones saying she was “cosplaying as a Latina,” took offense to “Besitos,” too. “Hearing Kylie Jenner saying besitos is so cringe,” tweeted @_earthxangel.
Twitter user @KahtiaOO wrote that, “The Latinos are tearing Kylie Jenners a** on TikTok for naming a lip color ‘besitos’ and I’m here for it.”
Jenner has every right to name her lip gloss whatever she wants, but no one should be shocked if Latines point out how phony it comes across. Like her sister Kendall has already done, the internet feels like Kylie Jenner has taken something from a marginalized group, tossed it in a pretty package and claimed it as her own.
What’s next – tres leches-flavored lipstick?