You just love to see it!
Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ big winter update was the cause of much celebration in November, as the new hair options meant that some Black fans could more fully depict themselves in-game. But what was meant to be an inclusive addition to the life simulator has turned contentious, especially as non-Black fans have started to appropriate and whitewash the hair options.
The issue came to a head when an Animal Crossing player on social media made the mistake of calling the new puffs “space buns,” a cutesy moniker used to describe hair styles popularized by stars like Ariana Grande. While that post may be the most-discussed instance of the controversy, discussions about whether or not non-Black players could don the new hairstyles — or if they were exclusively Black hairstyles at all — started promptly after Nintendo revealed they existed in the first place. Now that the hair is widely available, the conversation has largely focused on what the new options truly are, and what fans should call it.
This apparent confusion over the hairstyles has prompted some fans to explain that while the puffs may look like buns, if you zoom in, you’ll note that the new dos are textured differently than the standard options. Some went even further, noting that Animal Crossing has actually already depicted something like space buns in games like Pocket Camp, and they do not look like the new puffs in New Horizons.
