So many white babies...

All About Nameberry
1

It’s no secret that Nameberry has a problem with a lack of diversity. I had some free time, and decided to make my point by SHOWING what the issue is. This has been brought to your attention numerous times, and each time you say you will try harder, and maybe you do, for a couple of days, but you can do so much better.

The last time the lack of diversity on this website was brought to your attention (that I could find) was [name_u]August[/name_u] 7. Here

Let’s take a look and see how it’s gone.

On the main page of the website there are 7 photos of children. Of those 7, 100% of them are white. One of them doesn’t count, because I’m assuming it’s a photo of the family in the blog, so 6 out of 7 could have been a child from any race, and you chose white.

The babies on the list/name of the day:

cool user list:
white

girls’ name of the day:
white

list of the day:
white

unusual name of the day:
white

boys’ name of the day:
white

today’s most popular names:
white

Are you seeing a trend?

Forums:

baby names:
white

girl baby names:
white

boy baby names:
white

talk about baby names:
white

momberries:
hard to tell, looks white

sibling names:
brown!

baby name games:
white

celebrity baby names:
white

everything but names:
white

baby announcements:
white

Now let’s look at the blog photos, and see how it’s gone for the last two months.

Not counting photos that are relevant to the blog itself, there were 17 photos in [name_f]September[/name_f] that could have been a photo of any child in the world. Of those 17: 11 are white, 2 are white dolls, 1 is a drawing of white children, 1 is a clip art image of several children (they’re not all white!), and 2 photos are of children of color. Of the two that weren’t white children, one of them was a blog entry on Buddhism-Inspired names, which leaves one image that could have been a picture of anything or anyone and a child of color was picked.

[name_m]How[/name_m] about [name_u]August[/name_u]? Better, and shows that the request in the beginning of [name_u]August[/name_u] did help. Of the 16 blog entries that could have been a photo of anything/one, 8 were photos of white children, 1 was a drawing of white children, 1 was a white doll, 1 was a photo of lots of babies (two children of color), and 5 were photos of children of color, including [name_f]Willow[/name_f] [name_m]Smith[/name_m] in the O names blog entry.

We can do better! So do better. [name_m]Don[/name_m]'t try, [name_f]DO[/name_f].

2

I don’t get why this such big deal. I barely noticed. And for the record, I m mixed race, having one black parent and one white parent. My y skin is brown. It doesn’t bother me that there are mostly white babies on here, it’s not like they’re implying anything about other colored people. am I the only one not bothered by y this?

I just personally think there are more important things to work on than the photos used

3

[name_f]Theodora[/name_f], I’d certainly never tell you how you should or shouldn’t feel about something, but I’d also hope you respect other viewpoints and understand that just because it’s no big deal to you doesn’t mean it isn’t a big deal. It’s a big deal to me, and it’s a big deal to a great many people in the world. It makes me very sad to think we live in a world where this is so normal, people think it’s no biggie.

It’s important to honor diversity because the world is made up of many different people, and those differences should be celebrated. We should never ignore a problem because some people say it’s no big deal. There have been myriad studies done on the topic, and all studies conclude that it is harmful to everyone, to the whole of society when we refuse to acknowledge race issues.

I don’t think [name_f]Pam[/name_f] or [name_f]Linda[/name_f] or whoever chooses the photos is trying to imply anything at all. I think it’s unintentional, and they’re going to have to make an intentional effort to change if that’s what they choose to do. I know how difficult it is to find good stock images of people of color. I’m an artist, and always looking for good stock images, so I’m well aware. They’re out there, but there are so many stock images of white people that it’s easier to just pick the photo of the white person. I get that.

One of the stock images that used a white child was for a blog on steampunk names, and I imagine finding a white child in steampunk gear was a lot easier to find; the photo wasn’t picked because the little girl was white, it was picked because it fit the theme and why keep looking if you already found a photo, right? Sure, fine, as long as all the other times when all you need is a picture of a cute baby, you pick a photo of a cute baby of color. It’s only noticeable when almost all of the cute baby photos as well as all of the themed photos are white children.

I talked this over with my SO tonight and he suggested changing some of the static stock photos, the images used in the forums or the lists/names of the day. I think that’s a fantastic and easily done answer to the problem. You only have to find a photo once with those, since they never change.

[name_f]Pam[/name_f], [name_f]Linda[/name_f], whoever is in charge, I hope I’m not coming off confrontational. I’ve just noticed over the years that it’s been brought to your attention, or people have brought the issue up here and there, and it hasn’t received the response it should have received.

I believe every single person on this planet is responsible for making the world a better place. The big stuff is overwhelming, and we can often feel powerless to make any change, which is why the little stuff (like photos on a website about names) that is in our power is so important. It empowers us, and sometimes the ripples in the world are even more important than the Big [name_f]Deal[/name_f] Things. Always, always try to do better, to make the world better.

4

I’m as white as anyone could possibly be, and it’s a big deal to me too. Because I believe it subtley (or not so subtley) reinforces the idea that white is the ‘default’ and anything that is not white is unusual - minorities always tend to stand out more in society because they are more unusual, whatever sort of minority that might be.

It is very, very easy for a lot of white people in the Western world to ignore racial minorities because so much in our society and culture really helps us to do so, and if people don’t make a conscious effort to get a clue, it’s the simplest thing in the world to internalise all kinds of things which ultimately skew the way we see reality. Which probably won’t make you (by ‘you’ I mean myself, and other white people) a bad person, but it does make you blind to your own privilege and accept things as ‘natural’ or ‘normal’ which are actually not natural or normal at all. White = default is the path of least resistance, which is a problem. I have a lot of internalised rubbish from growing up white and privileged, some of which I have later been able to identify and counter in myself, I do my best but privilege is very often invisible to those who have it - you don’t even notice a lot of things until someone points it out to you. We all still need to be constantly challenged on these issues so we can keep improving.

This is a very small thing that can be done to help people realise that there is no default colour. It’s not the biggest deal in the world, no, but it’s a great point and improving on this matter would do good, and also do no harm, so there’s absolutely no reason not to do it!

5

I couldn’t agree with you more! Also, I’d love to see more blogs on cultures, rather than the same few topics regurgitated over and over in different formats. There’s only so many times in a year I can be asked about my guilty pleasure names, or my favourite vintage choices.

6

I’m white. But other races exist, so they should have representation. It’s not a political statement to have pictures of babies that aren’t white, it’s just a simple acknowledgement that other races exist, and that they are welcome here on Nameberry.

So yeah, I think more diversity in the pictures can only be a good thing for everyone.

7

This has been brought up at least twice, and I wholeheartedly agree that we need to see more babies of color on Nameberry. White babies are not the only babies in need of names. The lack of babies of color in combination with the sad lack of posts on names from non-European sources does give this site vaguely racist undertones, and I am sure that Pam and Linda are not racists. I’m confident that our name experts are capable of putting in the time and research to bring us thorough and accurate information on names from cultures outside of North America (where are all of the Native American names?) and Europe. It’s just as easy to find stock photos of people of color as it is to find stock photos of white people.

8

Great post, I totally agree

9

No response from the [name_m]Powers[/name_m] That Be?

10

Bless this thread, @redwoodfey. I simply couldn’t agree more and I personally think it is quite upsetting that nothing has been done to diversify the images even after [name_f]Linda[/name_f] and [name_f]Pam[/name_f] have been notified of this (but I am honestly quite puzzled as to why the vast majority of the stock images are of white babies to begin with). I hope something will be done about this as soon as possible.

11

I agree completely. I also think, [name_f]Fey[/name_f], it would be best to email [name_f]Pam[/name_f] directly at pam@nameberry.com You’re more likely to get something done that way.

12

Want me to forward the thread? Sorry, I usually do it when I catch threads I think they should see but I’ve been super busy lately.

13

Thank you for this thread, @redwoodfey! Hoping some action will be finally taken.

14

[name_m]Hi[/name_m] everyone, We are aware, we do agree, we are trying. Yes, there is a huge problem with stock images being heavily skewed toward white babies. You’ll notice that the images of List of the [name_u]Day[/name_u], Name of the [name_u]Day[/name_u] etc all have a similar feel and look; I was not able to find something in the theme picturing a non-white baby but I will try again. If anyone would like to do some photo research and send us links to photos for sale or photographers with appropriate work featuring diverse babies, we would love to see that.

As you know, the forums are vast. It can be easier to get a direct response to email us at pam@nameberry.com or linda@nameberry.com. We are conscious of and frustrated about this issue too and would love to find more and better sources for photos of diverse babies, so all specific suggestions welcome.

15

Back again. I’ve just been on one of our favorite stock photo sites and have found a lot of cute new images. So look for some positive changes very soon.

16

Thank you! I can’t wait to see the new little ones. :stuck_out_tongue:

17

Awesome! I’m excited to see all the cuties. :slight_smile: I’ll keep you guys in mind when I’m looking for stock photos.

18

[name_f]Pam[/name_f], you rock!! I just wanted to tell you how happy I was when I logged in and saw all the new pictures. I love it. [name_u]Love[/name_u] it! Thank you so much for being the sort of people who listen to your audience. It’s very much appreciated. Thank you! I actually cheered when I saw the pictures, and my SO came running over to see what had me so excited. :smiley:

19

The new photos look great! Well done!

20

I’m loving the changes, too. Awesome pictures! Thank you so much, [name_f]Pam[/name_f]!