A shirtless photo posted by Aquaman star Jason Momoa to his Instagram has sparked a debate over racism after several Twitter users take issue with the oversexualized reception of his attire.
Recommended VideosMomoa, 43, was seen wearing nothing but a loincloth earlier this week as he and a few friends embarked on a fishing adventure. In one video, Momoa can be seen leaning over the side of a boat with a fishing rod in his hand, but it wasn’t the sapphire blue ocean or the fish that caught the public’s eye. Because of the loincloth he wore, Momoa’s entire backside was exposed, including the place where the sun doesn’t normally shine, and admirers of Momoa’s spared no salivary glands drooling over his fit physique.
Now, those who found Momoa’s attire attractive are being called out for implicit racism, with fellow indigenous people taking issue with the way his loincloths, a traditional indigenous custom — and by extension Momoa’s body — is being interpreted as sexual.
I'm gonna say it: The hysteria over the Jason Momoa fishing pics is laced with racism. The hyper- and over-sexualization of Native Hawaiians, including Hawaiian men, are for real and harmful. The way some write-ups be like "I don't know what he's wearing, but I don't care." Ugh.
— Keʻōpū Reelitz, J.D. (@keopu) October 25, 2022No that’s white.
We didn’t wear clothes until the colonizers came. Sexualization of the naked body is colonized and also still affects Hawaiians today in very harmful ways.
— anuhea (@AnuheaNihipali) October 25, 2022Because every argument has two sides, those who are being called racist clearly disagree with the accusations. That being said, the conversation has yet to reach a level of sophistication. Most rebuttals err on the side of sarcasm.
Sending this to my wife so she understands how problematic it is to find Jason Momoa hot. I love to educate and wish she would stop finding him hot. pic.twitter.com/YWYehHL3Pq
— waka flocka lame (@LemmeAskMyWife) October 26, 2022If you are into this big juicy ass and a gorgeous male form you are racist. Stop imagining gripping that man bun between your thighs. Please do not consider those legs flexing against your own. Please do not be so racially insensitive as to wonder what it would be like to be held pic.twitter.com/S1CxrRn7XT
— 🎃Jhack Nicholson (the guy from The Shining) (@WhackNicholson) October 26, 2022that Jason Momoa thing is so illogical. nobody is fetishizing him being Hawaiian or Hawaiian features or Hawaiian people in general like has that word lost meaning hello? he just has a big fat butt and thighs like shut upppppoo
— 🐌 Min Thayza 🎃 (@sketchy_as_fork) October 26, 2022I saw someone being like "you're only sexualizing him because he's wearing a traditional garment". I'm sorry I met Jason Momoa while he was wearing a pink shirt, a farmer's hat, shorts, and flip-flops and still mentally sexualized him lol. It's just bc he's attractive.
— big money salvia (@kahtrinuh) October 26, 2022A handful of comments attempt to dissect the issue, but for the most part are torn on which side of the argument to belong to, wishing instead that everyone would just “let a man fish,” as one Twitter user put it.
I have a lot of conflicting feelings about the whole “fetishizing indigenous cultures” Jason Momoa tweet as a masculine person whose cultures share similar aesthetics to Momoa’s own, so all I’m gonna say is, “Damn, can y’all just let a man fish?”
— Gabriel Silva 🌶🌶🌶 (@Kaxbeokay) October 26, 2022Momoa himself has yet to weigh in on the matter. The day after his initial post went viral he took part in a bone marrow drive in partnership with Be The Match, according to his Instagram, seemingly oblivious to the adoration he received in response to his loincloth. As someone accustomed to such reception, mum was the word on the topic of his bum, but whether that’ll change now that people are discussing racism and bringing up his Hawaiian roots is yet to be seen.
The intention may have been to simply enjoy a “Sunday Funday” as Momoa put it, but when you’re one of Hollywood’s biggest stars with one of DCUs most anticipated films on the horizon, even the smallest things make the largest splash.
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