A blogger in Ireland has written an open letter to Irish men demanding they stop “fetishising” her race.
Filomena Kaguako from Drogheda, Co. Louth, joined dating site Plenty of Fish to meet someone new – but instead had to delete the app after a number of men commented on her race within five minutes of speaking to her.
The 27-year-old claims that the men “unjustly exotified” her body because she is black, which they viewed as a “new” experience.
The blogger says many Irish men “fetishise” black women because interracial relationships are relatively uncommon in Ireland.
She said she hopes that her open letter will help change attitudes towards black women in the Emerald Isle.
“Dear Irishmen, there’s more to us than our colour. There’s more to us than our looks," she wrote.
“There’s more to us than the body that you have unjustly exotified because you refuse to look at what we can offer you intellectually.
“I have been in Ireland for 18 years and I’ve been trying to find men who don’t look at me and just see the fact I’m black.
"I want them to look at me as a whole person. I’ve noticed that Irish men fetishise black women. I think this is because in Ireland interracial relationships aren’t as common as other places.
Ms Kaguako said that in other cities such as London and New York, it’s much more common to see people of different races in relationships.
She added that black women in Ireland shouldn’t just be a “something to tick off the bucket list.”
“Dear Irishman, the next time you set your green eyes on me, remember this… There’s more to me than my colour,” she said.
“You don’t make us feel unique. You make us feel like an object that you will eventually get bored of and toss out after having derived maximum pleasure from us.”
