Racist keywords - Help needed from IMDb staff

Thank you.

I really wish you would also take care of the keywords "almond-eyes" and "almond-shaped-eyes." These keywords are racist at worst, and insensitive and lazy at best.

The keyword "almond-eyes" is being used for only one reason: to describe actors of Asian descent. I have yet to find a single title where "almond-eyes" is a legitimate plot point. And yet, the whole point of keywords is that they are supposed to be "plot keywords." Unless a character specifically discusses  "almond-shaped-eyes" as a meaningful part of the story, there is simply no reason to use this keyword.  (And again, I know of no such movie or show.)

Here are some discussions of why the phrase "almond-eyes" should be avoided. Like one of the authors says, "[a]s a general rule, if you're describing parts of someone's body with food words, that's potentially a problem."

I also recommend this excerpt, from the first article linked below:

By clearly marking a character’s eyes as almond-shaped, the implication is that “normal” eyes are not.

When have you seen a white character described by the shape of their eyes?

The Problem with “Almond Shaped Eyes” – Casey Blair (wordpress.com)

SeeLight: Almond Eyes (typepad.com)

Why Do We Describe Asian Eyes As 'Almond-Shaped'? : Code Switch : NPR

Is the term 'almond eyes' culturally insensitive or is it a legitimate way of describing an eye shape? - Quora

Writing With Color — Describing Asian Eyes (tumblr.com)

I have submitted deletions of the offensive "almond-eyes" and "almond-shaped-eyes" keywords, and these deletions have been accepted, but they keep reappearing, usually on Japanese and Korean titles that may come from just one or two other contributors. Please, banish these keywords permanently.  Thank you.

The same thing has happened to me regarding "almond-eyes"--I delete the keywords and they come right back.

I agree with you that it is one or two users responsible for the vast majority of the "almond-shaped-eyes" and "almond-eyes" keywords.

And this is the same troll(s) who add the subjective sexist keywords like "creamy-legs"/"legs-to-die-for"/"doable"/"nature's-gift-to-man" etc.  Like you, I have complained about those keywords, but nothing has happened yet. 

@Michelle Will you please delete "almond-eyes" and "almond-shaped-eyes" as well? I explain why that should happen here. 

Yesterday, I had "cleaned up" both "almond-eyes" and "almond-shaped-eyes," with zero titles each. Today, "almond-eyes" lists 75 titles and "almond-shaped-eyes"  lists 53 titles!

Why can't the staff do something about this?

These bad keywords are not only racist, but also demeaning and offensive.

As to the equally reprehensible sexist keywords, are they the work of some horny teenager or a supposed adult with arrested development?

And now, "almond-eyes" is up to 128 titles. And many of them are different titles than before. 

At this point, it should be abundantly clear to everyone that "almond-eyes" and "almond-shaped-eyes" are the abusive work of a troll. 

@Michelle will these two offensive keywords be deleted?

@Michelle I'm not sure if you are still paying attention to this thread. Hopefully so, because the racist keyword troll is still at it.

After you banned "chinawoman" and "oriental-woman," he created two new keywords in an attempt to evade these bans: "china-woman" and "asiatic-woman."

He also keeps mass spamming the racist keywords "almond-eyes" and "almond-shaped-eyes" each and every time they are deleted. Just a few hours ago there were zero titles with these keywords, but now there are (once again) 127 titles with the keyword "almond-eyes."  I believe he may be using bot software to repeatedly add these keywords.

Finally, the keyword "reference-to-ali-metallian-ghaemi" seems to be related to this troll and his keyword spamming.

In conclusion, can you please ban the following keywords?

almond-eyes
almond-shaped-eyes 

asiatic-woman (should be merged into asian-woman)

china-woman 

Thank you in advance for taking care of this.

@Michelle @bradley_kent Based on the patterns that we are now seeing with the keywords "almond-eyes" and "almond-shaped-eyes," I believe the person who has been mass applying these two keywords on a daily basis for the past week is a different troll from the one who added these keywords in the first place.

It seems as if the new troll is mass applying these keywords using some kind of botting software to add the "almond-eyes" keyword to the same exact 128 titles. Once every 24 hours, the software checks for any titles from which the keyword has been deleted, and then quickly adds the keyword back. The process is not entirely automated, but there is a definite pattern where the keyword is mass-applied on a 24-hour basis. We saw the same exact behavior with the "anti-trump-film" keyword for more than a year, until IMDb staff finally banned that keyword about a month ago because of abuse. 

My best theory as to what is going on is the "anti-trump" troll is reading this message thread on sprinklr, and decided to troll all of us with the "almond-eyes" keyword. The troll seems to be set up for only using the botting software on a single keyword at a time. Previously it was "anti-trump-film," and now it is "almond-eyes." Meanwhile the troll does a little bit of manual trolling with other keywords like "almond-shaped-eyes," "asiatic-woman," and "china-woman," just to give the trolling that extra added human touch.

There are other reasons why I believe this is a new (different) troll now pushing these keywords, but I won't get them into them publicly, as I believe the troll is reading this thread and I don't wish to educate him.

@Michelle is the abuse enough to permanently ban these keywords, like the other keywords discussed? 

almond-eyes
almond-shaped-eyes 

asiatic-woman (should be merged into asian-woman)

china-woman 

This really does need a keyword ban by IMDb staff to fix this problem. Otherwise, the troll is having a good laugh at all of us for engaging in the Sisyphean task of deleting these keywords each and every day.

Just a few hours ago the number of titles with the "almond-eyes" keyword was up to 160 titles. I noticed that the troll combined the 128 titles with another 32 titles that had been previously been assigned this keyword a few days ago.

The 160 titles appear to be a specific list that the troll is using to repeat the mass keyword spamming, which is another characteristic of the "anti-trump-film" trolling.

I predict that if IMDb staff do not ban the "almond-eyes" keyword, the mass spamming abuse will be repeated literally on a daily basis (any time the keyword is deleted from any titles). That is already happening for the past several days. If action is not taken, the same phenomenon could last indefinitely. (We already saw it last for a year and a half with the "anti-trump-film" keyword.)

It also appears that the "anti-trump" troll has latched onto the "chubster" keyword (which was originally created by a different troll), as a further means of abusive trolling.

To summarize, here is the list of keywords that need to be permabanned:

almond-eyes
almond-shaped-eyes 

asiatic-woman (should be merged into asian-woman)

china-woman 
chubster 

And now, here we are, 24 hours later, and just like clockwork, the keyword "almond-eyes" has been applied again on the ~160 titles. This is very obviously a mechanized process that takes place once per day. 

The only way to truly resolve this issue is to permaban the "almond-eyes" keyword. If IMDb staff won't ban it for the blatant racism, then ban it for the abuse. 

@bradley_kent

It has been quite a while since we have heard from @Michelle in this thread.

In your experience, will IMDb staff even see this thread now that they have marked it as solved? I have tagged @Michelle several times but that has not prompted any response from her yet.

Hold the phone! Eugenics is neither necessarily unscientific nor necessarily racially-biased. Why even bring it up?

@jeorj_euler

Eugenics is pseudoscience and heavily racially biased. It has been used for ethnic cleansing and was the basis of the Holocaust. You may want to rethink trying to defend it as science-based and racially-neutral.  

I've nothing to rethink that I haven't already. Eugenics is a process of selective breeding applied to homo sapiens sapiens. That's neither science nor pseudoscience. Eugenics is not a belief system, as disingenuous propagandists would make it out to be. The question of how to implement it efficiently is a question of science and ethics, with the matters of taste invariably factoring into it. I'm aware of pseudoscientific basis of some of Josef Mengele's numerous curiosities. That is of absolutely no concern to me as of this time.

The continual adding and deleting, adding and deleting of racist keywords has reached the point of absurdity.  The IMDb staff must act.

You should try mixing apple juice and orange juice together.  It's very tasty!  Binary thinking -- either/or, this/that, male/female --  is over simplistic and very limiting.  Open up to the world.  There are all kinds of realities.

@Michelle Thank you so much.  You have renewed my faith in IMDb.

Thank you, @Michelle.

These abusive/trolling keywords should be removed from the site as well:

asiatic-woman (should be merged into asian-woman)

china-woman 
chubster 
thunder-thighs 

All four of those keywords serve no good purpose, and are only being used for trolling and abuse.