We sometimes hear people referred to by their ethnic background, and this can lead to some confusion on occasion. It happened recently when Anna Taylor-Joy was given an award.
Taylor-Joy was an actress who appeared in films, including The Super Mario Brothers Movie and The Menu. She also played Beth Harmon in The Queens Gambit. When she was given an award, she was referred to as a ‘woman of color’.
It occurred when she received a Golden Globe for her role in a Netflix drama and people were confused by what they heard. Since it referred to as a ‘woman of color’ many were puzzled.
It happened in 2021, when Taylor-Joy got the Golden Globe award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film. She had played a role in The Queen’s Gambit.
The publication statement read originally: “Argentinian Taylor-Joy is the first woman of color to win this category since Queen Latifah in 2008 and only the fifth woman of color to win overall since 1982 when the category was introduced.”
It ended up on twitter, with one commenter saying: “I love her as an actress but THIS article has her listed as the FIRST WOMAN OF COLOR to win in this category and I legit give up.”
It wasn’t long before many others started to comment on this as well. This included comments that being Latin American is not an ethnicity, it is a reference to a geographical area. Someone else reminded us that being Latina and being a woman of color is not always the same thing.
There is now an update on the website, which reads: “UPDATED: This story has been updated. A previous version identified Anya Taylor-Joy as a person of color. She has said she identifies as a white Latina.”
Taylor-Joy has a Scottish-Argentine father. She was born in Miami, Florida.
In an interview, she spoke about her childhood and said she doesn’t want to take roles away from Latina actresses. She said: “I’m aware of the fact I don’t look like a typical Latin person, and that’s not fair.
“I don’t want to be someone that you can just sub in for that role when I’m really white and blonde.”