ABSTRACT 
This paper aims to discuss the idea of transracial identities, particularly the Race Change to Another (RCTA) Community that has emerged on TikTok, and how it is harmful to the races that are being targeted. While there is a limited number of studies focused on the RCTA community on Tiktok, I will be using research on social media, transracial identities, and cultural appropriation to formulate this paper, highlighting why the RCTA community is problematic in terms of identity, culture and privilege. 

INTRODUCTION 
Since its development, social media has become a way in which people are able to express their thoughts, ideas and opinions (Corradini, 2024). According to Corradini (2024), users are able to interact with one another, creating discussions by exchanging information and often building a sense of community amongst one another. Through social media, ideas of culture are something that can be shared online, allowing people from all over the globe to be introduced to different ideas from all over the world and engage in cross-cultural discussions (Hindayat & Hindayat, 2020). However, sometimes this can lead to the misuse of information, such as cultural appropriation, the act of taking elements from one culture and either claiming it as their own, or using it in a way that erases its cultural significance (Mosely, 2021; Corradini, 2024).

In recent years, the idea of people claiming to be an entirely different race has come to emergence. The term “transracial identity” was first used academically in 2017, referring to people that claim to be an entirely different race than what they actually are (Sülter & Kasten, 2021). Since 2017, transracial identities have made their way onto social media (Yoon, 2022; Hidayat & Hidayat, 2020).  

RCTA (Race Change to Another) community on TikTok, is a community on TikTok comprised of people, particularly White people, that want to become Asian (Tran, 2023; Hidayat & Hidayat, 2020). In order to do so, they may do things like listen to subliminal videos that claim to give listeners an “East Asian Appearance” (Tran, 2023; Mezzolani, 2024).

In this conference paper, participating in the Communities and Social Media stream, I will be writing about how the RCTA community on TikTok is problematic and harmful to minority groups. While there are no academic studies done on the RCTA community on TikTok specifically, I will be using research on cultural appropriation, social media, and transracial identities to highlight how it raises issues on identity, culture and privilege. 

BACKGROUND 

Cultural Appropriation and Social Media 
Cultural appropriation is when elements from one culture is taken and used by another culture in a way that is disrespectful or harmful to the culture it came from (Corradini, 2024). This can include wearing clothing or hairstyles from another culture without acknowledging its significance, using language or linguistic elements in an exploitative or insensitive way, or using traditional symbols in a belittling way towards the culture it originated from.

According to Mosley and Biernat (2021), there are three broad types of cultural appropriation: First, there is object appropriation, which occurs when members of one culture take a physical object. This includes skin colour, food or physical attributes. Then there is content appropriation, when an idea from a culture is reused. Finally, subject appropriation, which occurs when someone uses experiences from a culture outside of their own as the subject of an art piece, painting or story. 

Through the Internet people are able to share their own thoughts and opinions to people all around the world, and has become even more amplified through the development of social media (Corradini, 2024). While this has allowed for new trends to surface on the Internet, cultural appropriation has become present digitally as well.

In 2020, a trend on TikTok circulated where influencers would put on make-up to make their eyes appear more almond-shaped and push their eyes up against their temples in a way that lifted the corners of their eyes, becoming known as the “Fox Eye” makeup trend (Zhao & Abidin, 2023). While the make-up style itself is not a problem the gesture where users lift their eyes gained a lot of backlash from Asian TikTok users, saying that it was very reminiscent to a gesture that people would make to mock the shape of their eyes (Zhao & Abidin, 2023).

In a time where there had been a surge of Asian hate online due to COVID-19, Asian creators also made a point that something that they had been discriminated for prior to the rise of social media had now become ‘trendy’ when a White creator is the one making it a trend (Zhao & Abidin, 2018).  

Transracial Identities as Cultural Appropriation  
As the world continues to grow together, people become more exposed to different nationalities, cultures, and races (Moreton-Robinson, 2021). Transracial is a label used to refer to people that self-identify as one culture despite not having any connections to that culture (Moreton-Robinson, 2021; Dembroff and Payton, 2022).  

Rachel Dolezal is a White woman who claims to be Black, despite having no Black ancestry (Moreton-Robinson, 2021; Dembroff and Payton, 2022). For over ten years Dolezal assumed the identity of a Black woman, which was then refuted by her parents when they exposed her for being White on CNN television, stating that she has German, Swedish and Czech heritage (Dembroff and Payton, 2022).

When this came about, people tried to justify the likes of transracial identities to those that identify as transgender. However, activists and psychologists have argued that while gender identity has existed for the last 150 years, race has been considered a construct for generations with the white race holding the most privilege (Dembroff & Payton, 2020; Tran, 2023). Furthermore, while race is not genetic, due to today’s idea of race being comprised of cultural traditions passed down from generations and inherited characteristics, it is impossible to change your race from the one that you were born into (Tran, 2023). Additionally, it is implied that having the ability to change your race to another is an example of people exercising their privilege over another minority group, especially when it is someone from a White background wanting to change their race. 

Transracial Identities on Social Media 
Transracial identities are something that have been prevalent on social media, especially when it comes to transnational fan culture (Yoon, 2022; Hidayat & Hidayat, 2020). For example, East Asian culture has become very popular globally due to the global circulation of K-pop, K-dramas, C-Dramas and anime. These things have encouraged people to explore Asian culture more, and for some people they get so immersed that they may wish to be a part of that culture even though they are not (Yoon, 2022; Hidayat & Hidayat, 2020). According to Hidayat and Hidayat (2020) and Yoon (2022), they are often considered to be a sub-group of a fandom, being considered a Koreaboo or a Weeaboo (for Japanese culture), which other people in those particular fandoms find to be harmful and culturally appropriative.

Oli London is a white man that once claimed to be South Korean in 2021, undergoing 32 plastic surgeries to look like BTS member Park Jimin (Sky News, 2021; Kennedy, 2023). Throughout his transition, he was a very public figure on social media and was ridiculed online, accusing him of transition to the Asian race because Korean culture was “trendy” (Kennedy, 2023; Zhao & Abidin, 2023). Koreans, and fans of Korean culture, were disapproving of this transition due to his lack of knowledge and understanding towards Korean culture, with one fan on Twitter saying: “You can be non-binary that’s who you are, but you are not, and you will never be Korean,” (Kennedy, 2021). London has since come forward and said that he has regretted undergoing the surgeries and acknowledged that claiming to be Korean was not the right thing to do (Kennedy, 2023).

It is very rare that transracial people get support from people outside of the transracial community, with fan spaces being ashamed of that part of their fandom and finding them disrespectful to the culture they are trying to encapsulate, and harmful to their respective fan culture (Yoon, 2022). However, there are some ways in which having a transracial identity is something that can not be helped (Mohanty, 2015). 

Transracial Identities in a Different Context 
While transracial identities often refers to the concept of self-identifying as a race outside of the one you are born in, it can also be used to describe the relationship between international adoptees as they transition into a new family of a different race (Mohanty, 2015). Some transracial adoptees may deny their heritage, whilst some may feel a sense of pride, and then there are those that may feel like they have lost their connection to their heritage, feeling a sense of low self-esteem (Mohanty, 2015). Due to this part of their life being hard to navigate as a child, the adoptive parents often give their children the ability to choose how much exposure they want to their ethnic culture and work accordingly to how their child(ren) respond. 

Nicole Chung is a Korean-American author that was adopted by a white couple when she was a child. In her memoir, All You Can Ever Know, she talks about how, despite being loved, she struggled with her identity as a child due to being the only Asian in a predominantly white space (Blinkist, 2025; Buntin, 2018). In addition, when addressing the microaggressions and racism she faced growing up to her parents, they did not understand due to their White privilege (Blinkist, 2025). While pregnant with her first child, Chung chooses to find her birth family and reconnect with her cultural roots (Blinkist, 2025; Buntin, 2018). According to Mohanty (2015), some adoptive parents exhibit racial colour-blindness, disregarding their child’s ethnicity and culture, and as a result these children have issues with their ethnic identity as they get older, which is shown in Chung’s memoir (Blinkist, 2025; Buntin, 2018).  

DISCUSSION 
Given the information from the research conducted above, it is evident that the formation of a transracial identity – with the intent of claiming a different race with no connection or understanding of it – is cultural appropriation, which is what the RCTA community on TikTok illustrates (Tran, 2023; Dembroff & Payton, 2020).

The RCTA community is a community of people, usually White, that wish to be Asian and develop East-Asian physical traits, such as monolid eyes, a slimmer figure, and lighter skin. In order to achieve this goal they listen to subliminals on YouTube posted by other members RCTA community containing lo-fi music and images of East-Asian features and, while they insist it works, in reality there is no proof that they are actually effective (Tran, 2023; Mezzolani, 2024).

Many younger TikTok users have used RCTA as a form of social commentary and creative expression, but for users from the outside looking in, it can be seen as a form of cultural appropriation – with people from one race cosplaying as another, then picking and choosing traits from that culture to formulate their ideal identity (Tran, 2023; Mezzolani, 2024). There is no conclusive factor as to why someone may wish to change their race, however some psychologists have explained that it could be due to (but not limited to) being discontent with the culture they were brought up in, or the desire to be more “exotic” (Tran, 2023; Sülter & Kasten, 2021).

CONCLUSION

After compiling research on cultural appropriation, social media, and transracial identities and applying it to the context of the RCTA community on TikTok, it is evident that it is problematic. It is a form of cultural appropriation, and by pretending to be a different race, they are overlooking the experiences that a culture goes through and primarily do so because it is ‘trendy’. 

REFERENCES

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