'It's a jhoola': Artist faces backlash for mislabeling Indian swing as gothic swing; netizens explain its cultural context

An artist on X is facing criticism after sharing a photo of a traditional Indian swing , known as a jhoola , and describing it as a “gothic swing.”

The artist, who goes by the name Anne Chovy , posted the image with the caption: “Please do join me on the hand carved antique solid wood gothic living room swing.”

please do join me on the hand carved antique solid wood gothic living room swing pic.twitter.com/VJqmqI8PQG

— Anne Chovy (@AnneChovy2) July 6, 2025

Her post has received over 1.5 million views but sparked backlash from many Indians who felt the description ignored the swing’s cultural roots.

One user commented: “One of these days, you guys will have to stop stealing from India.”

Another user wrote: “This is an Indian Jhoola, not a gothic swing . We had a little jhula just like this years ago. Back in the day, almost every Indian home had one. Simple joys that stayed with you forever.”

Many netizens pointed out that the swing is called “Jhoola” in Hindi or “Oonjal” in South India. They explained that calling it gothic removed its true cultural context.

A user reposted the photo and criticised the description, saying it was part of a larger trend of renaming Indian cultural items.

“Scandinavian scarf, turmeric latte, golden milk, Christian yoga, beaded Y2K maxi skirts and now they’re calling JHOOLA a ‘hand carved antique solid wood gothic living room swing’? White people pmo so bad,” her post read.

Others criticised how Western descriptions often use fancy words instead of acknowledging South Asian origins.

“White people always gotta throw in random words to avoid just admitting something is South Asian. They will see a jhoola and be like ‘gothic renaissance era antique celestial indoor swing’, girl that’s from my nani’s living room,” other post read.