Fetishization of women of color is still prevalent, with the implementation of these tropes in written work tracing as far back as the early modern period. Shakespeare's Dark Lady Sonnets are a prime example of this. The acceptance and praise of these Sonnets are problematic as they have only been analyzed through Shakespeare's eyes, the white gaze. Studying these Sonnets in the future will be imperative to how we give women of color the ability to feel comfortable in their own bodies.

"Well she's black as coal, but she burns like a fire/ And she'll wrap herself around you like a well-worn tire." These lyrics value a woman of color for her body and how well she can please a white man. In Sonnet 129, Shakespeare contemplates lust: "The expense of spirit in a waste of shame Is lust in action: and till action, lust/ Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame" indicating that he knows it is not Christian-like but feels good when he's engaging in sexual acts with his Dark Lady. Furthermore, John sings "Island girl/ What you wanting with the white man's world?" Declaring that it's a white man's world, here, emphasizes the pressure for people of color to write to the white gaze, a narrative they have been trying so hard to be free from. Even more horrifying is the fact that John stopped singing it but then adding it back to his set in 2018.

This song is blatantly fetishizing a woman of color with the lyrics "Ah, get on, brown sugar, how come you taste so good?/ Ah, got me craving the brown sugar/ Just like a black girl should, yeah." They later go on to claim that "You shoulda heard me just around midnight." The lyrics clearly discuss a women of color that was intimate with a white man. Shakespeare's Sonnet 131 proclaims "Thy face hath not the power to make love groan..Although I swear it to myself alone." It is clear to see that the trope of loving a woman of color behind close doors is still very much alive, wanting to sexually "taste" her, yet only doing it into the late hours of the night where no one knows about the relationship except the two involved.