Patia Borja
{{Short description|American Internet celebrity}}
{{Orphan|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Patia Borja
| image =
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| birth_date = {{Birth based on age as of date|27|2020|06|14}}{{cite web |last1=Tyner |first1=Ashley |title=Welcome to Patia's Fantasy World |url=https://garage.vice.com/en_us/article/889qd5/welcome-to-patias-fantasy-world |website=Garage |access-date=January 13, 2024 |date=June 14, 2020}}
| alma_mater = School of Visual Arts (dropped out)
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| occupation = Internet celebrity
| years_active = 2015–present
| known_for = @patiasfantasyworld
| website = {{URL|patia-borja.com}}
| notable_works =
}}
Patia Borja is an American Internet celebrity. She is best known for creating the Instagram meme account @patiasfantasyworld.
Life and career
Borja was raised in Jacksonville, Florida as an only child to an immigrant mother.{{cite web |last1=Van Gaal |first1=Czar |title=The Thought Leaders Issue: Patia Borja |url=https://vmagazine.com/article/the-thought-leaders-issue-patia-borja/ |website=V |access-date=January 13, 2024 |date=October 15, 2020}} She became a popular user on the microblogging website Tumblr under the name MaisonMartinMarijuana, which prompted her to move to New York City with other Internet friends in 2010 at age 17 to attend the School of Visual Arts for graphic design, though she dropped out after her first year. In 2015, she started the Instagram party blog Bundle Update, which featured pictures of people using cocaine and was eventually shut down.{{cite web |last1=Guzman |first1=Ivan |last2=Arauz |first2=Lydia |title=Inside Patia's Fantasy World |url=https://officemagazine.net/inside-patias-fantasy-world |website=Office |access-date=January 13, 2024 |date=May 1, 2020}} She also did sex work through Backpage.{{cite web |last1=Borja |first1=Patia |title=Adrienne Raquel and Patia Borja Talk Strip Club Culture in the South |url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/adrienne-raquel-and-patia-borja-talk-strip-club-culture-in-the-south |website=Interview |access-date=January 13, 2024 |date=May 19, 2023}}
Borja launched the Instagram account @patiasfantasyworld in 2017 as a private finsta. She eventually made it public and it began to gain followers after Borja publicly criticized a white art curator for wearing cornrows. By 2020, the account was an Internet meme account owned by her and two other friends—River Moon and Laina, who joined in December 2019—and focused on posting ironic and irreverent memes, such as deep-fried screenshots of Facebook posts and tweets from Black Twitter.{{cite web |last1=Lothian-McLean |first1=Moya |title=Patia Borja: 'Sometimes we want to laugh rather than Instagram be a triggering thing' |url=https://i-d.vice.com/en/article/wxq93z/patia-borja-patiasfantasyworld-interview-lacey-lennon |website=i-D |access-date=January 13, 2024 |date=September 20, 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Macias |first1=Ernesto |title=Patia Borja's Guide to Making It to 2021 in One Piece |url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/patia-borja-guide-to-making-it-to-2021-in-one-piece |website=Interview |access-date=January 13, 2024 |date=September 3, 2020}} In 2020, during the George Floyd protests, the account began posting more politically charged content, including the "Fantasy World Master List of Resources on How to Dismantle Systemic Racism", a database for resources about systemic racism.{{cite web |last1=Blacksher |first1=Devine |title=Patia Borja Wants You to Educate Yourself |url=https://www.thecut.com/2020/06/cut-chats-patia-borja.html |website=The Cut |access-date=January 13, 2024 |date=June 16, 2020}} The account grew in followers from 20,000 in December 2019 to 100,000 in June 2020.{{cite web |last1=Marine |first1=Brooke |title=How a Meme Account Became a Central Voice in the Anti-Racism Movement |url=https://www.wmagazine.com/story/patias-fantasy-world-anti-racism-activism-guide |website=W |access-date=January 13, 2024 |date=June 5, 2020}}
Borja modeled in the campaign for underwear brand Parade's collaboration with Juicy Couture in December 2020 and in the second part of Mugler's spring 2021 collection video in March 2021.{{cite web |last1=White |first1=Brooklyn |title=Parade and Juicy Couture's Underwear Collab Is A Match Made In Heaven |url=https://girlsunited.essence.com/article/parade-juicy-couture-collaboration/ |website=Girls United |access-date=January 13, 2024 |date=December 9, 2020}}{{cite magazine |last1=Wallner |first1=Bryan |title=Why Are All the It Girls Obsessed With This Watch? |url=https://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/designers/a35851863/cartier-panthere-watch-it-girls/ |magazine=Harper's Bazaar |access-date=January 13, 2024 |date=March 22, 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Wally |first1=Maxine |title=Hunter Schafer & Patia Borja Join The Supermodels at Mugler |url=https://www.wmagazine.com/fashion/mugler-spring-2021-runway-models |website=W |access-date=January 13, 2024 |date=March 31, 2021}} By 2022, @patiasfantasyworld had almost 600,000 followers.{{cite web |title=Patia Borja on the Burden of the Blue Check |url=https://www.culturedmag.com/article/2022/12/07/patia-borja-patiasfantasyworld-instagram-politics-meme |website=Cultured |access-date=January 13, 2024 |date=December 7, 2022}} {{As of|2023}}, Borja also works as a DJ.{{cite web |last1=Lent |first1=Caitlin |title=@PatiasFantasyWorld Would Like You to Know She's a Barb for Life |url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/patiasfantasyworld-would-like-you-to-know-shes-a-barb-for-life |website=Interview |access-date=January 13, 2024 |date=February 22, 2023}}
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Borja, Patia}}
Category:American Internet celebrities
Category:Year of birth uncertain
Category:Date of birth unknown
Category:21st-century African-American women
Category:African-American female models
Category:School of Visual Arts alumni
Category:American women civil rights activists
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