Beauty Politic Update: VOGUE Italia steps up!

For all of you who read my Beauty Politic post, a triumphant update!

“Black is Finally in Fashion at Vogue”- The Independent, UK: Headline:
“A counterattack to the racism of the fashion industry is coming from an unlikely source: Vogue Italia. The July issue of the fearsomely cutting-edge quarterly will feature black models almost exclusively, shot by the photographer Steven Meisel…”

And the best quote of all, from Franca Sozzani-Editor in Chief of Vogue Italia:

Franca Sozzani, editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia, told The Independent on Sunday: Asked why she had decided to do this, she said: “Because nobody is using black girls. I see so many beautiful girls and they were complaining that they are not used enough.” Ms Sozzani admitted the issue could yet prove to be unpopular among some in Italy: “Maybe in our country it is not the best idea. But I don’t care. I think it is not my problem if they don’t like it – it’s their problem.”

All I have to say: FINALLY! Now if only Vogue Italia did a follow-up with all Asian models. just kidding, but seriously this is a monumental step forward for the fashion industry. If only American Vogue and other fashion magazines had editors like Sozzani, who had the balls to take the racism of the fashion world head-on! Score one for the Brown girls…

Beauty Politic

At the airport, en route a couple of days back, I found myself with only two pieces of reading material: Elle and Vogue. Believe it or not, I am actually a regular reader of fashion magazines, Vogue in particular…for the fashion photo spreads (some of which can be cool and edgy–such as the one featuring Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo in August 2006, one of my favorites). The artistry and self-expression in fashion is what I find compelling.

But I digress.

The isolation/boredom of being alone in an airport can lead to all sorts of interesting epiphanies. I was flipping through Elle (which, coincidentally, had Rihanna on the cover) and had a thought: let’s say hypothetically, aliens landed on Earth, and through some radical coincidence they got their hands on an internationally syndicated fashion magazine like Elle…and they read it from cover to cover, including fashion spreads and ads. What conclusion would they come to? 1) Everyone on Earth is a Size 0- and 2) We are a globe dominated by white people.

Why? Because almost EVERY single model in those pages would be Caucasian, (and a total twig). OK, you might think, everyone knows that. What I think is more interesting is what that says about what is being marketed to us as beautiful. Beauty is more than what is aesthetically pleasing to the eye (even that is not as objective as you think). Beauty has a whole host of political and cultural meanings: what is valued, what is “good”, what is treasured, desired and admired by men and women alike around the globe. For women especially, it is central to our self-confidence (for good or worse). How many young girls read magazines like Vogue and aspire to be more like the women in its pages?

But say you’re a Brown girl, Black, or any mixed caramel in between.  Say you don’t have those nordic features, that blond straight hair, light skin and light eyes.  YOU are not reflected in those pages…like a big, giant YOU DON’T BELONG sign, you are not beautiful by our standards.  A sprinkle of “exotic” is okay, maybe. But not too much… hence the popularity of mixed race models. And even these are primarily those mixed with white. Again, the history of blatant racism in the modelling industry is no surprise: Tyson Beckford, Naomi Campbell, Tyra Banks and others have spoken out about it.

Rather, what I find most disturbing about the almost total absence of people of color from the runways is the global reach of the white-as-beautiful mantra. One can argue that yes, there are local magazines in non-European countries that promote their own ideals of beauty. But I argue that it is definitely not an equal playing field, Vogue, Elle, Cosmopolitan, etc etc have a massive, dominant and widespread audience. And secondly, even “brown/black” oriented women’s mags fall into the trap of promoting Caucasian oriented standards of beauty, light skin/straight hair/colored eyes et cetra.

This is not to say that white women aren’t beautiful. But I will say that for the longest time–and certainly now, they are perceived at the top of the proverbial heap when it comes to beauty. Too be “other”, brown/black/dark was too be uglier, less desired, less MARKETABLE. Even though humankind is infinitely more diverse, extreme, and different than Elle and Vogue would suggest…they simply DON’T reflect the world we live in. And as beauty is the standard by which our society judges women to a large degree, what is considered beautiful affects which women are valued and put up on a pedestal, and which ones are not.

I’ll leave you with this pic, which had me simultaneouly outraged and in stiches. This is Vogue India’s inaugural cover, with two dark, gorgeous indian models/actresses…and a white model plunked in the middle, ’cause you know how light-skinned Europeans totally reflect what the average South Asian female looks like (dripping with sarcasm, of course. ha)

 

WTF?