.....Does anyone know the answer?
Hello my Urban Beauties, whilst shopping over the weekend, I discovered that Five of the most iconic fashion magazines; Cosmopolitan, Vogue,Tatler, Glamour and Elle all have one thing in common (other than the obvious) this month.This month all of these iconic magazines have featured women of colour on their front covers;
Alesha Dixon - Cosmopolitan May 2013 edition
Beyonce - Vogue UK May 2013 edition
Emma Mcquiston - Tatler May 2013 edition
Jessica Alba - Glamour May 2013 edition
Rihanna - Elle April 2013 , Rita Ora May 2013 edition
Now, some people may think, whats the big deal? Well, i'm not sure who saw my previous post on the racism Alesha Dixon experienced in the entertainment industry? She was told, she would never appear on the front cover of a high end fashion magazine, because the magazine would never sell enough copies, due to the colour of her skin.
There was also a fantastic article on the Daily Mail website by Liz Jones in 2011, she mentioned, "So far in 2011, not one black face has appeared on the cover of British Vogue. In fact, the last time British Vogue had a black woman on the cover was in November 2008."
Liz also identified racism is at the core of the fashion industry, its a combination of; the fashion designers who pick the runway models, to the agencies that scout for models and the photographers who select which models appear in their advertising campaigns.
Liz went on to say, young women need to know they are beautiful and see women in the fashion magazines that reflect who they are and what they look like. This is something I completely agree with.
I also discovered another great article by Julee Wilson from Huffington Post who talked about a Clutch interview with Chanel Iman , who highlighted the racism she faces in the industry on a ongoing basis. She stated “Yeah, most definitely. A few times I got excused by designers who told me ‘we already found one black girl. We don’t need you anymore.’ I felt very discouraged. When someone tells you, ‘we don’t want you because we already have one of your kind, it’s really sad.” - How awful is this to know, that this still happens in 2013.
Five mainstream fashion magazines having women of colour on their front covers during the same month maybe coincidental, or is it five fashion magazines coming together to make a concerted effort to stamp racism out of the industry? Whatever is happening, things are changing incrementally.
As a black woman, its great to see mainstream magazines showing an appreciation for women of all shades. There is still a long way to go, but its fabulous to see old fashioned views towards women of colour challenged by some of the most influential magazines in the industry. This definitely shows a step in the right direction. Opinions please?
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