i-D Summer 2019 : The 'Voice of a Generation' Issue

[333101]

I do commend her for speaking on this issue and being so active but I do find this adulation and canonization of her a little uncomfortable. First and foremost she's still a child, and in my opinion a vulnerable one at risk of being exploited (not trying to offend anyone and not sure how far I'm allowed to discuss her disability but that's what I'm getting at). Putting her on a pedestal like she's the 'leader' of this movement, when the issue really extends far beyond her years is a little dangerous. It's almost setting her up for vitriol from the other side (whose beliefs are the polar opposite of mine btw). Magazine covers and children don't sit well with me in general, but this one particularly rubs me the wrong way - I do feel the media are trying to turn her into a celebrity, which is wrong to me. Plus it's ID so they'll go about it in the most insufferable way possible.

 

[Perickles]

I'm disgusted by all the comments. Get a life people. At least she's saying something really important in public and making a lot of kids to take conscious about the climate issue.

Instead of criticize a little girl on a forum, you can share the voice and be part of it. Embarrasing.

Lol, you didn't get this criticism at all. Your comment is actually embarrasing.

 

[Perickles]

Given what can happen to children and young people thrust into the public eye, I fear for her future more than I do for the environment.

A young person is like a blank slate where people can project qualities of innocence and purity, and then bend them to suit their own purposes - especially politicians, most of whom would delight in the moral whitewashing that any association with her would bring.

Also, people with certain conditions are described as vulnerable for a reason. That's not to say they can't make a great success of life - it's the awareness that they might be more easily thrown off course.

The complexities of life can be crushing enough when you've got decades of experience behind you. If the main tool in your arsenal at 16 years old is being able to "see things in black and white"... the realisation that this approach can only go so far in solving problems - on a personal level, never mind a global one - may prove difficult for an individual to process, when it sets in.

The environment might need more spokespeople, but it doesn't need a martyr, and there are probably enough pawns in the game already.

Yes!!! I love this comment.

 

[Fiercification]

I admire what she's doing...to an extent. How much school has she missed for her activism? That's kind of my principal worry. Oh, and her being on the cover of i-D speaks more of their desperation as a publication to be "edgy" than anything else.

 

[vogue28]

Ugbad Abdi by Zoe Ghertner:

 

[apple]

Ugbad!! What a face. Striking cover

 

[Benn98]

Yet another stunning cover with Ugbad! We haven't had a model who delivers such memorable imagery so soon in her career. Normally there's the 'breaking in' stage where they stumble through awkward edits and covers. That she's got such a major drawback (the hijab) makes her triumph all the more remarkable. She just makes all her images seem so effortless, and that's what I like about her. It seems Ugbad is succeeding where Halima Aden failed. I must admit at first I thought it would be impossible for a devout Muslim model to prosper.

 

[reesewu]

The Ugbad cover is stunning. It just goes to show that the perceived restrictions imposed on hijabi models are actually a blessing in disguise, in a sense that it challenges stylists and make-up artists to be more creative.

As for Greta, I’m all for young people to be a lot more aware of pressing issues, like the March for Our Lives kids for instance. What rubs me the wrong way is how their attempts at speaking out are treated as merely just a flavor of the month. People often see activism through the lens of Warhol’s 15 minutes of fame, which downplays the causes but overworships the public figures.

 

[cul8tr]

White people were getting jealous of Malala and that's why they created this girl.

Are you serious?!?

 

[Royal-Galliano]

What rubs me the wrong way is how their attempts at speaking out are treated as merely just a flavor of the month. People often see activism through the lens of Warhol’s 15 minutes of fame, which downplays the causes but overworships the public figures.

Hear, hear. I'm still positive Greta will help raise the concerns that will eventually lead to actions of some extent. At the end of the day, it's important that the problems that have been on the table for a WHILE have a young, charismatic ambassadrice that gives them a human face. Let's just hope this won't fade just as any other "trendy movement" thing.

 

[Yohji]

I'm disgusted by all the comments. Get a life people. At least she's saying something really important in public and making a lot of kids to take conscious about the climate issue.

Instead of criticize a little girl on a forum, you can share the voice and be part of it. Embarrasing.

Thank you! I thought I was going crazy here. As trite as it sounds, she’s trying to make a difference. The media has taken to her, so what? You can’t blame her for using the platform she has recently been given. I sure as hell would.

 

[mikel]

Thank you! I thought I was going crazy here. As trite as it sounds, she’s trying to make a difference. The media has taken to her, so what? You can’t blame her for using the platform she has recently been given. I sure as hell would.

There’s nothing wrong with what she does, but that doesn’t mean she has to appear on the cover of i-D.

 

[Royal-Galliano]

There’s nothing wrong with what she does, but that doesn’t mean she has to appear on the cover of i-D.

Why shouldn't she? i-D to me has always been more about kids that have something to say rather than anything else. unless she's exploited by the magazine or brands that will want to associate with her, I'm OK!

 

[tigerrouge]

In a way, the medium is contrary to her message.

Consumer magazines promote consumption, and this constant need to artificially create and encourage commercial and financial "growth" is what poses a enormous threat to the environment and the resources of the earth.

But magazines are very happy to put environmental campaigners on the cover, and print articles about how you should buy more 'green' cosmetics that you want but don't need, and promote Marie Kondo's advice to throw things out simply because they don't "spark joy" because magazines need to be hypocrites to survive, surfing trends but never going too deep. Most magazines wouldn't survive if we truly understood their role in how we might turn the tide - by limiting our own consumption of needless products.

 

[Vitamine W]

White people were getting jealous of Malala and that's why they created this girl.

Gee you really have a huge imagination

 

[longliveamour]

Nathan Westling by Collier Schorr

 

[Benn98]

This must've been the 'big fashion cover' Nathan had been working on. I'm disappointed. It's a bit of a meh shot. Very weak for ID, but I can't get over the sloppy styling.