Racial Diversity In Modeling

[electricladyland]

i really doubt that wealthy people or those who aspire to be are the only people buying Vogue or the sales would not be so huge.

My answer has been stated by someone previously...if you don't like Vogue's lack of representation of models of color then don't buy it. and make sure to support the magazines that do feature women of color.

 

[iluvjeisa]

Ok, let's do this right:

1974: 1. The first cover with a black woman: Beverly Johnson (a goddess)
1975: 1. Beverly Johnson X 1
1976: 0. (ALL blondes)
1977: 1. Peggy Dillard.
1978: 1. Peggy Dillard.
1979: 1. Peggy Dillard.
1980: 1. Sheila Johnson.
1981: 1. Beverly Johnson.
1982: 1. Shari Belafonte.
1983: 0.
1984: 1. Shari Belafonte.
1985: 2. Shari Belafonte X 2.
1986: 1. Shari Belafonte. Extra point for Linda Spierings, not sure about heritage - latina?
1987: 0.
1988: 1. Kara Young.
1989: 3. Karen Alexander, Kara Young and Naomi Campbell.
1990: 0.
1991: 1 (1 of 3) - Stephanie Roberts.
1992: 1ish (1 of 2) (1 of 10) - Naomi Campbell 2 X.
1993; 1 - 1 of 5. Naomi Campbell
1994: 0.
1995: 0.
1996: 0.
1997: 1. Kiara.
1998: 1. Oprah + 1/5 - Scary Spice
1999: 0.25 (1 of 4)
2000: 0.
2001: 1. Marion Jones.
2002: 1. Halle Berry.
2003: 0.
2004: 0.1 (1 of 9, Liya)
2005: 1. Liya
2006: 0.
2007: 1.1


That makes 25 in 33 years, that is 0.76 per year. The trend is definitely downwards.

 

[iluvjeisa]

i really doubt that wealthy people or those who aspire to be are the only people buying Vogue or the sales would not be so huge.

That's true - but Vogue gets their money from the ads and the ads have - at least traditionally - been geared toward people with pretty decent annual incomes and non-frugal spending patterns.

 

[misssakura]

Scary Spice? Really? I never knew.

Hey didn't Waris Dirie appear on vogue? Or was that just insert not cover.

 

[iluvjeisa]

Scary Spice? Really? I never knew.

Hey didn't Waris Dirie appear on vogue? Or was that just insert not cover.

I know she had some Vogue cover, just not of American Vogue, I don't think. Unfortunately. Iman has only had a German Vogue cover, counting IT, DE, UK, US and Paris, I think (but I could be wrong).

 

[sethii]

^ iluvjeisa, can you make a list for british vogue, because that is the magazine she specifically criticised

 

[eternitygoddess]

i think you are missing the point. there is a difference between acceptance and appeal. just because something doesnt appeal to somebody does not mean that they do not accept it.

HEAR HEAR!!!

yes, i understand that Vogue has to sell magazines to still be in circulation. and what you said about appealing to people is right. yes they have to appeal to people, but what i'm trying to raise, is what makes a Caucasian model more appealing than a model of a minority ethnicity? the reason why Caucasian models seem to be more appealing and therefore sell more magazines, is because we have been bombarded and shown countless times that a Caucasian woman is that pinnacle standard of perfection. that's why you see so many nose jobs and eye plastic surgery in asia because they want to have more "european features." if we were shown through mass media that a woman who isn't caucasian can be seen as beautiful enough to be on a high profile fashion magazine then it would open people's eyes more to accepting different types of beauty, and then the magazines won't have that problem of ethnic women not being as appealing as a caucasian model.

I don't think what we find appealing is necessarily a matter of 'bombardment'. It's a matter of taste. It's like how more people prefer the color blue over the color brown.

 

[electricladyland]

That's true - but Vogue gets their money from the ads and the ads have - at least traditionally - been geared toward people with pretty decent annual incomes and non-frugal spending patterns.

Well, that's where we need to get back to kimair's point about the difference between eds and covers...we can throw in ads. I think the ads are worse than the eds and covers in terms of a lack of representation of people of color. Unless, of course, the ad is in a magazine that caters to an audience of people of color.

 

[iluvjeisa]

sethi, the black UK Vogue covers are few and far between. But then, I don't think the population of black ppl is as large either?

1966: Donyale Luna (Gorgeous doesn't even begin to describe her...)
1986: Gail O'Neil
1987: Naomi
1990: Naomi as one out of five
1992: Beverly Peele as one out of five.
1996: Naomi
1998: Naomi
2001: Naomi X 2
2002: Naomi X 1 + Naomi as one out of 10.

1966 British Vogue - is probably the first Vogue cover with a black woman gracing it. (iconography)

 

[sethii]

^ thanks

[bbc]

I would love to see Alek Wek get a cover while she still looks young and beautiful, but i can't remember an editorial of hers in uk vogue recently so probably 0% chance.

 

[eternitygoddess]

^I think it's ridiculous for a magazine to be forced to have a racially diverse cast just for the sake of it.

 

[mint condish]

Not sure why Vogue needs to use predominantly white models.

1) Money? Vogue has enough opportunity, money, and opportunity to take the risk, and as a poster pointed out, white covers have sold little too.
2) Predominantly white population in America? So what? Since when does Vogue cater to the masses? Vogue is supposed to START the trends, not follow them.

It's not "for the sake of it", it's to change and open up the standard of beauty to accept different looks, to distribute a more equal opportunity for people of different looks to have a chance at being part of that standard.

The fashion world has a huge influence over the standard of beauty, and it knows it, for it can make or break a model/standard of beauty/standard of fashion if it so chooses. Vogue is a huge part of this influence. Vogue helped make models like Linda Evangelista or Jessica Stam. Is there any logic to the fact that Jessica Stam is more beautiful than any random black model? No, not necessarily, a photographer put her on a cover in a specific time and helped make her an icon of beauty with the population following suit. This could logically happen with a model of any colour, the editors just have to take the chance.

Vogue has the money and opportunity to take this risk if it so chooses. Will it choose, is the question. I think as time marches on it will have no choice anyway. Good for Naomi for speaking out.

Would we only put straight models on the cover if it sold more?
Would we only put blue-eyed models on the cover if it sold more?
Why use only one type of model on the cover over and over when we could make the fashion world so much more inclusive and multi-faceted.

 

[fashionista-ta]

Wow.

Then if Vogue has no desire to represent any other group beside white people, they should just stop fronting and put it right there on the cover, "Vogue, the Fashion Magazine for White People".

Would this be too wordy ... Vogue, the Fashion Magazine for Unimaginative White People Wearing Blinders

 

[Joseph26]

My answer has been stated by someone previously...if you don't like Vogue's lack of representation of models of color then don't buy it. and make sure to support the magazines that do feature women of color.

that was me and agree with you 100%, it's so easy to buy magazines that you like, stop that insane obssesion with vogue. its ridiculous!

 

[Joseph26]

Would this be too wordy ... Vogue, the Fashion Magazine for Unimaginative White People Wearing Blinders

what about this, - VOGUE, the fashion magazine for women without racial issues -

 

[fashionista-ta]

These are all the "black" women US Vogue have had on their covers.

http://claycane.blogspot.com/2007/02/hudson-on-vogue.html

It is astonishing to see how minimal black women are on the cover of US Vogue. Many of them have very european features with lighter shade of skin. Most of them aren't even full 100% black.

I would venture to say that almost no one in the US who hasn't recently immigrated is 100% black And many folks aren't 100% white either ... one of the magazines I subscribe to (Elle??), I think it was the August issue, has an excerpt from a new memoir by the daughter of a man who was the light-skinned child in his family. It's incredibly sad ... she never met any of his family. He didn't associate with his sisters, who were "living black." All she ever saw of her grandparents were their ashes. All because of skin pigment ... As far as anyone who saw her father was concerned, he was white ... but he allowed his own view of his racial identity to embitter and ruin his life.

In the past couple months or so Vogue published an article by Alek Wek where she told what her life was like growing up, after she emigrated, and what it was like becoming a model. You can't help but be impressed by her work ethic. Definitely worth reading.

kimair makes a really good point that this can't be just about sales.

 

[PrinceOfCats]

There are probably fewer black editors and columnists than models.

 

[Joseph26]

you just posted one...

I know it, but she said that all the black women on the Vogue covers don't look like black women, that's why I was requesting a pic of how a black woman should appear on the cover. how is to look like a black woman.

 

[fashionista-ta]

the point is, if there were more people like you who accept how things are then there would be no progress or change. if people decided to continue and accept slavery in the US, then there would be no change. if people decided to accept the Nazi movement and allow millions to be persecuted by Hitler, then we'd still have them around. if people accepted the apartheid and segregation in South Africa and the Souther US, then there would be no change. it takes a few people to rise up and to make things better. unless you prefer them to go back the way it is because it doesnt affect you or bother you?

I think this is a really important point. In fact, there are a lot of people like Joseph. I think it's OK to accept the status quo, no matter how bad it is ... I think it's OK to have no moral courage. I have to accept that other people have that right. But to actively criticize and try to stifle those who don't accept the status quo, and who do have the moral courage to try to make a difference, to tell them they're being silly, that they should exercise only their economic power and not their freedom of speech ... that, I think, is reeeeeally bad. Perhaps this particular issue isn't a matter of life and death. But the issues you discuss above were. If you don't take a moral view of the small issues, you'll never have the moral muscle you need to deal with the really big ones.

 

[lady B]

Wow Naomi said this,isn't she the one who at the time were refusing to walk the runway if they were other black models at the same fashion show ???!!!


I agree with what you guys are saying but as a black women I can't take Naomy "I'm full of myself " Campbell 's statement seriously.She's a joke and a hypocrite period.