Author |
Message |
Tonya "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Tonya
Post Number: 5315 Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Monday, April 23, 2007 - 03:34 pm: |
|
Black and beautiful: African-American women haven't had an easy time in the fashion world Monday, April 23, 2007 Steven Meisel, Vogue This May 2007 Vogue cover features only one black model as one of the world's next top supermodels. By LaMont Jones Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The national debate sparked by broadcaster Don Imus' use of the term "nappy-headed hos" to describe black players on the Rutgers women's basketball team has raised an unintended, seldom-discussed question: How have African-American women maintained their femininity and sense of beauty after centuries of dehumanization? They survived the inhumanity of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the indignity of being separated from their families on slave auction blocks. They endured abuse and rape by slave masters and overcame the injustice of being bred and worked like animals. During segregation and after desegregation, they suffered doubly for being black and female in a culture that esteemed neither. More recently, the physical attributes historically possessed by black women were deemed undesirable by America's wider society -- until women of other ethnic groups began to exhibit them. Cornrows weren't chic until Bo Derek got them, curvaceous derrieres weren't sexy until Jennifer Lopez came along, and full lips were unattractive until Angelina Jolie's kissers showed up and sparked a cottage industry of lip-plumping potions. Black women are least likely to be perceived as attractive and worthy of respect, some observers say, which may be why groups ranging from black rap artists to black comedians to white radio hosts have no problem denigrating them. And the darker her skin and the kinkier her hair, it seems, the less she is valued. "The truth of the matter is, black women in general are almost demonized, both by African-American men and the greater culture," said former fashion journalist Roy Campbell, a book author and celebrity event planner with offices in Philadelphia and Miami. Mr. Campbell, who was fashion editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer for a decade, is also a frequent guest judge on the hit CW show "America's Next Top Model." Mr. Campbell and others perceive the marginalization of black women in the fashion and beauty industry as a reflection of general lack of appreciation of black women's beauty in wider society. While terms such as "tramp" once were used only in reference to loose women, he said, similar terms are now used routinely to describe black women in general. "Imus showed that regardless of accomplishments and achievements, in the minds of so many whites, we are still nappy-headed black folks, period," he said. "The basketball team was reduced to what they think of us all the time -- nappy-headed people who shouldn't be there, anyway." When Sudan-born model Alek Wek emerged on the international fashion stage in 1995, many Americans beheld her Hershey complexion and short, kinky hair and pronounced her ugly. Although Ms. Wek still enjoys a successful modeling career, black models with her skin tone and hair texture seldom get high-profile work and are not the cover subjects for mainstream U.S. fashion magazines or the faces in fragrance and cosmetics ads.
Setting the tone On the other hand, the black women who enjoy the greatest prominence in the industry -- Beyonce, Halle Berry, Liya Kebede, for example -- nearly always are fair-skinned with smooth hair. The May issue of Vogue has a double front cover that features 10 women as "The world's next top models ...." The lone black, Chanel Iman, sports long, straight hair in the photo and a complexion only slightly darker than the other nine women. Adrianne Andrews, an anthropologist and Afro-American studies lecturer at the all-women's Smith College in Massachusetts, said African-American women tend to be perceived in modern-day incarnations of three historical stereotypes: the large dark-skinned, headrag-wearing "Mammy," the domineering and overly assertive "Sapphire," and the overly seductive "Jezebel." She said these images are created and perpetuated by the media and lead to stigmatization and exclusion of black women, especially dark-skinned ones. "Biracial, multiracial, ethnic ambiguity is what I'm seeing more and more of for men and women, from adults to children on TV, in commercials," said Dr. Andrews. "The illusion of white ancestry [in blacks] is just enough to tweak people, to conjure up images of illicit sex. The color dynamic has a huge influence on who is actually presented, unless there's some exoticism in terms of dark skin. Even among whites, it's the extreme Scandinavian look that still has favor one way or another." Washington Post fashion editor Robin Givhan, who last year became the first journalist to win a Pulitzer Prize for fashion criticism, described a "weird display" at the Givenchy fall 2006 fashion preview in Paris. The show opened with six black models wearing black outfits and black accessories, some carrying black luggage-like bags. They were followed by white models and were not seen again in the show. "I joked with someone about the black girls, saying, 'Were they the porters?' " said Ms. Givhan, who is black. "My guess is that the designer, Riccardo Tisci, wanted to separate those pieces, the little black dresses that are so iconic to the label. He also, I'm guessing, wanted to show the accessories. Honestly, I don't think it got much more complicated than that in the designer's mind. I guarantee you that the designer didn't for one second think that what he was doing could be seen as offensive." How black models are used -- or not used -- seems the result of a creative point a designer wants to make rather than intentional racism, suggested Ms. Givhan. "As someone I interviewed a long time ago said, in fashion, race is nothing but a color chip. It's not conscious 'racism.' The designers see a difference and use those differences to illustrate a point, completely oblivious to the fact that those are the characteristics of feeling human beings." Routinely at New York Fashion Week, many womenswear designers hire only one black model, or none. BCBG's Max Azria is among a handful of designers who never send black models down their runways. A conversation in Paris with a black booker for a modeling agency helped Ms. Givhan understand one of the reasons black models have trouble getting highly visible gigs. "He said he was trying to get more black models work in Paris," she recalled. "The problem, he said, is that [magazine] editors and designers will say that if they put the clothes on black models, people don't notice the clothes, they notice the girl -- as if the sight of a black model is so rare and distracting that people will gawk." Even as they grapple with social obstacles and cultural oppression, black women revel in their beauty. From hair and makeup to clothes and accessories, everything is meticulously maintained to present an image of loveliness that time and adversity have been unable to erode. This is something that black poet Maya Angelou alludes to in her poem "Still I Rise," published 20 years ago: You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise.
'Do it ourselves' Many of the high-profile groups and individuals who successfully pressured NBC to fire Imus are turning their outrage toward the hip-hop music industry and rappers who persistently denigrate women. Oprah Winfrey, who has verbally sparred with black rappers about the issue in the past, last week devoted two days of her hugely popular talk show to the topic. And in the May issue of Essence, author Jill Nelson criticizes how black comedians -- Flip Wilson, Jamie Foxx, Martin Lawrence, Eddie Murphy, Tyler Perry -- have donned drag and presented demeaning images of black women for decades. "I will not, I repeat, I will not, pay my $9 to see 'Norbit,' " Mr. Murphy's latest movie, in which he portrays an obese, dark-skinned, boorish black woman, said eBay style director Constance White, a former fashion journalist who has dark skin and wears her hair naturally kinky. "How can we see as funny a man -- a black man, at that -- playing a black woman as ugly, vulgar and just a huge joke? What the Imus debacle has brought about, whether permanent or temporary, is a look at what roles blacks themselves play in depicting black women as less than beautiful, less than alluring, less than sexy. Racism is systemic and systematic in America, but that doesn't mean we should be perpetrators." In 1999, Demeatria Gibson-Boccella co-founded Utopia Modeling Agency in Pittsburgh, which specializes in diverse models of color. She sees it as an important way to address black under-representation in the fashion and beauty industry. "We can't wait to be accepted," she said. "We just have to go out there and do it ourselves, run our own businesses, run our own agencies. They will never accept us for who we are." Mrs. Gibson-Boccella, who is tall and striking with a deep-brown complexion, said she began wearing her hair naturally more than a decade ago to "embrace my own beauty and who I am as a black woman." A more wholesome view of black women, she added, is tied to "healing that we as black people have to do. "We have to embrace who we are. Once we've reached that point of embracing who we are and loving and respecting ourselves, then others will respect us, too. The positive outcome to the whole Imus controversy is that there is dialogue now taking place, and we're having a positive conversation." (Post-Gazette fashion editor LaMont Jones can be reached at ljones@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1469. ) Related article Are black men dressed as women just a drag? Monday, April 23, 2007 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07113/780185-314.stm URL: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07113/780189-314.stm
|
Serenasailor Veteran Poster Username: Serenasailor
Post Number: 1508 Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Monday, April 23, 2007 - 05:00 pm: |
|
And the only "Black" model is not even Black but mixed. So again the message is that the only acceptable black women are the "mixed" ones. |
Renata AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Renata
Post Number: 2071 Registered: 08-2005
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Monday, April 23, 2007 - 08:29 pm: |
|
I thought that was an Asian chick. |
Enchanted Veteran Poster Username: Enchanted
Post Number: 830 Registered: 11-2005
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Monday, April 23, 2007 - 08:30 pm: |
|
so no one read the articel? |
Renata AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Renata
Post Number: 2072 Registered: 08-2005
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Monday, April 23, 2007 - 08:50 pm: |
|
I read it......there's nothing I can say that I haven't said here before. I'm pissed...how dare they....blah blah blah. I'm bored with it. I'll get into it again in another week or two. And besides, my bitching about it on this board isn't going to do much. These models need our support in the REAL WORLD. Talk is cheap. I'm just tired now. |
Latina_wi Regular Poster Username: Latina_wi
Post Number: 334 Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 - 02:23 pm: |
|
I thought the 'black' girl was Asian too (from the Vogue cover picture). And you knbow what? What more can I add to this but the usual (like Renata said above). It is awful that shit like this happens...what is worse is that so little can be done about it on a personal level. All I can do is support. I will support the whole Alek Wek thing even though I don't feel she is particularly beautiful. But I will encourage people like her because they challenge the generic stance on beauty that is evident in the media. However, I always felt Alek was an unfair example as not many black women in the West - where the complaint on 'whitewashing' is most profilic look like Alek. She is from a particular part of the world and has a very specfic look. They should use more african looking models but I think it would be best, from a western stance, using african featured models who are caribbean or african-american. So everyone is not under the mistaken belief that all blacks in the western hemipsphere look like Beyonce or Rihanna lol. |
Serenasailor Veteran Poster Username: Serenasailor
Post Number: 1512 Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 - 05:11 pm: |
|
I agree with you 100% Latina. However, we do have beauties that represent Black womens looks. Naomi Campbell, Olucci, Iman etc just to name a few. I personally think Alek Wek is gorgeous but I think that is her goal is to look like a certain type of woman. |
Doberman23 Veteran Poster Username: Doberman23
Post Number: 954 Registered: 01-2006
Rating: Votes: 1 (Vote!) | Posted on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 - 05:37 pm: |
|
alek wek is phucking ugly and your a crack head fag, you stick to looking at men and let the guys decide on which women are attractive or not. thats how women go wrong in the first place, worrying about what's in those magazines ... half of the models that they show are heroin using, chain smoking, coke snorting skeletons that wear crap i have never seen worn by an actual woman from the city, burbs, or country. the fashion industry is for fags and snobs ... serenasailor don't worry, i don't think your a snob. |
Tonya "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Tonya
Post Number: 5329 Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 - 05:40 pm: |
|
I'm not hating on a sistah at all. But I sort of wonder why African women are ALL they choose when they decide to go authentic. I mean, what exactly are they sayin...?
|
Serenasailor Veteran Poster Username: Serenasailor
Post Number: 1516 Registered: 01-2006
Rating: Votes: 2 (Vote!) | Posted on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 - 06:25 pm: |
|
alek wek is phucking ugly and your a crack head fag, you stick to looking at men and let the guys decide on which women are attractive or not. thats how women go wrong in the first place, worrying about what's in those magazines ... half of the models that they show are heroin using, chain smoking, coke snorting skeletons that wear crap i have never seen worn by an actual woman from the city, burbs, or country. the fashion industry is for fags and snobs ... serenasailor don't worry, i don't think your a snob. There you go again with your cheap shots at calling Black women you "deem" to Black looking and acting "UGLY"!! And assuming that any Black man that finds her attractive and has no desire like your little punk, White worshipping ass to sleep with White women is either "abnormal" or "gay". NO SHUT UP AND DANCE FOR US LIKE YOU DO FOR YOUR CO-WORKERS WHILE THEY TELL YOU STORIES ABOUT LITTLE WHITE GIRLS WHO MASTURBATE THEMSELVES TO DEATH WITH A BROOMSTICK!! |
Serenasailor Veteran Poster Username: Serenasailor
Post Number: 1519 Registered: 01-2006
Rating: Votes: 2 (Vote!) | Posted on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 - 06:37 pm: |
|
You know whats ugly Doberman is your Rosie O'Donnell looking grandmother!!! |
Doberman23 Veteran Poster Username: Doberman23
Post Number: 960 Registered: 01-2006
Rating: Votes: 2 (Vote!) | Posted on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 - 10:36 pm: |
|
that and alek wek ... yuck! i would rather bang a trailer trash whore than bang alek wek she's phucking hideous, she is the worse looking black model ever. p.s. that post was so good double-s that your still talking about. |
Abm "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Abm
Post Number: 9334 Registered: 04-2004
Rating: Votes: 1 (Vote!) | Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 07:32 am: |
|
Tonya, I don't think it's true that fashion companies and modeling agencies have a decided preference for African Black beauty. But I do think some of those companies are going for a non-Westernized version of Blackness that, frankly, few African American women can effectively pull off. |
Latina_wi Regular Poster Username: Latina_wi
Post Number: 335 Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 11:11 am: |
|
^^^ Very true ABM. |
Tonya "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Tonya
Post Number: 5339 Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 12:18 pm: |
|
I agree that Iman and Beverly Johnson aren’t your standard African beauty, but most Black models don’t look like these two. Give me an example of what you’re talking about.
|
Brownbeauty123 Veteran Poster Username: Brownbeauty123
Post Number: 1983 Registered: 03-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 01:08 pm: |
|
I don't find her to be particularly beautiful but she isn't hideous either.
|
Serenasailor Veteran Poster Username: Serenasailor
Post Number: 1529 Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 02:15 pm: |
|
I think she is beatiful but in an elegant, sophisticated sort of way. And what about Beverly Johnson is not typical "African" beauty. |
Serenasailor Veteran Poster Username: Serenasailor
Post Number: 1530 Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 02:18 pm: |
|
And of course Doberbytch you would have sex would a "trailer" trash white woman over her. And given your stupid "little" obsession with White women it would be safe to say that you would have sex with any White woman over any Black woman. Stupid a** Bytch!! |
Serenasailor Veteran Poster Username: Serenasailor
Post Number: 1531 Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 02:20 pm: |
|
To me Naomi Campbell was the best and closest thing to an accurate example of what Black women in the "West" look like. I've always loved her look, and alway felt a sense of "pride" when I saw her in magazines. |
Doberman23 Veteran Poster Username: Doberman23
Post Number: 968 Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 05:38 pm: |
|
you don't like women you want to be one. that chick is ugly as hell, if they want to pick some africans they need to give ethiopia a holler. alek wek looks like a fag in drag that's why you love her so much sausageswallower, because when your gay ass dresses up that's the closest you can look. you lame bastard. |
Brownbeauty123 Veteran Poster Username: Brownbeauty123
Post Number: 1984 Registered: 03-2006
Rating: Votes: 1 (Vote!) | Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 05:56 pm: |
|
Doberman sounds so much like Lil_ze. |
Serenasailor Veteran Poster Username: Serenasailor
Post Number: 1534 Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 10:25 pm: |
|
Isn't that funny Brownbeauty?? You noticed that too HUH??? That is what he thinks about Black women. That they are "fags in drag". Pretty phucked up Huh!! No wonder why he worships White women. |
Latina_wi Regular Poster Username: Latina_wi
Post Number: 337 Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 11:21 am: |
|
Doberman, I don't understand why you are being so vitriolic against the fact serenasailor finds Alek Wek attractive. Fair enough, you do not think she is good looking but I do not understand the need for such a hateful attack. This woman has obviously got something that people are drawn to otherwise she wouldn't be such a well known and well talked about model. I think everything you find ugly about her is everything those fashion designers, and people like Serenasailor, find amazing about Alek Wek. The fact that she looks a bit 'out of this world' and doesn't fit into an 'inclusive' view of beauty is what some people might like. |
Doberman23 Veteran Poster Username: Doberman23
Post Number: 970 Registered: 01-2006
Rating: Votes: 1 (Vote!) | Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 04:10 pm: |
|
i definitely think that about this particular black chick, she's hideous. this to me is when people try to tell me cameron diaz is hot, cameron diaz phucking ugly ... i don't care how many times you try to put them in magazines or show them on tv, they are both monsters. but to answer your question latina w: serenasailor dawgs every single black woman that i think looks good, so i am going to have a field day on who ever he likes just on general principal (gp)... besides she's hideous she's the black version of cameron diaz. LilZ does his thing and I do mine, serena "aka sausageswallower" loves to call everyone a white woman worshiper but it's amazing that my current girlfriend is black, my last girlfriend was black so here sausage i'll help you to roast me a little more accurately: they are all lighter skinned and the length of their hair usually goes past their shoulders. now be creative with your future lame insults buddy. |
Eastwest Regular Poster Username: Eastwest
Post Number: 195 Registered: 12-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 05:03 pm: |
|
HA! HA! ,"Sausageswallower" Fits Serena Very Well |
Sabiana Regular Poster Username: Sabiana
Post Number: 103 Registered: 08-2006
Rating: Votes: 1 (Vote!) | Posted on Friday, April 27, 2007 - 08:09 pm: |
|
LatinaWi, beauty is seen through Eurocentric values, and only Eurocentic values. A model that is not in the general form of it-becomes exotic or special. A rarity. I do not find Alek Wek to be appealing physically, but her background and what she represents to me is what I find to be distinguishig from other models. To Doberman, EastWest, For You Two to hate SS so much, you sure don't find it hard to stoop to his/her level. Like 'sausageswalloweter", really cute and mature for people under the age of 13. |
Doberman23 Veteran Poster Username: Doberman23
Post Number: 984 Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Monday, April 30, 2007 - 09:54 pm: |
|
sabiana shut the phuck up and stay out of battles that don't include you ... your green so perhaps you should do a little bit of backtracking on past post by your new found friend before you start running your mouth. |
Serenasailor Veteran Poster Username: Serenasailor
Post Number: 1541 Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 12:34 pm: |
|
To Doberman, EastWest, For You Two to hate SS so much, you sure don't find it hard to stoop to his/her level. Like 'sausageswalloweter", really cute and mature for people under the age of 13. HA HA HA!!! Thats telling them!!! |
Serenasailor Veteran Poster Username: Serenasailor
Post Number: 1542 Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 12:47 pm: |
|
Doberman is a stupid ass beyotch who thinks its "cute" like his little "butt-buddy" Shakaspir/Eastwest to criticize Black womens features. Then he tries to further "insult" us by mentioning some little "token White chick" that he doesn't find "attractive". When all of his post on this board have been about his little "obsession" of sleeping with White women. I personally don't give a Phuck about the last two booty-scratching, "Save the Children", towel-head heifas you were dating a**wipe. BUT PLEASE DON'T SIT UP HERE AND "INSULT" US BY NAMEING SOME "TOKEN WHITE CHICK" THAT YOU DON'T FIND ATTRACTIVE AND TREATING US AS IF WE CAN'T READ WHEN ALL OF YOUR POST IN HERE HAVE BEEN ABOUT YOUR OBSESSION WITH "SCREWING" WHITE CHICKS THAT RANGE FROM THE LOOKS OF ROSIE O'DONNELL TO CALISTA FLOCKHART!!! |
Serenasailor Veteran Poster Username: Serenasailor
Post Number: 1543 Registered: 01-2006
Rating: Votes: 1 (Vote!) | Posted on Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 01:52 pm: |
|
Then he tries to further insult us by making us think that he does not have such a "narrow" view of Black women. Yet he felt the need in his last post to "point out" the skin color and hair texture of his last two girlfriends. Which AGAIN, shows us how he "views" Black women!! Also notice how unimaginative he is with his insults. He "hurls" the same insult "over and over" again. He "stupidity" is so apparent that even ppl who have nothing to do with our "feud" have to comment on it. "Sausageswallower" one of the OLDEST, UNORIGINAL, AND IMMATURE insults in history!!! |
Doberman23 Veteran Poster Username: Doberman23
Post Number: 986 Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2007 - 04:02 pm: |
|
lol.... sausage you want to be me, i don't blame you though. (He "stupidity") ... love that grammer! i tried not to roast you but it's just too easy, it's just too easy. no matter what you do or say, you will always be lame. here is you in a busted nut shell: insult light skinned women, insult black men who date white women, insult black men who date light skinned black women, insult anyone who disagrees with, topics about models, topic about gay people, insult your brother and his latina wife, insult white women, insult all white people in general, calling someone black a sell-out, insult any black woman who is successful if she isn't dark as a hostess cupcake, and of course ... (drum roll) ... talk about the great D23 ... yeah that about sums it up. if you can show me a topic where you haven't chimed in like that or in a simialr fashion ... i wont post for the next 3 months. |
Serenasailor Veteran Poster Username: Serenasailor
Post Number: 1551 Registered: 01-2006
Rating: Votes: 2 (Vote!) | Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2007 - 06:21 pm: |
|
here is you in a busted nut shell: insult light skinned women, insult black men who date white women, insult black men who date light skinned black women, insult anyone who disagrees with, topics about models, topic about gay people, insult your brother and his latina wife, insult white women, insult all white people in general, calling someone black a sell-out, insult any black woman who is successful if she isn't dark as a hostess cupcake, and of course ... (drum roll) ... talk about the great D23 ... yeah that about sums it up. if you can show me a topic where you haven't chimed in like that or in a simialr fashion ... i wont post for the next 3 months. LOL!!! I AGREE WITH EVERYTHING YOU SAID BUDDY! LOL!! YEP!! THATS ME IN A "NUTSHELL"!!! SO DEAL WITH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
Brownbeauty123 Veteran Poster Username: Brownbeauty123
Post Number: 1988 Registered: 03-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2007 - 08:40 pm: |
|
"dark as a hostess cake" kinda reminds me of the analogies Lil_ze would use to describe darkskin ppl as being "dark as a car tire". |
|