Welcome to part 2 from my examination of the lack of racial diversity in fashion media (for part 1, click here). This time I'll be looking at the horrendous use of 'Blackface' in editorial, which is a problem that many editors refuse to acknowledge. Personally I find it upsetting that this kind of insensitivity is continuing in the 21st century and it made me determined to expose these incidents.
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If you pick up any
fashion magazine, it is more than likely that there will be a dearth of white
models and public figures within its pages but only a handful of examples from
other races. There are many successful non-white celebrities and models that
could easily grace the covers of a fashion magazine, but are simply not given
the opportunity. For the magazine editors and advertisers, this is simply
justified by the knowledge that a black cover star results in lower sales
figures, meaning that the magazine makes less profit, so it is logical from a
business angle to continue to use white cover stars. The financial burden of
running a magazine means that advertisers are necessary to provide crucial
support; without the endorsement of those advertisers, the magazines would not
be able to make a profit. Therefore black models will continue to merely make
rare cover appearances in order to placate the ethnic minority audience and
keep up appearances of political correctness. With this in mind, I would like
to examine several controversial photo shoots employing white models made to
adopt the image of their black counterparts, and look at the possible reasons
behind these being published as fashion.
[Taken from Vogue Paris].
The
first of these images is Lara Stone, photographed by Steven Klein for Parisian
Vogue. The photo shoot showed Stone in a variety of guises, sometimes coated in
dark paint and sometimes in cracked white paint which bore the appearance of
emulsion. However, the main difference between these two is that the white
paint was obviously not true to any skin colour, but the ‘blacked up’
photographs made any viewer unfamiliar with Stone believe that she was
non-Caucasian. Furthermore, she was dressed in a fur headpiece and gloves which
were reminiscent of stereotypically ‘ethnic’ clothing and, though carrying a
cane, this could easily have been mistaken for a spear as its tip is out of
shot. This gave the impression that the shoot was mimicking the tribal roots of
Africa, but not in a flattering light. If Stone had been painted in heavy
black, crackled layers, as in the white paint images, the criticism might not
have been so harsh but, as the photograph on the left proves, she was made to
imitate a person of African descent. Claire Sulmers, journalist and editor in
chief of the website The Fashion Bomb, wrote that ‘Though Lara Stone is
missing the white outline around the mouth or bright red lipstick [used in
‘blackface’], this photo shoot definitely strikes a raw nerve’. She goes on to
add that ‘Ms. Stone is the only “woman of colour” who scored a multipage
editorial’, which makes the photo shoot more offensive because it highlights
Parisian Vogue’s inability to take non-Caucasian models seriously in editorial
content. Sulmers has worked for Parisian Vogue’s website in the past, making
her viewpoint even more important, as she would have struggled to criticise an
institution she had been employed by unless she felt it essential.
[Taken from V Magazine].
The
second image is taken from Visionnaire, or V, Magazine, and features Sasha Pivovarova
in full body make-up, embracing an unpainted model in a monochrome photograph. Both
girls are naked and are accompanied by the caption ‘Black is the new black’,
which is a quote taken from James Kaliardos, the Creative Director of L’Oreal,
when discussing beauty trends for 2010. As writer Laura Kenney asked, ‘Why
didn't the magazine use a darker-skinned model instead of painting a white
model black?’, and she also noted that V Magazine proclaimed "2010 sounds
like the future, and this is what it will look like," (2009). The shoot is
obviously designed to be artistic and visually arresting for the viewer, but
does that mean the future of beauty is to appear black but to outlaw black models?
It is hard to believe that many readers would find ‘blacking up’ to be creative
or challenging; instead it's merely outdated and embarrassing to look at.
[Taken from L'Officiel Hommes magazine].
The
third example of ‘blackface’ in editorial content is unusual because it
involves a man, rather than a woman, being made to appear non-Caucasian. This
is the first publicised instance of male ‘blackface’ in a fashion publication
and it is probably the most shocking of the three images I’m analysing, mainly
because of the high quantity of photographs and also the unambiguous nature of
the resulting shoot. Milan Vukmirovic directed Arthur Sales for L’Officiel
Hommes magazine’s feature, Keep It Goin’
Louder, in which Sales was painted to resemble an African-American,
complete with a large afro wig and glowing white teeth. The feature was
designed to explore the return of Americana influences in men’s fashion, but
Sales’ appearance completely dominates the entire shoot.There is no logical reason to have chosen Arthur Sales over a photogenic African-American model. The addition of the afro wig also seems to be even more culturally insensitive.
What’s wrong with ‘Blackface’?
In order to understand
why the black community is offended by ‘blackface’, we must first examine its
place in history as a comedic tool used on stage. Performers ‘blacked up’ to
demonstrate the stereotypical character of the downtrodden black man, who bore
clown-like make-up and had exaggerated facial expressions, thereby
‘caricaturing black people and depicting them as being both stupid and
credulous’ (Malik, S., 2010). The Black and White Minstrel Show could be seen
on prime-time British television until 1978, giving millions of people a very
narrow-minded view of the ‘other’ in society. In the fashion world, some models
with non-white ethnicity were able to build a successful career, but these
women were exceptions to the unwritten rule that white women should dominate
fashion magazines. Today’s society has welcomed black celebrities and models,
but not as readily as the public are led to believe, and that is why modern
‘blackface’ scandals are particularly shocking. It is offensive enough to see
any race being ridiculed, but to use a white model in make-up instead of a
black model is completely unnecessary on a practical level in today's society.
All major modelling agencies harbour a small but diverse range of non-white
models and it is not acceptable to say that a non-white model is not readily
available or professional enough.
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Stay tuned for part 3, where I'll be asking what academics and industry insiders have to say about racial diversity.
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