It seems every day, magazines are seemingly losing the sensitivity battle when it comes to race relations!
The latest glossy to cause a curfuffle is Teen Vogue, whose Beauty Editor (and Fashion Bomb Friend) Elaine Welteroth penned a piece about getting Senegalese twists done in Rwanda:
While her gorgeous mug illustrated the piece for the story online, the magazine cast model Phillipa Steele to accompany the article’s print edition. On Models.com, Steele identified as half Fijian, and also Tongan, French, English, and American.
The story went on to include other women of color who have adopted braids, locs, and the like, and highlighted Zendaya and Zoe Kravitz. Critics of the article wondered why Teen Vogue wouldn’t use at least one darker skinned woman to display the trend.
While some Twitter fans displayed their distaste, writing, “@TeenVogue A hairstyle predominantly worn by varying shades of Black ppl and you pick the lightest skinned black ppl to feature,” and “@TeenVogue Why’s your Magazine so Anti-Black?” Buzzfeed highlighted @JoJoThaJawn as one of the most adamant critics of the display. She wrote,
F*ck @TeenVogue for their bullsh*t article about Senegalese twists and only showing one black girl for example! How could you!!!!
Seriously not buying @TeenVogue again. I’m so insulted by this! You interview a White girl about African hairstyles!!
Zendaya is not the only POC who wears these hairstyles. So why is she the only POC you showed as example!?? @TeenVogue
Snuck a pic of Zoe Kravitz in there. Two light skin black women. What about Solange? Janelle Monae?? Non celebrity POC??!!
It’s bad enough that your cheap ass mag barely has any BW but the ONE time you should, you don’t deliver. @TeenVogue
Model Phillipa Steele eventually wrote, “For the record, if anyone even cares . ? Yes im half black and half French.”
What do you think of the hubbub? I personally am always an advocate of diversity, and highlighting the various shades of brown beauty. A woman of Lupita Nyong’o or Viola Davis’s complexion would’ve been a great addition to the article. Mainstream magazines should be more mindful, especially when addressing Afrocentric topics (I mean look at all the gorgeous examples that pop up when you Google Senegalese Twists).
That said, not sure this is a reason to write off Teen Vogue. At least they didn’t act as if twists were a cool new thing without providing any historical context (which many magazines tend to do). The original story gives credit to and celebrates the origin of the hairstyle.
What do you think?
See more and read the comments on Buzzfeed.
*Elaine penned a personal essay about the controversy.
She wrote, “Black comes in a myriad of colors and textures—all of them beautiful, all of them deserving of representation. In the telling of this particular story, which is my own personal story, it was important to me to include a model that is also mixed-race (she is Black and French). The model, like myself, the author of this piece, and Zendaya, the celebrity who inspired it, represents a broadening spectrum of what Black looks like. I can only hope that this story and the conversation it ignites can help shed light on the reality that race cannot be defined by just skin tone, eye color, or hair texture. “ Read the rest here.
Interesting. I think that the writer’s comment is in essence, the issue that people have with the article: “The model, like myself, the author of this piece, and Zendaya, the celebrity who inspired it, represents a broadening spectrum of what Black looks like. I can only hope that this story and the conversation it ignites can help shed light on the reality that race cannot be defined by just skin tone, eye color, or hair texture”
So why not include different skin tone, eye color or hair texture. That’s what the issue is. I don’t think that people are advocating that lighter skin women should not have been used, but to completely omit dark skin women – when they predominantly rock this style – is indeed questionable…
This particular issue is a lose-lose situation. As it seems to boil down to light skin vs. dark skin. Of course, Teen Vogue should have been more ethnically diverse by choosing models with more melanin but we do come in all shades!
Ok, there real issue here is Becky’s twists look like they were done with someone without thumbs! That isht looks a mess. TV could’ve at the VERY least had one of the gazillion braiders in the NY area do her hair right. Those aren’t even Senegalese twists, those are Siamese chunks…TFOH.
I agree with everything said above. I feel like the issue isn’t blacks against whites, Latinos, Asians or anybody else. The issue is that we are a segment of the population that is often excluded from the media’s picture of what beauty is. I’m not gonna be PC. That girl says she’s half black. What’s the point of saying you’re half black. She looks very racially ambiguous which is what the media prefers. Closest to white. The notion of black or white had become so confusing (thanks Rachel) there are no color lines anymore. What I do know is that people with melanin, brown skin, are very underrepresented in media. It is a total disregard for an entire segment of the population, our beauty, our existence. And then to pretend to explore black hair and i don’t see a person that I, a black woman can identify with, is insulting. That is why we keep having these conversations. There is no shortage of ppl that look like her.
This is clearly a no win situation. I would have loved to have seen deeper skin tones,but it is almost saying the women featured are not black enough. Which in itself is hurtful and rude. However, the magazine world does need to do a better job displaying black women,period.
I just want to know who did her senegalese twists because they look terrible all different sizes and shapes wth!
Plenty of black celebs have been rocking this look. They INTENTIONALLY picked lighter skinned and WHITE girls because they don’t want black faces spoiling their magazine.
I die at “Siamese Chunks”…lol
Honestly the whole light skin dark skin thing is an internal black issue (a dumb one at that). White people are completely clueless. I’ve had several white people ask me, and I quote “what’s the difference? You’re all black.”
I don’t get these corporations, they are sooooo behind its pretty actually funny, i.e. “Plated Ladies: Braids, locs and twists are back in a major way” SMH Clearly they’ve been living under a rock just like radio these days. They do their research, turn a blind eye to the originators and take full credit for things they had no hand in helping out. And LOL at the examples they used… pathetic.
Fashion is white washed..this is not surprising at all. Glad folks still talk about it. Maybe it will change (it will not)
Also this models hair looks a mess..like WTF. Do better Teen Vogue.
I think it’s highly disingenuous of Elaine to say, “The model, like myself, the author of this piece, and Zendaya, the celebrity who inspired it, represents a broadening spectrum of what Black looks like.”
People who look like Elaine, Phillipa, and Zendaya have ALWAYS represented what Black looks like, and quite frankly, what is widely preferred in the Black community. That is the issue. There exists a huge spectrum of what Black looks like, yet you chose to highlight the most celebrated shade of all– why? ‘Cause you’re in your feelings about being a mixed girl and not fitting in? Please drop the nonsense.