Edited by Lester Brathwaite on
Elle has recently come under fire for apparently lightening cover/ you-go girl Gabby Sidibe‘s complexion — allegations EIC Roberta Myers vehemently denies.
Who’s really buying that?
Every woman of color has her skin lightened in commercials, on magazine covers in, editorials. If you believed what you saw on newstands, you’d think Beyoncé was a bootylicious WASP.
It’s all a part of what makes fashion a business: its blatant homogenization of cultures and peoples to make them more easily digestable to the general public.
Is it right? Hell no. Is this a precedent? Hell to the no. Am I glad to see a plus sized girl, and a black plus sized girl at that, on the cover of a major fashion mag? Damn skippy. Will I take my victories wherever I can find them? Sure. Do I enjoy answering my own questions? You betcha!
I was center square from 1969 to 1978, during which I perfected the art of the zing as well as a crippling cocaine addiction. Bea Arthur was responsible for both.
@LesFabian
lester at fashionindie.com