Top 51 Books Written By Women
Posted on June 20, 2008
Filed Under Books, Women | 1 Comment
Italian Vogue Features Black Models
Posted on June 19, 2008
Filed Under Arts/Culture, Fashion, Women | Comments Off on Italian Vogue Features Black Models
It’s an open secret in the fashion industry: black models rarely get jobs on catwalks, in magazines and on billboards. According to executives, they do not inspire women to spend money.
Now a counterattack to the racism of the fashion industry is coming from an unlikely source: Italian Vogue .
The NYT reports that for the July issue of Italian Vogue, photographer Stephen Meisel has photographed only black models. In a reverse of the general pattern of fashion magazines, all the faces are black, and all the feature topics are related to black women in the arts and entertainment. Mr. Meisel was given roughly 100 pages for his pictures. He also photographed Toccara Jones, a full-figure model, who became known from “America’s Next Top Model.” “I wanted to say something about weight, and I’m never allowed to do that,” he said. “I met Toccara and thought, she’s beautiful. What’s the deal with her? She’s great and she’s sexy.” The issue will be on European newsstands next Thursday and in the United States soon after.
Under its editor, Franca Sozzani, Italian Vogue has gained a reputation for being more about art and ideas than commerce. Ms. Sozzani also doesn’t mind controversy.
She said that, as an Italian, she has been intrigued by the American presidential race and Mr. Obama, which was one source of inspiration when she and Mr. Meisel began discussing, in February, the idea of an all-black issue. Also, she was aware of the lack of diversity on the runways in recent years and the debate it fueled last fall in New York, where Bethann Hardison, a former model who ran a successful agency, held two panel discussions on the topic. (video below) Ms. Hardison hopes that the Italian Vogue issue (to which she contributed) will open people’s eyes in the industry. “They need to see what they’re missing out there,” she said. This week, in its July issue, American Vogue will have an article about the scarcity of black models.
Lipstick Lesbians In The City
Posted on June 19, 2008
Filed Under Gay/Lesbian, New York, NYC, Women | 3 Comments
This week in the Village Voice, we discover that femme lesbians are running rampant in New York City. Thanks in part to a couple of new parties (such as Eden and Showstopper), the influence of new promoters, as well as the success of The L Word. No longer do lesbians have to sport the regulatory short do, baggy jeans and Doc Martens to fit in. Do they now have to be fit, toned and girly to fit in?
In the ’90’s we had a lesbian chic moment that lasted a minute or two. kd Lang appeared on the Vanity Fair cover with Cindy Crawford, Newsweek had two white yuppie lesbian on it’s cover proclaiming Lesbian Chic, and a sexy, lesbian party had taken off at Cafe Tabac in the East Village. The trend started to gain momentum and soon after Ellen came out, Melissa Etheridge and Julie Cypher had a baby, and gays and lesbians were becoming more mainstream in the media.
The L Word is the first, the only, show that has represented lesbian life as cool and glamorous. The women on the show are all lipstick or femme butch (Shane). Not exactly representative of the lesbian community as we know it, but perhaps a way to provide titillation without threatening the viewer. Let’s face it, a butch dyke having sex with another dyke, would never get past the heterosexual execs at the networks.
While I welcome that women are empowered and embracing their femininity, style and success, we must welcome lesbians of all shapes, sizes, and color, lipstick or not. We are all women who love women, and society needs to embrace us all. Not only the ones that “pass”.
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