Photographer: Martin Robinson
I have always found that whenever fashion opens its door to a black or Asian model it is to emphasise her exoticism. Even in the case of Naomi Campbell, her strongest selling point was her exotic mix - she typified the wild, dark beauty. Temper tantrums? they were a correlative of her blackness.
Naomi belongs to a tradition of black beauties accepted by the mainstream entertainment industry - of which fashion is part - from, at the very least, the days of Josephine Baker. The Black Venus, as she was known, Baker essentialised the black primitive in 1920s Paris. Primitivism was one of the early modernist artistic trends in the early part of the 20th century and one of its fascinations was the supposed overt sexuality of non-Europeans, the assumption that "non-Western" cultures have a greater appreciation of sexuality or sensuality than Europeans. The primitive African - Africa being the dark continent - was viewed as overly sexed.
It is that same primitivism that led to an acceptance of the non-white female model in fashion, an acceptance based on stereotyping blackness, rather than equality. A black woman is never "classically beautiful" simply because the idea of the classical is such as to exclude non-Europeans. We talk of "other classicisms" but the "other" here is emphasised - not quite the same as European classicism, the one that goes all the way back to ancient Greece, by definition the cradle of European civilization.
A black woman cannot be classically beautiful. That is a contradiction in terms. A black woman is beautiful but only as an exotic, primitive other. At least, that is the stereotype. The inherent racism of this proposition, when put this way, is easy to spot.
The day we see women as women rather than as ethnically defined will mark a change in fashion. Until then it will continue to be a barometer of society, reflecting its prejudices and stereotypes.
Photographer: Antonio Genco
(All photos modelled by Alex B.)
Or, if they're not picked for their exoticism, they're accepted for print or broadcast because they have white characteristics: straight hair, delicate bone structure, and lighter skin than average for their respective demographics. Not to mention a clear, uncolored dialect of English or whatever language in which the medium occurs. One season of America's Next Top Model featured an aspiring young black woman who was repeatedly told - by Tyra Banks herself - to clean up her thick Atlanta, GA accent.
ReplyDeleteWhy are we surprised? Fashion is inherently about "an ideal," and since EuroAmerican culture now dominates the world, the "ideal" is of course Caucasian, even Nordic since Nordic types tend to be the most extreme "Caucasians." I have read that even in Japan and China, "white" skin is highly prized while natural brown Mongolian skin is somewhat scorned; also that in the Caribbean islands there are classes defined by "lighter" and "darker" skin among those of African ancestry! Absurd! But it shows how utterly EuroAmerican "ideals" have soaked into world culture.
ReplyDeleteI hate this! In ancestry and appearance I am "Aryan" enough to satisfy even Adolf Hitler--yet I love human beauty in all its hues, shades, sizes and shapes, and I am passionately against any form of racism, ageism, sizeism or any other "ism" that insists one type of human is better than any other. I'd do away with "typing" altogether if I could! And fashion too. I tend to agree with Kahlil Gibran: "Your clothes conceal much of your beauty, yet they hide not the unbeautiful." (The Prophet)
As usual, beautiful pictures here! I especially like the one of you on the rocks; you look downright primitive yourself! Sort of a mix of Tigress and Wise Woman. And the one with you in, or rather mostly out of, the pink blouse and brown trousers is both "innocent" and tremendously sensual--a huge change from so much of your work in which you are either a genuine glamour queen (clothed) or a sage (nude).