Blackface In French Vogue: Racy or Racist? (PHOTOS, POLL)

*Scroll down for photos and poll*

As an African-born, American-raised, black woman, I guess my knee jerk reaction is to be upset about white model Lara Stone being painted in blackface for French Vogue.

But alas, I am unbothered.

The fourteen-page spread, which was shot by legendary fashion photographer Steven Meisel and styled by French Vogue's equally legendary fashion editor, Carine Roitfeld shows Stone, arms akimbo, legs apart, in African-inspired garb. She is also painted black from head-to-toe. Sure, it's chic, but the hurtful, demeaning, insulting history of blackface could not have escaped the creative team behind this shoot, and so the ensuing outrage is predictable - and understandable.

Yet, despite the cheap gimmick of white model/black face/"African clothing," I don't believe it was meant as racist or malicious, nor should it be interpreted as such. To do so - no pun intended - is painting the topic black and white. Carine Roitfeld doesn't hate black people - she probably doesn't know any. More to the point she likely doesn't have any on her staff, especially in an editorial capacity. And that points to the real issue: not a white model painted in blackface, but a dirth of black faces in a white industry.

Quick Poll

Blackface in French Vogue...

Racy

Racist

Share your vote on Facebook so your friends can take this poll

Have you been to a fashion show lately? Be it New York, London or even Brazil, all places I've been fortunate enough to attend shows, you'll notice an eerie parallel between the runway and the audience: a whole lot of milk and very few chocolate chips. In other words, blacks and other minorities of color make up a startlingly small percentage of the editors, stylists, and buyers in the audience. Now there are a thousand reasons - or excuses - why and I'll bet you a meal at the Waverly Inn that I've heard them all. From "a lack of interest from blacks" for fashion/journalism positions to "not enough qualified minorities." Each sounds more hollow than the next.

As a serial chocolate chip in the proverbial bowl of milk - I wear my token badge with pride and a touch of humor

I was introduced to the pitfalls of a homogenous media, years ago. During my sophomore year at Syracuse University the student paper, The Daily Orange ran an editorial featuring blackface. The campus was outraged and the all white editorial staff plead ignorance: they had no idea it would be offensive and truth be told, hadn't known any blacks growing up. They also didn't have any blacks on the staff.

As long as this remains the status quo: silly, stupid spreads like this will continue to proliferate; black models will continue to be a rarity on the catwalk, and minorities will continue to be unrepresented in the pages of magazines

Read more from Zandile on her daily fashion blog, The Blay Report.

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Comments

[velmeezee]

Dang it, my comment below is in reverse order, so to read from the beginning you have to go down 3 posts

[velmeezee]

Can she not be a Bollywood starlet if she so chooses because her first language isn't Punjabi? Or is this just about skin tone, nose shape, make-up and past wrongdoing? Who exactly chooses these things?
Well, now there is definitely a market for black models, within Vogue magazine at least...
Art makes people think and react. That's why it gets banned and burned by those who want to maintain power, ignorance, or both.

[velmeezee]

Hey, how do we know that the model is NOT without African heritage? And we could go on and on about just what tribe the African woman should have come from in order to wear the 'African clothes', right? Doesn't science prove that we all have the same African ancient mother? Most likely, in her as with the rest of us humans, our African roots even closer than that. Maybe a 4th or sooner great grandparent our nuclear family just chose not to adopt the culture of. Most 'black' people have Caucasian roots not far back .My roots are African, Caucasian, Native American, and Hispanic. For me that all adds up to 'black'. My 'black' nephew has blonde hair and blue eyes, should he be denied a role as a black person OR a white person in a film or modeling sh if they want to darken or lighten him? Should my niece who is Laotian and 'black' not be able to be Asian on print if it requires white make-up and black hair dye? How about my niece with roots in India and 'black' America ?
Cont'd

[velmeezee]

maybe these photos ARE what many think, a portrayal of racism on many levels. Maybe the artist did think about the fact that there was no black model hired for an African-themed photo shoot, that many white people would like to have black attributes, that black women can be sensuous and exotic, that there aren't enough black models represented in the high fashion industry. So he made his own "black" model to arouse the irony and GUILT about ethnocentrism in the consumers, also the viewer's realization that the photos would have perhaps been more 'acceptable' with a true representative of the ethnicity portrayed.

[velmeezee]

I am a woman of African decent who is not in the least offended by the Vogue magazine photos. They are VERY beautiful, edgy, wonderful. The model obviously admires African skin tones and cultures, and she has done a great job conveying the sensuality she feels while embracing an African female essence. White people rap, sing blues and R and B, contribute to the hip hop movement, make great afro-influenced music, have African heritaged role models, have African heritaged leaders...when are we the people going to grow up and realize that cultural superiority complexes are dead??? Vogue should have had an African model portray the beauty and sensuality of a European woman, so the masses could be calmed and therefore able to understand and embrace this wonderful artistry.

[liberalrebuttal]

I'm just glad a majority of us called it right. A slight majority, but hey.

[jensixtyten]

Totally amazed at how much more tolerant people are of French racism compared to Australian racism! But then I guess the French are sophisticates so it must be "arty" while the Australians - well, hell, they're just a bunch of convicts after all.

Certainly has opened my eyes lately to the amount of prejudice there is coming from all corners.

[Womanvoter4Obama]

I find this disturbing because there is no shortage of black models who could have done this spread. Is this what it takes to sell magazines..get people talking? Screw you Vogue..I'm in a crappy mood so let me say this..Kiss my black ass.

[eastgerman]

I do have a very widespread general knowledge but this article had me puzzled because I never heard of anything named Blackface before ( I thought it was a bodypaint) . I had to look it up and have learned something new.

I don't why they decited to paint the model instead of using a black one but I don't think they were aware of any political uncorrectness.

[EllaUmbrella]

"I don't think they were aware of any political uncorrectness" -- that's the problem.

[alby91]

why didn't they just use a dark skinned black girl...why do they feel the need to use a white girl and paint her black..i think that it is disrespectful

[Clasique]

ummm why didn't they just use black model?? to tell you the truth I don't find it offensive given the fact the her whole body was painted. had been only her face, maybe I would have seen it differently. I like the spread actually, like someone else said she looks better painted. :)

[pghnappyrhino]

sorry if ignorance of the law is no excuse, ignorance of history certainly shouldn't be a viable one for PROFESSIONAL journalist.

[sueno]

This 'model' is all in 'black' and with her legs open,
and you wonder why these fotos look really stupid.
This photographer is apparently working out
some weird 'sexual' thing, along with his 'racist' views-

[joceeco]

She looks better in Blackface than she does in her own white skin. Sexy and racy are the words I choose to describe the ad!

[noudidnt]

This is another reason among the millions wh i tes should have NO Problem with blacks and other groups having their own fashion and lifestyle magazines. Clearly wh it es have very strange ideas about beauty, culture, and people of color.