With a tagline like ‘‘The Beauty Revolution: No norm is the new norm,” Vogue was setting the stage for an awesome, body-positive, all-inclusive photo shoot. The March issue of the iconic fashion magazine was supposed to be a celebration of the modern American woman, in all her diversity and beauty. But it didn’t quite live up to expectations.
The first issues began to arise looking at the ‘diversity’ issue’s cover. Though it did feature Liu Wen, the first Asian woman to ever be on the cover of Vogue, it still fell short. Though there are several other models on the cover who are women of color, they all have relatively light skin tones. In addition, out of the seven cover models, only one, Ashley Graham, is a plus-size model, despite the fact that around two-thirds of the women in America wear a size 14 or up. Though the cover models are of different ethnicities, they all have fairly similar skin tones and body types. And lots of people aren’t buying it.
Many critics on the internet–especially Twitter–have pointed out all these flaws on the cover of Vogue’s supposedly ‘diverse’ March issue. But the cover wasn’t the only part of the magazine critics took issue with.
In a photo shoot reportedly designed to pay homage to an earlier spread from 1966, beautiful backdrops complemented a Japanese geisha posing prettily. Only one problem: the “geisha” pictured is Karlie Kloss, a white model. Why exactly is this a problem?
First of all, how hard would it have been to find a model with Japanese heritage for this shoot? I’m guessing not that difficult. It was, to put it mildly, unnecessary, to have a white woman posing for this shoot.
Second, this hits a number of offensive and racist practices. By putting a white woman in traditional Japanese clothing and makeup, this promotes whitewashing (the erasure of people of color by replacing them with white people), yellowface (an extremely offensive practice in which white people dress up and make themselves up to look “Asian”), and cultural appropriation (when white people take the culture, in this case fashion, of another, usually non-white group, and use it for their own purposes). This photo shoot is disrespectful to Japanese culture, making it something edgy and trendy for white people without regard for the importance of this culture to its people.
Third, there are a lot of misconceptions about geishas. The Japanese geisha is a figure that is often misrepresented, romanticized, or otherwise misused by Americans, particularly white Americans. Traditional geisha fashion is undeniably beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, but difficult to promote without falling into cultural ignorance. Without a proper understanding of the cultural role, importance, and impact of the geisha in Japan, the photo shoot becomes an uncomfortable case of cultural appropriation for its aesthetic.
Now, Kloss has since apologized for the photo shoot and its insensitivity, and Vogue has removed the photos from its website. But the disrespect and lack of consideration for Japanese culture is unacceptable. Even more cringe worthy is the appearance of such a photo shoot featuring a white model in the magazine’s ‘diversity’ issue.
Celebrating the diversity of the American woman is REALLY IMPORTANT. Vogue was right about that. But they need to do better. Women of every race, ethnicity, skin tone, body size, and body type deserve to see themselves on the cover of a magazine as respected and lauded as Vogue. But that truly means embracing the diversity of the American women. Women with dark skin, with natural hair, women who are only five feet tall, women who are fat, women of every color and shape and size. Everyone deserves to see their culture treated with respect. Representation is important, but it needs to be done right!
There are a lot of problems in the fashion industry, and sometimes it feels like for every step forward we take two back. But here’s hoping that Vogue will learn from their mistakes and move forward from here towards true diversity that celebrates all American women–not just the all-American girl.