Predominantly white women are on the covers of women’s magazines. While scavenging through magazine covers dating 20-40 years ago the number of ethnic faces are scarce. As we get to more present dates the increased amount of women of color that are shown is still a minority compared to the faces of the white women that are featured.
According to a 2008 communication research called, “A Changing View: Representation and Effects of the Portrayal of Women of Color in Mainstream Women’s Magazines”, in 1999, 9 percent of minorities, such as Black, Latina and others were represented and 99 percent were white.
In that research it also stated that in 2004, 17 percent of minorities were represented and 83 percent were white.
In that 5 year span there was an 8 percent increase. This increase may be so due to more women of color being in the spotlight or the media.
In 1968 Glamour featured Katiti Kironde II, an African American model. It was the first time a national women’s monthly magazine had a women of color on its cover. Kironde appearance on the cover made Glamour history of being the all-time high in sales record.
Also n 1996 Tyra Banks was the first African American woman to appear on the cover of GQ Magazine and Sports Illustrated. She prides herself on being one of the first women of color breaking boundaries and history by being on those covers.
Those two names and many others have become staples in the magazine business. They paved the way for models such as Jarah Mariano who was the first Asian women to be a Victoria’s Secret model.
“As a women color I have become somewhat immune to the fact that there is rarely ever a girl on the cover of a magazine that looks like me,” said Mabel Locket a Filipino SF resident 27. “ I feel that the strides that we are making as a society of having and seeing people of color out there in the media is great, but when will I ever see a Filipino model?”
As more and more ethnicities are being seen in the media, the more they are in high demand to be seen and to becoming a household name or brand.
1 comment:
i think that unfortunately the magazine world is just a bigger extension of the mass media, so until minorities become more of a mainstream presence in the media then we're not going to see more non-caucasian faces gracing our magazines.
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