Comments on: Model Minority: How Women’s Magazines Whitewash Different Ethnicities

By: laura

laura — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 04:07:39 +0000

Fucking brilliant, lots of humor and even more truth!!!

By: Patricia

Patricia — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 01:54:52 +0000

Thank you so much!

I’m actually mixed African/Arabian ( Egyptian ( that’d be the African part) and Khaleejiah ( although still African because of the so-called “middle east” I am also Arabian. Plus, Korean-Chinese and Japanese and Native American ( Amazonian and North American

By: ...dijo Alex

...dijo Alex — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 21:52:36 +0000

@ Ariel: Thanks so much!

@ MsFeasance: Absurdly enough, this one.

By: MsFeasance

MsFeasance — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 03:50:19 +0000

In what world is Eva Mendes plus-size?

By: Ariel

Ariel — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 01:16:57 +0000

I liked this aritcle a lot…I used it in my blog: themochadoll.blogspot.com

By: ChineseCanuck

ChineseCanuck — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:39:52 +0000

Still don’t get it, dijo Alex. I fail to see the difference between comparing any other ethnicity of women in magazines to “real life” women.

BTW, I’ve actually written a post about this in my blog, so you can check it out by clicking my screen name.

-CC

By: ...dijo Alex

...dijo Alex — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:25:09 +0000

@ ChineseCanuck: True… I assume. Not having grown up in China or exposed to Chinese culture, I’m not qualified to comment on standards of beauty as they exist in that country. I can only analyze and question the way East Asian women are portrayed by American fashion magazines. Hence, this feature. I’m not commenting on the difference between the way women are portrayed in American mags versus the way they are depicted in other cultures or within their own ethnic / racial groups. Rather, the contrast here is between women in magazines and the way real women actually look, particularly when held up against an ideal of white beauty. Hope that helps highlight what I’m talking about.

By: ChineseCanuck

ChineseCanuck — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:32:09 +0000

Well, porcelain skin has historically been the beauty standard in China, so it’s not like Ziyi has been “white washed” for the western audience in that case. I fail to see what you’re talking about.

By: ...dijo Alex

...dijo Alex — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 07:55:15 +0000

@ MMW: I purposefully used these four, generalized groups because these are found most often in mainstream media / American fashion magazines. Your statement on not being able to find Middle Eastern or South Asian women in such magazines is exactly why I chose not to include these groups in my feature. It’s the same reason I didn’t include, say, Native American women or ethnic groups in China who didn’t fit the “pale, small” stereotype.

Additionally, I did not mean to include South Asian women under the “Asian” header at all, on purpose, because there is almost always a distinction in popular culture and language between “Asian” and “South Asian.”

By: Muslimah Media Watch

Muslimah Media Watch — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 07:29:48 +0000

Man! Middle Eastern/South Asian women can’t even get any love in the fashion stereotype arena! Technically, most of us fall under “Asian” but…that’s just…not…IT. Ours would read pretty similarly to the Latina stereotype in some aspects…

Anyway, I can’t think of any Middle Eastern/ South Asian women who have been in any fashion magazines (other than Padma Lakshmi). And trying to include us all under one racial header is useless.

By: pillarofsalt

pillarofsalt — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 03:51:57 +0000

“the tell-tale markers of womanhood - hips, ass. Personality.”

FUCKING BRILLZ!

By: mando

mando — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:01:52 +0000

You hit the nail on the head Alex. Kudos.

By: laura.s.d.

laura.s.d. — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 17:29:56 +0000

Ok. So this is off subject, and discussed previously. . .but. I hate that Latinas on television are usually played by non-Latinas. It happens all over the place. Not just with that chick that’s always being commented on here.

I watch the L-Word and there are have been 2 Latina roles, and both have been played by women of Middle Eastern descent. Plus, they have to be all sexy and tan too. . .Bleh.

By: aydiosmio

aydiosmio — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 08:24:05 +0000

Another common thing with Hispanic women in fashion and in the media is that they usually overdo the whole tanning thing to make their skin look much darker than it is naturally. Anyone who has seen earlier pics of J. Lo, Salma Hayek, even Eva Longoria, can see that they are all naturally much lighter-skinned than they look in the press. J. Lo is the lightest one. And it looks so, so fake! It’s like you can’t be “Hispanic” or “Latin” without your skin having a bronze tinge. You never see any light skinned or very dark skinned Latin women in fashion or in entertainment, the only acceptable skin color is bronze.

By: chanalachile

chanalachile — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 07:02:58 +0000

Bitch Magazine and Bust Magazine are pretty good.