Comments on: Vanity Fair: The Beauty of Low Expectations

By: Abi

Abi — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:40:45 +0000

I don’t think we should be mad at this. It’s not worth vexing ourselves about such issues. Let’s face it race is and always will be an issue period. I think the black community needs to stop wasting our time lobbying and petitioning people for acceptance and “equality”. What we do need to do is pour money into our own communities by establishing businesses and then supporting them. We need to learn from every other “ethnic minority” community. It appears that they have all caught on to something the black community hasn’t….keep money in your own community, support and promote one another and you will pretty much not have time to be upset about being excluded from a world view that will always rate you as second class.

By: zenzele

zenzele — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:54:04 +0000

“Pretty, thin, female, and white?” So, Black women aren’t pretty? Anyway, I’ve never bought Vanity Fair, will never buy it, and I don’t agree that every woman on that cover is pretty, nor do I believe that thin is more beautiful than anything else. VF is doing exactly what I expect it to do, and nothing else. Makes no difference to me, at all.

By: designdiva

designdiva — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 20:22:39 +0000

Not criticizing you bella about the topic, it’s an interesting post. I’m just saying that (like sweet young Gabby) why are we paying attention to something that’s not paying attention to us?

By: designdiva

designdiva — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 20:18:53 +0000

I co-sign with Coilsnkinks and Amanda!

I could care less about what Vanity Fair is up to. I’m more interested in the Ebony issue with Gabby on the cover. Ebony had an issue about black designers (sometime last year or so??) Now that is something us sistahs need to pay more attention to!

By: Chatty Patty

Chatty Patty — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 17:14:46 +0000

I have NEVER brought Vanity Fair nor will I EVER! These girls do not represent me nor hundreds of thousands of girls in this country. Half of the faces, I don’t even recognize their talent, much less who they are. As long as we have natural belle’s who love and appreciate their dark and brown complexion, can look at these magazines and laugh, appreciate every curb on their body and not be phased by these racist publications, then we’ve already won!

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 12:37:46 +0000

Vanity Fair’s target market is not black women so they aren’t obligated to place a black actress on the cover. And people shouldn’t
t be surprised considering that 99.8 % of the time the person on the cover is white.

By: Patrice

Patrice — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:24:48 +0000

The Vanity Fair cover doesn’t surprise or shock me. It’s not a magazine catered to or written for people of color so why should they celebrate us? I’ve never bought an issue and never plan to because that magazine does not speak to or for me in any way.

By: rocha

rocha — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:30:15 +0000

bella,
I LOVE your blog! And, this was an AMAZING post. As a writer myself, I understand the difficulty of writing well. And you have done extremely well here. (Please excuse my multiple adjectives, but there is no other way to explain my happiness every morning while reading your blog, even before I read the NY Times.) Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention.

By: Carol

Carol — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 05:23:18 +0000

While I completely feel Zoe Saldona and darling, dear Gabby Sidibe to be two of the best to come to the forefront of Hollywood this year (not to mention Monique), I kind of think that society needs to move on from calling Vanity Fair racist for its cover choices. I mean, like the old saying says, “Boys will be boys”. D-bags will be d-bags.

I don’t think the execs at Vanity Fair sat down and said, “Lets make this years cover shoot all white girls. And at that, extremely white, white girls.” At least I hope not. I would like to think a successful Conde Nast publication is way beyond this.

I am a white girl, one of those very normal, average, nothing special white girls who is overly pale, (I burn in the sun unless I really prepare…). To me, I was suprised they actually used pale, daywalker looking, pale white ladies that weren’t the usual starlet VF cover…the average bronze, dewey broads that usually adorn the cover airbrushed, wearing Dior.

This Hollywood cover was full of pale girls with sparkley makeup, airbrushed wearing Dior, which at first glance made me think it was a Twilight shoot with all the glitter…

I think Vanity Fair was trying to make one point and clearly made another. Although that point may be undoubtedly peppered in bias, it is still there point to make. Is it right? No. Is it fair to Zoe or Gabby? That is a matter of opinion. Is it just a publication expressing the right to publish what it wants? Yes.

Seriously, Vanity Fair is an old joke. They wrote an article about the cut backs Valentino had to start making to be PC during the current economic times. (He stopped stuffing meat with other meat and throwing such lavish parties — dinner parties are much cooler now that watching your money is cool). They write crap that only a woman who has outgrown her subscription to Town and Country could truly fathom.

Vanity Fair is a mess no matter who is on the cover…like it or not. Vanity Fair has also been around long enough to know that shooting a cover like this will generate enough buzz to give a magazine that revolves around money, some media-time during a tough economic time…just saying.

Bella, The Beauty of Low Expectations is a fantastic title.

By: SoFrolushes

SoFrolushes — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:22:48 +0000

*typo* should read ….it does not remove the fact that everyone in Hollywood or Notting Hill are NOT lily white.