It looks to me like “people of color” have been over represented on magazine covers since the U.S. is appx 75 to 80% white.
5
WOW I usually buy British Vogue, Vogue España or Vogue Italia depending on the month, the cover... (so, I am a frequent reader of this kind of magazines). I got extremely confused (and quite annoyed, to be honest) with the Hadid sisters being "WoC" as in "are you really telling me two half-Dutch, blue-eyed girls, one of them blonde, are considered to be "more coloured" than me, a brow-eyed, dark hair Southern European?"
Rubbish article, to be honest.
18
A magazine cover is by all accounts a visual exercise, especially when what is being discussed is if a certain model "sells" or not. I am perplexed that you would consider the Hadid sisters women of color since, regardless of heritage/origin, they are perceived as white. The enjoy the privileges of being white. So if we can consider Zendaya a woman of color for being half black and the Hadid sisters people of color for being half Palestinians then wouldn't it be normal to consider Zendaya as white as the Hadid sisters when it comes to finding a safe choice for a runway or magazine cover? The fact is that this does not happen because two have alabaster skin and one does not. And in a visual exercise like a magazine cover that is a difference.
The Laura Ingraham's of the world wouldn't have a problem picking up a magazine with Gigi Hadid on it because they can identify with what is staring back at them, the opposite with Zendaya (as someone who is as half white as the Hadid sisters) just wouldn't happen. Perception is reality and to consider the Hadid's people of color is detrimental to the concept as a whole. Heritage is not race and "person of color" is by definition of a color other than white. That the NYT can't see this is disheartening.
13
Looking at the cover, it would seem to be no tribute to anyone of any color, gender etc. to be represented by clownish makeup, shaved eyebrows, and clownish gloves.
Who wants to look like that? Bizarre, unhealthy and I won't buy it. Being extremely strange for a new look?
8
Calling either Hadid a "woman of color" is just laughable. Can NYT be so out of touch?
22
"No woman of East or Southeast Asian descent was featured on the main newsstand cover of any American or European magazine in the group surveyed."
Enough said.
12
The Hadids are considered women of color? Please...
29
I was just wondering about the Hadid sisters being considered people of color and I appreciate that you addressed the conversations regarding this issue, but I still am irked by its inconsistency. Take for example the Kardashians, who are often derided as "basic white girls." Whether or not they are profiting from cultural appropriation is outside the scope of this thought I'm having. I'm simply questioning why some light-skinned people considered poc while some darker-skinned people are excluded from the celebrations. In our society, Armenians seem to be considered white, while their Muslim neighbors (in Turkey, Iran, etc.) are undoubtedly considered "of color." Yet Armenia is farther East and on roughly the same latitude as Turkey. They have similar backgrounds, Armenians simply retained their Christianity whereas many converted to Islam. I am referring as well to Armenians in the Ottoman Empire who were subjected to the same conquests and societal pressures as Ottoman Turks. Maybe we just need a new term for this, something that encompasses people who tend to be discriminated against, including Muslims, Spanish speakers from Latin America, and more generally those whose backgrounds are not European. But for now I am unsatisfied by the dialogue regarding poc.
17
And for those who consider this simply semantics, I believe it has major political implication. Consider, for example, the widespread impression that Israeli Jews are white people living amongst a Middle East full of people of color, despite the fact that Mizrahi Jews from Arab countries are indistinguishable from Arab-Israelis and both Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews flourish in the Ottoman Empire for centuries.
3
Neither Hadid is a woman of color. By the very definition of color, color is more of a shade and not the origin. Fashion magazines are concerned about the aesthetics only. This has been the issue for some time, with editors seeming to lighten up models to appear more white. Now you feature models with alabaster skin as women of color? Please.
19
Please note that it took 126 years before Vogue hired a black person to shoot the cover. Vogue is not woke. They play on the surface of diversity. Thank goodness Beyonce had editorial control to make that happen.
28