vanity fair- is it fair?

The March issue of Vanity Fair (which I am slightly jealous I do not yet have it in my possession) is being called/accused of racism.  Why? Because the front cover features nine very popular, very white females.  As the article states, Vanity Fair itself lacks any kind of ethinic mix- anyone other than a white female is rarely featured in the magazine.  However, there are many indirect yet-not-so-subtle hints that the magazine believes there are not enough female African American actresses. Though it is not as big of an issue as race, of course the cover only features the most attractive, skinny actresses.  If you follow the link to USA Today, you'll find that ever since they put up the possibility of the racist magazine, tons and tons of people have blogged, facebooked, twittered, every kind of technological way possible, about the very likely possibility.  However, the other side of the story is that Vanity Fair is only, "...choosing the demographic because those are the people who read their magazine." USA Today wonders where the famous woman, who goes unnamed, who just won the award from Precious is? If Vanity Fair is doing the hottest stars of now, shouldn't this infamous woman be on the cover with the rest?

I have to say, like many other people, I honestly hadn't even noticed the lack of diversity in all magazines, not just Vanity Fair.  As a twenty one year old girl, I consume magazines like food- and have not had the issue of race when it comes to magazines in my mind until now.  But, now that I'm thinking about it, it's true.  Cosmo, Vanity Fair, Seventeen...where are the African American women? Yes, African Americans have their own magazines just for them, such as Ebony, but does that mean they need to be completed excluded from what has been dubbed "white" magazines? Do we think, as a society, that African Americans are not reading these magazines? Of course they are-Cosomo is one of the top magazines in the country.  I think Vanity Fair is simply going with what mainstream is- white, skinny, attractive, nothing-goes-wrong-in-my-life-because-I-live-in-a-sitcom girl.  There could be a number of reasons for this, most of which are named in Media Society.  In chapter six, Croteau and Hoynes speak about television shows and why they are the way they are- making fun of certain races, only focusing on whites, etc. I believe this is similiar to what is going on here.  As they state, "[researches] study media content to assess the significance of that content."  There are more than five ways that researches do the assessing.  One that I think is relevent to this is content as reflection as producers.  The producers of the televisions show reflect their views, beliefs, and even family lives for "story inspiration".  For the editor of Vanity Fair magazine, he/she is most likely white, because statistics show few African Americans hold authortive positions.  The editor is probably reflecting what he/she knows and is comfortable with- white individuals.  Another possible content is content as reflection of society in general.  We, as a society, have been struggle with race for entirely too long.  The magazine may follow what this content considers mainstream norms, social values, and just the interests of the society all together-which, in the case of Vanity Fair, are white people.  There is also the possibility of content as an influence on audiences.  If the editor knows his magazine is mostly brought by white women, what would the effect of having an African Americaon on the cover have on his sales and magazine reputation?

This is shocking, surprising, and straight up weird to think about.  This affects us as a society because pretty much everyone (I'm assuming here) reads a magazine at one point in their life.  What if this became such a big deal that there were strictly "white" magazines and "black" magazines?  How awkward would it be if a white girl went up to her black friend and tried talking to her about an article in a "white" magazine and the black girl had no idea what she was talking about? It would be completely unfair.  There is such a thick line drawn between white and black- we do not need it in our magazines as well. Famous black actresses should be praised just as much as the white actresses.

Maybe I don't want that Vanity Fair magazine after all.

-audra

http://www.examiner.com/x-27061-LA-Movie-Examiner~y2010m2d3-Vanity-Fairs-Racist-March-Hollywood-Magazine-Cover-Too-White-for-2010-Photo