The fight for women’s rights and equality has been an ongoing struggle from the mid 1800s to the current day. However, it has become increasingly apparent that feminism does not always include representation and/or beliefs and ideas from black women. There is a lack of racial representation in the feminist movement as discussed by Audre Lorde in Sister Outsider. This deficiency of a racial perspective results in feminist battles solely fighting for white women’s needs and rights. For instance, in the 1960s, Betty Freidan, in her Feminine Mystique, argued for the right of women to work. The majority of black women at this time, however, was already working and instead wanted freedom and time to spend with their families. Their economic hardships, low paying jobs, and overall needs were not taken into the same consideration as white women’s. Black women face twice the difficulties, stereotypes, and oppression that white women face. They are not only treated subordinately by men but also by white society. They face a ‘double bind’ due to their sex and their race.
Peggy McIntosh in her article entitled White Privilege argues that white society has advantages and privileges that usually are undetected and deemed part of ‘normal’ life as they are deeply engrained and imbedded in society. White people are not taught to distinguish or acknowledge their ‘natural’ superiority and hierarchy. They learn to believe they are “morally neutral, normative, and average, also ideal” (McIntosh, 1).
Thus, through this view, the white woman could be seen as the ideal epitome of the female race. This opinion is firmly established throughout the media. The majority of magazines, movies, and TV shows depict white men and women. Allison Samuels, writer of the Newsweek article Cover Girl?, notes that most black actresses have trouble finding employment within Hollywood unless “Tyler Perry is making a film. Hollywood and the fashion industry just don’t care” (Samuel, 2). Thus, when a black woman appears in the media, there is usually a big ‘hurrah.’ However, in the case of Gabourey Sidibe’s appearance on the cover of Elle magazine, there was an opposite reaction. The debate behind Gabourey Sidibe’s cover photo for Elle magazine illustrates how far society still is from establishing equal rights and opportunities for black women. Discussions on the cover have generated a range of opinions on why Sidibe was pictured as such and what this represents for black women.
Gabourey Sidibe is an actress known for her role as a mistreated teenage that ends up victorious in Precious. Her talented performance won her an Oscar nomination for best actress. As a result of her recent fame, she was photographed for the covers of both Ebony and Elle magazine. While her cover on Ebony generated no negative reactions, her Elle debut has received massive criticism and disgust. It has been argued that her cover demeans her blackness and tries to transform her into the ideal woman stereotype.
Gabby Sidibe is known for her dark, Sengalese skin and her voluptuous (far from size two) body. However, her photo shoot for Elle magazine created an entirely different image of Sidibe. Her pictures show her with tremendously lighter skin and are cut so that only her upper body is visible. Her hair weave in the photo has been described as “an old used up brillo pad that has too many greasy spots” (Thomas).
The Newsweek article delves into the reasons behind this misleading and controversial depiction of Sidibe. Sidibe has acted in only one film and yet she is being thrown on the cover of Elle with the magazine’s staff reasoning that they want to portray a “young lady changing the world.” Samuels, the article’s author, counters with the fact that Sidibe has done little for her to necessarily have the ability to change the world. Thus, Samuels thinks this is not the real reason behind Sidibe’s cover. Furthermore, other black actresses who have received considerable acclaim similar to Sidibe for certain film roles have not received the same attention from magazines that primarily target a white audience. Moreover, there were three other Elle covers the same month which captured the beauty of Lauren Conrad, Megan Fox, and Amanda Seyfried; all white, thin, stereotypically beautiful women. The difference between their appearances and Sidibe’s is overwhelmingly apparent. So why did Elle extend so far from their typical women candidates?
It can be assumed that Elle magazine needed to put a black woman on the cover of one of their magazines in order to show their diverse nature. Sidibe was a perfect candidate because as Samuels explains, Sidibe has a “nonthreatening beauty.” Sidibe is plus-size and has a dark skin tone. Her physical attributes are a far cry from the world’s archetype for female beauty. Therefore, Sidibe cannot change or challenge opinions of stereotypical beauty. She cannot be considered a danger in the global stereotype arena or challenge assumptions about beauty and attractiveness because she is such an extreme and so far from society’s idyllic beauties. Furthermore, Sidibe can be argued to fit into one of the categories outlined by Douglas in her chapter “You Go Girl”; the powerful black woman. Thus, again, Sidibe fits into an image society has deemed acceptable and non-threatening for black women in the media. If Elle magazine had photographed a black woman who did not fit into one of Douglas’ categories, this could threaten white superiority. If a thin, light-skinned black woman with model facial features was photographed, this could also threaten conventional beauty and female stereotypes. These approvals of blackness could ultimately threaten white female superiority as well as threaten the magazine’s buyer pool. It could endanger the system and the ideals that have been created. Thus, by placing Sidibe on the cover, the magazine did not put at risk any societal conventions, while simultaneously proving how far our culture still is from racial equality.
Furthermore, Elle magazine did not just photograph Sidibe, they also lightened her skin tone and hid her voluptuous, curvy body. Sidibe’s photos were photo-shopped to make her more physically appealing to society as a whole. Society is bombarded with images of women that are termed to be perfect and flawless and these images are what the average woman is supposed to strive to look like. However, these representations are false and misleading as the regular woman is not a size 0 and cannot spend hours each day or heaps of money on makeup and clothing. It is unrealistic and certainly not viable. Yet, as Levy discusses in Female Chauvinist Pigs, these ideal female images are what men and society as a whole want to see. They are sexually pleasing and play into male fantasies. Thus, women continue to struggle to turn themselves into such images; to conform and match expectations. As Johnson says in his article on patriarchy, women are following the paths of least resistance and abiding by the rules of the system. Thus, in order to keep Sidibe within these lines and boundaries and to appeal more to society, her skin was lightened and her body hidden. She was made to look more like the white ideal and less like her unique self.
This has enraged women, especially black women. Blackness should not be a negative trait in women. It certainly should not be hidden as if unwanted and revolting. This is also true with body size. Curves should be loved and flaunted. The anorexic female ideal is harmful and not a sincere depiction of a real average woman. Amusingly, the Elle editor-in-chief insists that they did not lighten her skin and that “at a photo shoot, in a studio, that is a fashion shoot, that’s glamorous, the lighting is different” (TheyBF.com). However, it seems pretty extraordinary that they did not lighten her skin when in Ebony magazine, Sidibe’s photograph had the same natural dark coloring as in person (which would have the similar lighting techniques and apparatuses).
Another condemnation of the photo-shoot had to do with Sidibe’s hair. Sidibe has been “seen…on a plethora of red carpets, giving it to em’; hands on hip, and that weave just right” (Thomas, 2). However, in Elle magazine’s photos, her hair was criticized to have been styled terribly and poorly. Assumptions have been made that the magazine did not have black hair stylists present at the shoot. This is an example of white privilege. McIntosh notes in the effects of white privilege on her life that “I can go…into a hairdresser’s shop and find someone who can cut my hair” (2). McIntosh continues, saying that this is not necessarily true for her African American friends. Services for black people are not nearly as widely available as those for white people. Thus, it is not very surprising that Sidibe’s weave was unable to be appropriately done as there was no one at Elle magazine to take care of it. It is disappointing that they did not have the foresight to hire a hairdresser apt with working with black hair for Sidibe. Black women’s needs are not met with the same enthusiasm and gusto as white women’s requirements. They are not taken into as much consideration due to inherent, engrained white privilege.
Gabby Sidibe’s cover shoot for Elle magazine shows that although black women face double binds from two angles of society (gender and race); their oppression is largely ignored and not fought with equal ferocity as the struggle for white woman’s equality. Her cover illustrated the stereotypes society has placed upon female beauty. Women should have light (white) skin, small bodies, soft hair etc. Since Sidibe did not fit into these categories, she was altered using computer technology; photo-shopped to have lighter skin and camera chopped to hide her body. The media’s portrayal of women has to change. Black women should be as celebrated as white women. White privilege needs to end and in order for that to happen; the media has to work against the system. People cannot blindly follow societal ideals otherwise white privilege will never be questioned or fought. Also, women should be celebrated for their unique, distinctive bodies. They should not have to conform to ideals. Sidibe should have been distinguished for herself and not for what society wanted her to be. Once the media, such as Elle magazine, stops following these paths of least resistance, society might have a chance to end systems of privilege and instead create systems of equality and fairness.“Elle Magazine Responds to Gabby Sidibe’s Cover Controversy: The Lighting Is Different.”
TheyBF.com. September 18,2010. September 25, 2010.
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Johnson, Allan G. The Gender Knot. “Patriarchy the System: An It, Not a He, a Them, or an
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Levy, Ariel. Female Chauvinist Pigs: "The Future That Never Happened." A Division of Simon & Schuster
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Lorde, Audre. Sister Outsider. Crossing Press: Berkeley, 1984.
McIntosh, Peggy. “White Privilege and Male Privilege.” Wellesley College Center for Research
on Women: 1988.
Rose, Sandra. “Sandra Rose on Gabby Sidibe’s Elle Cover” Booker Rising: News Site for Black
Moderates and Black Conservatives. September 15, 2010. September 25, 2010.
Samuels, Allison. “Gabby Sidibe: Cover Girl?” MSNBC.com. September 20, 2010. September
Thomas, Geneva S. “Gabby Sidibe’s Elle Cover is Another Reason Why Black Fashion
Directors Are Necessary.” Cluthmagonline.com. September 10,2010. September 25,
Williams, Mary Elizabeth. “The Touchy Politics of Elle’s Gabby Sidibe Cover.” Salon.com.
September 13, 2010. September 25, 2010.
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