SO JUST IN case y’all weren’t sure, *this* is what Gigi Hadid, one of the top models in the world looks like:
Gigi is blonde, blue-eyed and, most certainly, Caucasian or ‘white’ in appearance. Her father is originally from the Middle East – Palestine to be specific, although he’s now a Jordanian citizen – but Gigi would not be what you call a ‘person of colour’.
So last night, when Gigi posted the latest Vogue Italia cover on it, with her good self as the cover star, people were confused.
See for yourselves why….
Ehh..yeah, that cover model doesn’t really look one bit like Gigi
Here’s the Vogue Italia May 2018 versus the next month’s Vogue Japan cover, both apparently showing the face of our gal Gigi. Her skin tone is noticeably darker than usual and her features have been elongated to look more middle-eastern/Mediterranean in the photo for Vogue Italia. She’s unrecognisable.
Initially, people were confused by the cover.
But the bewilderment turned into anger. Many thought that the very dark tan and dark hair was an attempt to make her look like a ‘person of colour’, which is known as ‘blackface’.
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It should be noted that Gigi would have nothing to do with the final editing of the photo. But it should be her responsibility to come forward and address the controversial photos.
Fans wrote underneath her instagram to show their displeasure with the offensive picture:
@prateeitgoyal
not cool. Please try models from other ethnicities if you have to use that much bronzer.
If you’re a lil confused as to why this photoshoot is offensive, one fan. @lowkeywithlily, summed up really well why this photoshoot was wrong
[I] didn’t say about this being Gigi’s fault. Buuuut I’ll explain this to you. Let’s forget the tan, and look at the photoshopped facial features k. She’s got an elongated face and nose as well as dark dark hair. These are typically features found in women from the Mediterranean. Gigi is Palestinian technically Mediterranean, but she does not exhibit these features herself.
So Vogue Italia imposed this Greco Roman ideal on to her bc they were going for a certain “look” (which I can understand since that was clearly the inspo for dolce Gabbana). Vogue Italia could have hired a woman of the culture they were looking to exhibit OR just kept Gigi the way she is.
It’s not only stealing others culture but it’s also stealing jobs…. does that help?
It is incredibly frustrating because non-white models find it extremely difficult to get modelling gigs compared to their white counterparts. So if Vogue Italia wanted a non-white model for this shoot, they really should have just hired one.
Of course, some white people thought there was no controversy, which is a bit like a man telling you that sexism doesn’t exist.
@seneccaa hilariously addressed white people seeing no problem:
Thankfully there are 79543819 white girls here to reassure everyone that this isn’t offensive.
If someone of colour is telling you something is racist, you should listen to them. END OF.
Before Vogue Italia come out and plead innocence for the controversy, know that the photographer they hired for the shoot, Steven Klein, has a long and checkered past of courting publicity.
In 2009, Steven, the photographer, took these blackface photos of model Lara Stone for Vogue France.
This is what Lara normally looks like..
In 2015, the same photographer took these very problematic photos of Kylie Jenner in a wheelchair
Photographing an able-bodied person for provocation is wrong, when it’s reported that 63% of people with disabilities live in poverty. If they were trying to show that those in wheelchairs can be ‘fashionable’, then you should use a real person with a disability. Not someone who ‘s ‘playing at being disabled’.
