Racist Fashion Trends

1319 Words6 Pages
We live in a world where we are constantly searching for our true identity. The media plays into this search by advertising clothing as pieces that will make us stand out from one another. Fashion has become an extremely influential factor in developing an identity for ourselves. With constant new trends and styles it can be challenging to keep up with what society establishes is the best. Fashion is supposed to make a different statement for each and every person. Fashion, in a way, has gone from helping women express themselves to controlling them in many ways. Our society has created an idea of what is the acceptable norm for advertising and who best wears the clothing in the advertisements. The norms that society has created are blocking…show more content…
The first magazine that caught my attention was the October edition of Vogue magazine. On the cover of this edition is Oscar winning La Femme Lupita Nyong’o. This cover caught my attention instantly because Nyong’o is wearing her beautiful natural hair and her skin tone looks to be the same as I have seen in other photographs, not overly photo shopped to appear lighter (Vogue). The white European culture dictates all of the norms in today’s society. Vogue was the only magazine on the shelf that was featuring a woman of color on the cover. Looking over the 9 Racist Fashion Trends that Need to Die Immediately article, it became clearer that the norm in our society is to have lighter skin. This articles displayed before and after pictures of a woman of color whose skin was lightened significantly when featured on a magazine cover (Clifton). The realization that Vogue was the only magazine on the shelf featuring a woman of color wearing her natural hair and with her skin not lightened really set the precedent for this assignment. Women’s identities are created for them by what society deems appropriate with its standards. Society also shows little to no diversity when deciding who to feature on magazines and other forms of media. Women are never given the chance to be truly free in expressing themselves in their own ways without feeling like they have to live up to many

More about Racist Fashion Trends

Open Document