Friday, July 11, 2008

Italia Vogue shows Eternal Beauty in Black




July's issue of Vogue Italia has hit the newsstands. Why should I care, you say? Because it's the first (and presently only) issue that focuses on black models. This is a momentous occasion (and that's a tragedy considering it's 2008) in that no other magazine has had this focus on models of color before. Naturally there is backlash in the blogosphere where some believe that this is racist because of the focus on black models.

"What if we had an all white issue?" some are saying.

Erm, you actually do have an all white issue in every major magazine known to man. Except for the little spec of color here and there, of course. Oh, but that's just being fair. As long as the token is there, everything is balanced LOL. No sirree. Not anymore. Overall, the news has been met with much excitement and anticipation for the issue.

What About Our Daughters even posted a quote from Franca Sozzani, the editor of the mag:

"Because nobody is using black girls. I see so many beautiful girls and they were complaining that they are not used enough."

Ms Sozzani admitted the issue could yet prove to be unpopular among some in Italy, where the xenophobic Northern League is part of the new coalition led by Silvio Berlusconi: "Maybe in our country it is not the best idea. But I don't care. I think it is not my problem if they don't like it – it's their problem." The Independent

It'd be great if Elle, Cosmo, et. al. would stand up and take notice. They're supposed to be the top beauty mags with women in mind so why narrow your focus of beauty on only one group, even if it is the majority? No proof needed (although looking at this issue, it's definitely proof) that beauty comes in all shades from dark to light. Why not celebrate it?

Beauty mags are supposed to be geared at all women. Now if they really wanna make women started buying these mags by the dozen again they need to feature more scantily clad men on their covers, but that's another topic for another day.

I'm not sure if this issue will ever happen again, so definitely run out and grab your copy. I'm going to try to find mine at the local bookstore and if I don't see it there, I'm going to grab it online. Money talks, as they say, and if we show the suits how we feel with our dollars they will definitely sit up and take notice.

I'll post a few scans, if I can grab a copy.

In the meantime here's a vid of some of the pics in the mag:




Posted by Eternal Beauty in Black :: 2:52 PM :: 0 comments

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Friday, July 4, 2008

Still celebrating Eternal Beauty in Black

Greetings readers,

We're still alive and kicking. We're going to try to keep the blog going and hopefully build a nice database of wonderful links for you to check out for strong black women in film, tv and literature. Lately we've been really getting back into reading and there are some great reads popping up here and there. The sci-fi channel was on a role with shows featuring beautiful women, some of which you can see on our actresses we love to watch sidebar.

Interracial romance is still climbing at an amazing rate thanks to a flurry of ebook publishers acquiring a nice amount. Red Rose Publishing has become one of my favorite new epublishers for IR fiction as well as Parker Publishing.

If you're looking for a compiled list, check out author Pat Cromwell's database here: http://www.patcromwell.com/irmclist.htm

There's also a new site centering around free IR fiction reads featuring AA females as leading ladies. That can be found here at The Chamber: http://valentchamber.com

I have to say it's pretty refreshing to read lots of fiction that feature black women as everyday people, living and loving life. We're not a monolith, we're as diverse as any other folks out there and I like to see this in my fiction, especially with women who look like me. It's funny I'm finding myself reading more fiction online at The Chamber and at the forum Sweetest Taboo than the actual books I buy. Probably for this very reason that celebrates black female leads.

A new epublisher is also coming up entitled Wicked Women of Color Press. Interesting name hehe. In any event they are a strictly multicultural/ir romance epublisher which I am really excited about. They will be strictly invitation only but have an open query policy now until August 15th. So if you're an author you may want to get on the submissions!

Posted by Eternal Beauty in Black :: 9:30 PM :: 0 comments

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