THE RACE ISSUE
Researching diversity and representation of race in contemporary fashion editorials
RACE & REPRESENTATION
En undersøgelse af diversitet og repræsentation af race i nutidige modeserier
Lise Charlotte Lehwald
Bachelor in Visual Communication, 15 HP VT 2018, K3, Malmö University
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research is to examine the diversity and representation of models of color in ELLE US’ 2017 fashion editorials. As the purpose is twofold, so is the methodological approach, which looks at the material through both a quantitative content analysis and a qualitative visual analysis. Theoretically, the analyses are grounded in postcolonialism, representation and the concept of new racism. To discuss medias’ influence on audiences, the theory also presents related research on this subject.
Illustrating a statistical lack of diversity, as well as tendencies of stereotypical representations, the research indicates a postcolonial discourse in ELLE’s content – results that are problematic both in relation to racial equality and to the socially constructed beauty-ideals that ELLE takes part in creating.
ABSTRAKT
Formålet med denne opgave er at undersøge diversiteten og repræsentationen af farvede modeller i ELLE US’ modeserier fra 2017. Ligesom formålet, er den metodologiske tilgang todelt, da den undersøger materialet gennem både en kvantitativ indholdsanalyse såvel som en kvalitativ visuel analyse. Teoretisk tager opgaven sit udgangspunkt i postkolonialisme,
repræsentation og konceptet ‘new racism’. For at kunne diskutere mediernes indflydelse på deres publikum, præsenterer teorien også relateret forskning inden for dette felt. Analyserne viser både statistisk manglende diversitet og tendenser af stereotype repræsentationer, hvilket indikerer en postkolonial diskurs i ELLEs indhold – resultater, der er problematiske både i forhold til
racemæssig lighed og for de socialt konstruerede skønhedsidealer, som ELLE er med til at skabe.
KEY WORDS
Racial diversity, Representation, Race, Stereotyping, Beauty-ideals, Discourse, Fashion Editorial, Postcolonialism, Symbolic Annihilation, Tokenism, New Racism
SØGEORD
Racediversitet, Repræsentation, Race, Stereotyper, Diskurs, Skønhedsideal, Modeserie, Postkolonialisme, ’Symbolic Annihilation’, ’Tokenism’, ’New Racism’
TABLE OF CONTENT ABSTRACT ... 1 ABSTRAKT ... 1 KEY WORDS ... 1 SØGEORD ... 1 1. INTRODUCTION ... 3 2. BACKGROUND ... 4
2.1. ELLE MAGAZINE & FASHION EDITORIALS ... 4
2.2. RACE & ETHNICITY ... 4
2.3 MEDIA, BEAUTY & IDENTITY ... 5
3. PROBLEM ... 6
4. PURPOSE ... 6
4.1. RESEARCH QUESTIONS ... 7
5. THEORY ... 7
5.1. POSTCOLONIALISM, ORIENTALISM & NEO-ORIENTALISM ... 7
5.2. NEW RACISM, TOKENISM & SYMBOLIC ANNIHILATION ... 8
5.3. REPESENTATION & SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM ... 9
5.4. STEREOTYPES ... 10
5.5. RACE AS A SIGNIFYING PRACTICE ... 11
5.6. MYTH ... 12
5.7. DISCOURSE AND POWER ... 12
5.8. RELATED RESEARCH ... 13
6. METHOD ... 14
7. CONTENT ANALYSIS ... 15
7.1. MATERIAL – CONTENT ANALYSIS ... 15
7.2. DELIMITATIONS OF MATERIAL ... 15
7.3. CONTENT ANALYIS - METHOD ... 15
7.4. CODING ... 16
7.5. CONTENT ANALYSIS - ANALYSIS & RESULTS ... 17
GRAPH 1 - RACIAL DIVERSITY ... 17
GRAPH 2 - RACIAL DIVERSITY COMPARED TO US CENSUS ... 18
GRAPH 3 & 4 - RACIAL DIVERSITY IN SOLO EDITORIALS VS. GROUP EDITORIALS ... 18
8. VISUAL ANALYSIS ... 19
8.1. MATERIAL – VISUAL ANALYSIS ... 19
8.2. METHOD – VISUAL ANALYSIS ... 19
8.3.VISUAL ANALYSIS - ANALYSIS & RESULTS ... 20
EDITORIAL B ... 20
EDITORIAL C ... 22
9. DISCUSSION OF THEORY, METHODOLOGY & RELIABILITY ... 23
10. SUMMARY ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION ... 24
11. CONCLUSION ... 27
12. FURTHER RESEARCH ... 28
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 29
REFERENCES ... 29
MATERIAL & IMAGES ... 30
APPENDIX 1 – EXAMPLE IMAGES FROM EDITORIALS ... 32
APPENDIX 2 – CODING FORM ... 33
APPENDIX 3 – CODING OF CONTENT ANALYSIS ... 34
APPENDIX 4 – US CENSUS ... 36
APPENDIX 5 – VISUAL ANALYSIS ... 37
EDITORIAL A ... 37
EDITORIAL D ... 38
EDITORIAL E ... 39
1. INTRODUCTION
Following New York Fashion Week 2013, Bethann Harrison, a casting director and former fashion model, penned an open letter to the CFDA1 in which she highly critiqued and called out
designers and brands that featured none, or only a single colored model in their runway
shows. “Eyes are on an industry that season after season watches design houses consistently use one or no models
of color. No matter the intention, the result is racism” (Harrison, 2013). From a western historic point of view, white skin has been considered a trademark of beauty for centuries. From colonial times, where white skin signified power, wealth and social status, to Japanese geishas who paint their faces white, or fairytale Snow White; a girl with skin ‘as white as snow’ who was ‘the fairest of the all…’ And the notion seems to have stuck; even today the poster girl for beauty is predominantly white. In 2017 however, there seemed to be a shift. While the media industry was still receiving critique for neither being inclusive nor diverse enough, and for often employing stereotypical representations – the fashion industry was praised for a wave of consciously embracing diversity and inclusion. ‘The Fashion Spot’ reported that the 2017 runways were the most race-inclusive yet (thefashionspot.com, 2018), and in an article for the Washington Post, Givhan (2017) called the industry ‘more diverse, more inclusive, more open' than ever before. As a young woman, I know these media-dictated beauty-ideals all too well both through the eyes of my girlfriends and myself. Although we know that the media portrays unrealistic ideals, we still can’t seem to let go of the feeling that we need to live up to them. While I have always been an avid reader of fashion magazines, it wasn’t until my internship at the Danish ELLE Magazine (during fall 2017) that one thing about these magazines struck me; ELLE DK practically never features any models of color. An observation that raised the question: What happens when a beauty-ideal (red. being white) is genetically unobtainable? While we can color our hair and wear make-up or certain clothes to meet an ideal, it seems ridiculous that an outdated notion of race should play a role in the concept and perception of beauty. While Hall (2013) says that meaning can never be fixed, our modern society, culture and the media have done a good job of keeping this particular notion up. Based on the differences in opinion and observations presented above, this research will examine a selection of ELLEs fashion editorials, to discuss it’s diversity, representation and discourse on race from a visual communication point of view.
2. BACKGROUND
Before delving into the research at hand, this section will firstly introduce relevant background for the subject, followed by a presentation of a few terms and understandings that will be used throughout the research.
2.1. ELLE MAGAZINE & FASHION EDITORIALS
The material for the analysis is a selection of content from ELLE Magazine, and this section will briefly introduce the brand. ELLE Magazine is the biggest fashion magazine in the world, with national publications in 45 countries. The American edition (ELLE US) – the subject of this research – is published by Hearst, and has around 5 million monthly American readers, as well as a large number of international readers (ELLE media kit, 2018). The magazine is printed in just over a million copies, and has a readership of 86,4 % women and 13,6% men, with a median age of 39,6 years (Ibid.). In its mission statement, editor in chief Nina Garcia, describes the magazine as follows: ”ELLE is for independent, smart, and energetic women who love fashion. ELLE embodies the
qualities that are most relevant today – it’s democratic, innovative and inclusive” (ELLE media Kit, 2018).
Fashion magazines hold an abundance of content, from advertisements and articles to interviews and editorials. Out of a large variety of images, this research will concentrate only on fashion editorials, as these are either created or curated by the editorial staff and, as such, represent the opinions and perspectives of the magazine. A fashion editorial is a series of photographs (with a title and subtitle) that features one or several models and is shot either in a studio or on location. The purpose of the fashion editorial is to present a new style, trend or type of fashion.
2.2. RACE & ETHNICITY
As this paper will deal with the subject of race - a concept that is multifaceted and has laid ground for much controversy and discrimination – this section will shortly describe what is meant by the term, how it is understood scientifically, and how it will be employed in this research. While the concept of ‘race’ is often intertwined with the concept of ‘ethnicity’ it is important to understand that the two are not synonymous. Lind (2010, p.3) describes the term ‘race’ as categorizations defined by physiological characteristics, where ‘ethnicity’ is defined by culture, nationality, ancestry and social traditions and norms.
Both historically and today,racialdiscourses have worked to set limitations for some groups within a society, by indicating an inherent difference based on physical appearance alone – most
predominantly concentrating on skin color (Ibid. p.131). From both a cultural and a scientific standpoint, it is, however, commonly recognized that the term ‘race’ is a socially constructed concept, as there are no social, cultural nor biological measurable difference between human beings with different skin tones (McLeod, 2000, p.131) - a point that both McLeod and Lind (2010) stress. W.E.B Du Bois criticized the notion that race could be seen and used as
physiological categorization, arguing that it is rather a product of cultural and social character (Du Bois, 1897, p.53-55). In the article “Unraveling the Human Genome: six molecular milestones” (Gannon, 2016), a group of American scholars agree with Du Bois’ statement from a biological perspective, arguing that the idea of race is a weak subject for categorization (Ibid.). However, the same scholars argue that racial categorization (based on visual cues and physical
appearance) can be relevant in some instances. “While we argue phasing out racial terminology in the
biological sciences, we also acknowledge that using race as a political or social category to study racism, although filled with lots of challenges, remains necessary given our need to understand how structural inequities and discrimination produce disparities between groups” (Yudell, 2016 in Gannon, 2016). Recognizing and
acknowledging that the term ‘race’ is a social construct, and based on the points just presented, this research will employ the term as a set of codes/categories for studying racial issues in fashion editorials – looking at markers such as skin color, hair, and physical features.
2.3 MEDIA, BEAUTY & IDENTITY
It is no secret that media plays a huge, if not a defining role, in the question of representation and perception of beauty. Hall calls the media ‘one of the most powerful and widespread circulators of meaning’. It is not only able to disseminate messages to immense amounts of people, but also has a powerful weight behind it, making the representations and ideologies that the media put forward seem hegemonic (Hall, 1981, p.14). When these media representations - e.g.
representations of race - are consistently repeated, or are presented in stereotypical ways, there is a strong tendency for them to become ’naturalized’, meaning that we take the representations for granted as ’truths’, while they become manifested in our common and individual consciousness (Hall, 2013). As Bignell outlines in Media semiotics (2002), magazines – in their powerful positions – not only represent social contexts by referring to them, but also shape the meanings of these social contexts for the women who read them. At the same time, the fashion magazine, as a genre, has its own set of connotation and understandings that help the readers encode the content (Bignell, 2002, p.64). In the same way that we inherently understand that the clothes in a fashion magazine are what is currently in fashion, we also approach models with a predetermined understanding that they are beautiful - a notion taught to us by our society; models are the
‘embodiment’ of beauty. When audiences appropriate representations created and presented by the media – whether that be an image in a magazine, a TV-show or an ad in your social media feed – we use these representations not only to understand society but also to understand
ourselves. According to Hall, meaning “is what gives us a sense of our own identity, of who we are and with
whom we ‘belong’ – it is tied up with the question of how culture is used to mark out and maintain identity within and difference between groups” (Hall, 2013).
3. PROBLEM
In our western society, the media has a hegemonic position in relation to many of the discourses that govern our social lives, relationships and understandings. As one of many types of media, fashion magazines take part in dictating what concepts such as ‘fashion’ and ‘beauty’ look like, as their representations of these concepts often characterize the ideals that exist within a society. From a postcolonial perspective, we are so accustomed to certain elements and beliefs in our societies that many of the issues relating to racial representation stem not from intended harm, but from unconscious and unintended habit and socially constructed knowledge. Although the western fashion and media industry is becoming more and more aware of, and initiate more and more conscious efforts in creating diverse and inclusive material, there are still tendencies of stereotypical representations, tokenism and symbolic annihilation – all aspects that affect the identities of individuals in our societies.
4. PURPOSE
As visual communicators, we will be part of the next generation who create, and thus decide, how things are represented by the media, and will have the power and responsibility that comes with this role. Whether we are photographers, art-directors, editors or graphic designers, our work comes with a responsibility to consider not only our intended message with the content we produce, but also how an audience will perceive it, and with what effects. Where we often focus our attention to one specific campaign or image, this research will do the opposite, and look at a much larger collection of material. This, because when it comes to issues such as how the media helps maintain unrealistic and non-diverse beauty-ideals, it is not the fault of one editorial, of one ad-campaign or one image. Quite the contrary, I believe the issue to stem from the amount of images that all point in the same direction - the saturation of a very monotone beauty-ideal that is repeated year after year in a variety of different medias and contexts – thus creating a strong and indisputable discourse.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the diversity and representation of models of color in the 2017 editorials from ELLE US. This, to identify whether there is reason for criticism towards the industry, and to discuss why diverse representation is important, and what effect lacking and stereotypical representations have on it’s audience and contemporary society.
4.1. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
– To what extent is race diversely represented in ELLE US’ 2017 fashion-editorials?
– How are models of color represented in fashion editorials from a postcolonial perspective?
5. THEORY
The following section will present the theoretical and critical perspectives from which the research is carried out, and introduce terminology that will be relevant for the following
discussion. Overall the theory takes off with a postcolonial perspective, from which it moves into the subject of representation with the many concepts and ideas that this subject covers.
5.1. POSTCOLONIALISM, ORIENTALISM & NEO-ORIENTALISM
As a critical perspective, postcolonialism deals with the impact that colonial and imperial empires have had on our societies today, and seeks to change or rectify the socially constructed prejudice and biases that these powerful empires have imprinted on the racial discourse of our modern society (Pooke & Newall, 2008, p.194). One of the aspects that have given reason for
postcolonial study is Edward Saids concept of orientalism - a critical perspective that concentrates specifically on how western societies historically have constructed an ‘exotic’ portrayal of the far East, to support its own role as a hegemonic powerbase (Said, 1979). In his book, Orientalism, Said describes how the west systematically portrayed the orient as fantastical, exotic and dangerous in texts, images etc., which lead to a power divide between the two cultures. As the west represented the far east, it came to own it - the west was active, and the orient was passive (Ibid.). In creating this very biased image of the orient as ’the other’, Said notes that any division (whether race-related or not) into an ‘us’ and a ’them’, can be completely arbitrary. The ‘us’ (the West) can imagine and conceptualize a divide without the acceptance, or even the knowledge, of the ‘other’ (the East). In relation to this self-proclaimed power, Said introduces the Italian philosopher Gramsci, who coined the concept of ‘hegemony’ - the power that the ruling class or
institution has over other/lower classes within the same society. The ideas, beliefs,
representations and understandings of this ruling social group, are the ‘hegemonic’ ideas or ideals (Said, 1979 p.14). Expanding the subject, Said introduces a series of views on orientalism and postcolonialism. The essentialist view argues that the culture an individual exists in plays a fundamental part in constructing his or her identity (Said, 1979, p.205) On the same note, it is important to understand that the construction of identity in our postcolonial society can be affected and distorted by the outdated understandings of ethnicity and race – understandings constructed during imperial times, but have struck, and now subconsciously exist, in our modern society. A problematic element in such racial discourses is the concept of ’naturalization’ - what Hall defines as ‘a representational strategy designed to fix difference, and thus secure it forever’ (Hall, 2013,
p.234). Where Said’s theory is grounded in his contemporary society, the racialized tropes and
essentialist view he describes are however no less relevant or prevalent today. Bayat (2015) describes how the term ‘Neo-Orientalism’ saw the light of day following 9/11, as a new
generation of protagonists – journalists, think-tanks, politicians and modern media-institutions – shaped a racialized discourse on Muslims and Islam, portraying them as irrational, trapped in old-fashioned ideas and norms and as a threat to the cultural values of the West (Bayat, 2015). Another major development relating to racialized discourses and its construction of identity is the rise of online and social media, as an abundance of new platforms and types of media are
continuously introduced, giving way to a whole new social dynamic and way of exchanging meaning (Worsham, 2011). Arguing that identity is very much socially constructed, Worsham believes that modern media is transforming identity formation (the results of which will be further explored in 5.8 Related Research), as we are no longer shaped by our local communities alone, but by global networks as well (Ibid.).
5.2. NEW RACISM, TOKENISM & SYMBOLIC ANNIHILATION
As the western world has moved from openly structuralized racism (take for instance South African apartheid and American segregation) to strongly condemning explicit acts of racial discrimination, one could think that racist acts would go along with it. However, in many aspects of our social life, we are still able to identify racist tendencies (although these are often
unintentional) - which has brought with it theories and terminology that look at the issue in more modern frames. As the name indicates, Bakers theory of new racism describes a new generation of racism that is much more subtle and indirect than what we would generally consider racist (Collins, 2004). According to Collins (2004) new racism relies heavily on mass media; it presents hegemonic ideals and uses politically correct terms, but often still employs racial stereotypes in
representations of people of color, or create illusions of racial inclusion - that way falling into outdated understandings of race and ethnicity. This way, new racism can be hard both to grasp and identify, especially because it may not even be conscious or intentional of the sender. (Ibid). One concept that perfectly illustrates how new racism affects modern media, is the concept of tokenism. In short, tokenism is the practice of using a small number of people from a minority to create an illusion of equality (between genders, races, ages etc.), and only doing so to make a symbolic effort (Newmann, 2017). In the context of this subject (and the fashion industry in general) tokenism is often used to meet a ‘diversity quotation’, as a fashion designer or casting-director, magazine uses one or a few models of color to avoid being accused of being
discriminatory. Adding insult to injury, the industry sometimes even uses these ’token’ models by emphasizing their difference and using their ‘otherness’ and ‘exoticism’ in over-accentuated ways (Newmann, 2017, p.35) - thus misrepresenting not only the model, but anyone who identifies with her race and ethnicity. A last media-related term is that of ‘symbolic annihilation’, which describes an underrepresentation, or the complete lack of representation of a social group
(defined by race, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status etc.) by the media (Lind, 2010, p.5). The term was coined by George Gerbner in 1972 and works off the assumption that the media creates and presents symbolic representations of the world we live in, rather than portraying it objectively and truthfully. Being represented in the media is in itself a form of power, and simultaneously the media has a hegemonic power in who is represented and how they are represented (Lind, 2010, p.5). Lind quotes Gerbner, who states that “representation in the fictional
world signifies social existence; absence means symbolic annihilation” (Gerbner & Gross, 1976, p.182 in
Lind, 2010 p.5). In relation to symbolic annihilation, sociologist Gaye Tuchman comments on the concept, arguing that absence, trivialization or condemnation of certain social groups by and in the media can legitimize a devaluation of the group in question (Ibid.). It is relevant to note that these racial issues of representation aren’t exclusive to the media. Just as the concept of new racism describes subconscious racism as a result of postcolonial discourses, it also applies to more practical contexts – here known as institutional racism – where disparities between races are easily identified in relation to education, jobs, wealth, criminal justice etc. (Mishra, 2014). While Mishra attributes institutional racism in the US to unequal and odd distribution of resources, he also stresses that the problem of racist practice is a global issue (Ibid.).
5.3. REPESENTATION & SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM
The theory of social constructionism describes how a society develops joint,
understandings as social representations – a set of values, ideas, beliefs and norms that are shared between the members of a society (Moscovici, 1973). In the construction of meaning, Hall believes representation to be a key component. In short, representation is the way people use language to say something about or represent the world meaningfully to other people. Representation is the production of knowledge through language and discourse (Hall, 2013). Now, meaning doesn’t inherently belong to concepts or objects, but is given and constructed by systems of representation by setting up codes that correlate our conceptual understandings with our language. (Hall,2013, p.9). It is, however, important to note that Hall stresses the point that meaning cannot be fixed, but is fluid and can/will evolve over time (Hall, 2013, p.226).
An essential element in the creation of meaning is the concept of difference - without it, meaning cannot exist (Hall, 2013, p.224). Hall exemplifies this by describing how we understand the color black. In itself, the color has no inherent essence nor meaning, rather, we understand it in contrast to the color white. Both get their meaning from their opposition with each other, in the same way we differ good from bad and warm from cold - it is the difference between the two that signifies (Ibid.). From a constructionist perspective this means that all signs are arbitrary to their meaning. It is worth noting that Hall points out that these binary opposites are often overly simplified, and that not all differences are binary - there isn’t just black and white, but an
entire specter of color. However, between binary opposites, a power-relationship will almost always arise, in which one of the two is perceived as inferior to the other – white over black, man over woman (Hall, 2013, p.225).
5.4. STEREOTYPES
In the process of making and understanding meanings, we use what Richard Dyer calls ’types’ – categories and groups into which we classify people, objects and events to easily understand them (Hall, 2013, p.247). A type is a vividly memorable, easily grasped and widely recognized
characterization, by which a few traits about a person are highlighted to stand out, leaving little room for change or development (Ibid.). A stereotype, while very similar, will take these
characteristics and reduce the person in question to these traits; it will exaggerate them, while also trying to fix them, making the characteristics seem inherent and natural (Ibid.) – thus often relating to practices of racism, sexism and/or religious bias.
Bradley Gorham defines a stereotype as ‘a cognitive structure that contains the perceiver’s knowledge, beliefs
and expectancies about some human group’ (Gorham, p.133 in Lind, 2010, p.17). What is important to
note here is that the perceiver’s knowledge is not necessarily true, and that stereotypes are in fact social constructs. Stereotypes and stereotypical representations will often lead to a prejudice from
people who don’t fall into the stereotyped group - a prejudice which Healey (1995 in Lind, 2010, p.3) described as ’the tendency of an individual to think about other groups in negative ways and to attach
negative emotions to those groups’. Hall also describes how stereotypes often occur when there is a
divide in power, in which the hegemonic group - what Hall calls ’us’ - uses stereotypes to maintain their power over the minority - what Hall calls ’them' (Hall, 2013, p.248). Lind (2010) believes that the simplification of characteristics is one of the reasons why stereotypes are often employed in the media.
While it can be effective in portraying certain concepts, it also plays a part in creating and
maintaining generalized perceptions of not only characters in the media, but also real life people, who visually fall into a stereotypical category - a generalization that then not only exists in the media, but subsequently also moves out into the real world and affect real life people (Ibid.).
5.5. RACE AS A SIGNIFYING PRACTICE
Continuing from the previous section, Hall (2013, p.248) believes that stereotyping plays a significant role in the representation of racial difference. But why exactly is it that race has become a signifying practice? Healey believes that because our lives are so heavily saturated by media and a constant stream of new information, we are almost programmed to make snap
An example of racial stereotyping in a fashion editorial from the August-2017 issue of Interview Magazine. The image was highly critiqued for employing stereotypes of Asian immigrants (Abarbanel (2017), Image: Interview Magazine, 2017)
judgments about people, often based on their most obvious characteristics; gender and race (1995 in Lind, 2010, p.3) These two specific variables stand out, because they also play an important part in how our society categorizes people (female/male - black/white) - and are therefore more ‘relevant’ than say hair color, height etc. Healey also argues that these two categories - race and gender - are used, simply because we are historically taught so. Lind quotes him, saying, “Our perceptions and impressions in the present are conditioned by the dividing lines that reflect
group relations in the past. Our ‘knowledge’ that skin color can be used to judge others and our sensitivity to this characteristic reflects our socialization into a race-conscious society with a long history of racial stratification”
(Ibid.). To sum up, the importance that our society puts on signifiers such as race and gender has nothing to do with the physical aspects of race and gender, but is the result of our societies interpretation of, what it means to belong to a gendered or racial group. (Lind, 2010, p.7)
5.6. MYTH
Shortly put, Barthes (1957, p.128) concept of myth is a type of speech that presents a socially constructed ideology as if it were a natural fact (Ibid., p.19). Often used in the communication of social or political messages, Barthes stresses that with myths meanings ‘aren’t natural but cultural,
not given but produced, not real but mythical’ (Ibid., p.20) - we already know it from Saids orientalism, in
which the hegemonic western society portrayed a mythical representation of the eastern world. In relation to ideology, Barthes believes that myths often work to serve the ideological interest of a particular group within a society - usually the hegemony - presenting their ideas as ‘fixed truths’ (Gauntlett, 2008, p.24). But, as with representation, myths always exist within a certain context, and are therefore subject to change over time (Ibid.). Gauntlett even uses race as an example, which fits well with the theme of this research, as he states ’two hundred years ago, it would be
self-evident that black people were inferior to white, that women were inferior to men… the ideology of today is different, but not necessarily any less unjust (Ibid., p.25).
Myth thus has the ability to make constructed meanings seem not only acceptable, but natural, which leads with it a danger that the audience - the people who are receiving the meanings - takes the myth for granted - accepting it as a natural fact (Gauntlett, 2008, p.23).
5.7. DISCOURSE AND POWER
Where much of Hall’s interest concentrates on representation from a linguistic perspective, Foucault concentrates more on how knowledge is created, rather than meaning. He introduces the concept of discourse, as a way of analyzing how humans understand themselves in their culture, and grounds his work in history - looking not only at contemporary meaning, but also at how it
has evolved historically (Hall, 2013, p.29). Broadly put, the term discourse describes a way of talking about things, within a particular group, culture or society (Gauntlett, 2008, p.18). A discourse is the set of ideas that shape how the group thinks of and perceives the world, and often arises through a repetition of monotone representations (Ibid.). A discourse is thus not just a linguistic concept, but rather a combination of language and practice (Hall, 2013, p.29). Media often plays a big part in the creation and maintenance of certain discourses, due to its hegemonic voice in society - and discourses therefore have a powerful role in the definition and construction of certain topics - or whether certain topics should even be addressed at all (Lind, 2010,
p.7). Foucault argues that a discourse constructs a topic; it defines and produces the objects of our knowledge, and governs the way a topic can be meaningfully talked and reasoned about.
5.8. RELATED RESEARCH
While this research doesn’t directly examine how the audience is affected by the representations in the fashion editorials, it is no less important to the discussion of our subject. Looking at researchers who have explored these effects, is therefore not only relevant, but also lets us explore the site of audiencing in the following discussion.
In her essay, ‘All I really needed to know (about beauty) I learned by kindergarten: a cultivation analysis’
(1997), Susannah Stern discusses the effect of beauty-ideals disseminated by the media.
Representations that Stern herself describes as ’the restricted ideals of beauty’, insinuating that the images in the media are neither diverse nor inclusive (Stern, 1997 in Lind, 2010, p.38). Stern introduces a statistic that shows that an overwhelming percentage of young American girls and women are unhappy with their physical appearance, feeling that they cannot live up to the beauty-ideals that dominate their contemporary society (Ibid. p.39). To this fact, Stern raises the question of where these ideals come from – who creates them, and how do girls, who haven’t event reached adolescence learn them? One of the biggest sinners, that Stern points to is the media, as she explains that the insecurities don’t just come with peer-pressure from other girls and women, but can be traced back to our formative years, where television, magazines and advertisement heavily influence and shape our thoughts and understandings (Ibid., p.38-39). Through a cultivation analysis, Stern collects qualitative data on beauty perception, and cross-references these results with the media-viewing habits of her subjects. She finds that the amount of media appropriated to some extend correlates with the subjects understanding of beauty (i.e. the more media a subject consumes, the more likely they are to believe that the media
representations of beauty is an ideal, and something to strive for).
applied to any other visual media) arguing that the media not only presents a very narrow and uniform depiction of female beauty, but also emphasizes an importance of physical appearance - thus telling girls and women that it is not only important to be beautiful, but also that being beautiful means falling into a very specific set of visual characteristics (Ibid., p.39). When a girl or woman then ‘fails’ to fit into the socially constructed image of beauty, Stern concludes that dissatisfaction with ones own body seems inevitable (Stern, 1997, p.44).
Relating Sterns research to our own, it is relevant to note that Stern doesn’t specifically consider the aspect of race, but rather concentrates on a more general notion of ‘beauty’ – more often using weight and body-size as examples. That being said, the results from her research do tell us that medial images affect the way girls and women see and understand beauty, which allows us to consider Sterns results in relation to this research.
6. METHOD
To gain an understanding of the representation and diversity of models of color in the 2017 editorials from ELLE US, the analysis is twofold, in that it looks at the subject from both a quantitative and a qualitative standpoint. Where a content analysis will be used to get a broad understanding, and to get hard data on the racial diversity, a visual analysis will look more deeply into the visual elements of a smaller selection of the material.
While we often look to qualitative methods when researching visual content, quantitative methods are just as relevant to the field, as they are able to give us a broader understanding of some of the subjects that are interesting within visual communication (Denscombe, 2009). Rose (2001) points out that a content analysis and visual analysis can go hand in hand – with the content analysis revealing answers and results that might otherwise be overlooked due to the sheer amount of material, while the visual analysis can give us much more detailed arguments and answers. Working with media from a research standpoint, Lind (2010, p.2) believes that material should always be approached with the assumption that content in media affects the society and population that it exists within. It is therefore worth noting, that the following analysis is looking at the material with the hypothesis that there are flaws in ELLEs representation of race. As the research includes two separate analyses, I will be presenting the two individually, first going through the methodology, analysis and results of the content analysis, followed by the same three steps for the visual analysis.
7. CONTENT ANALYSIS
7.1. MATERIAL – CONTENT ANALYSIS
When selecting material for a content analysis, the material should be both representative and
significant (Rose, 2001, p.57). The material chosen for this research is a collection of fashion
editorials featured in ELLE US – specifically all editorials printed in the 2017 issues, a total of 30 editorials. ELLE US was chosen, rather than a Scandinavian edition of the magazine, as the issue of racial diversity is much more prevalent in American culture – making it a more faceted object for discussion. Looking at a year worth of editorials, delaminates the material to a contemporary and representative unit, while still including both seasons in the fashion industry – S/S
(spring/summer) and F/W (fall/winter). The editorials are identified by their month of
publication and number, making the first editorial in the January issue 1’, the second
‘JAN-2’, and so on. As the material in its entirety counts over 300 images, Appendix 1 contains the first
image of each editorial, to show an overview of the material.
7.2. DELIMITATIONS OF MATERIAL
To obtain as specific results as possible, the sampling has been narrowed down by the following factors:
• Editorials that feature celebrities (singers, writers, actresses) instead of models have not been included, as to avoid any connotations or biases related to their celebrity.
• Male models, children and female models whose faces aren’t visible aren’t included in the
research. Though male and female models are equally relevant in the discussion of racial diversity, the target audience for the magazine is women, and therefore the sampling has been limited to only that gender.
7.3. CONTENT ANALYIS - METHOD
As a scientific method, a content analysis is a way of studying a large quantity of images with some degree of consistency (Rose, 2001, p.55). The method relies on creating, and strictly
following a set of rules, which, according to Rose, will give a set of reliable and objective answers (Ibid., p.54). Rose quotes researchers Lutz and Collins2, who argues that content analysis -
though initially intended for textual analysis - is both valid and valuable for the analysis of images and visual content; ‘Although at first blush it might appear counterproductive to reduce the rich material in any
photograph to a small number of codes, quantification does not preclude or substitute for qualitative analysis of the picture. It does allow, however, discovery of patterns that are too subtle to be visible on casual inspection and
2 Lutz and Collins used a content analysis when researching racial diversity and representation in photographs
protection against an unconscious search through the magazine for only those which confirm one’s initial sense of what the photos say of do (Lutz and Collins, 1993 in Rose, 2001, p.55). Thus, the content analysis is a
good fit for creating a series of simple, descriptive statistics, that organize the data and gives a good base for a discussion on and comparison of the material (Denscombe, 2009) – here, understanding the racial diversity in the ELLE’s editorials.
7.4. CODING
To ensure objectivity three external coders have carried out the content analysis. Specifically, I enlisted the help of coders who in age, gender and interests fit within ELLE US’ target audience, and, due to the nature of the content, coders who have knowledge of American culture and society. To ensure intercoder reliability, the coders carried out the analysis independently. The coders were given a coding form (attached in Appendix 2) with instructions for the coding and were asked to fill out the form for each of the editorials.
First, the coders were asked to register the number of the editorial (e.g. JUN-2), the title of the editorial, and to identify whether the editorial was shot on location or in a studio.
Next, the coders were asked to categorize each of the models into one of five racial categories. To create a framework for the coders, the coding form contains images of two models of each racial category3, that serves as visual aids for the coding (see Appendix 2) Each model was to be
registered once pr. editorial, meaning that if a model was featured throughout an entire feature, or more than once in an image, this was counted as one model. For editorials featuring extras (people who are not models), only the models that were credited counted towards the analysis. When creating a set of codes, Rose (2001, p.60) states that these must be exhaustive, exclusive, and
enlightening. The racial codes in this research thus became:
• Asian • Black
• Hispanic/Latin • White
• Other/undefined
These categories were determined based on how previous research has coded for race in content analyses. In particular, my codes were inspired by the codebook on race from Frith, Cheng & Shaw’s study ‘‘Race and Beauty: A comparison of Asian and Western models in Women’s Magazine
Advertisements’ (2004), in which they also carried out a content analysis to look into racial diversity.
While the US racial census (2016) recognizes only three of these racial categories (Asian, Black and White), it does allow citizens to identify as Hispanic/Latin as an additional race/ethnicity. Another argument for including Latin as a racial code comes from a study completed in 2015, that showed that 69% of people with Hispanic/Latin roots, considered this their race, rather than an additional element (Gonzales-Barrera & Lopez, 2015). On these accounts (and taking into consideration that this research looks into concepts of identity and representation) I found it relevant to include Latin as a racial code. Finally, the coders were given the option of a neutral code (‘other/undefined’), in case the coder was unable to categorize the model in question. After all three coders had completed the coding, all three sets of answers were compiled into a master (Appendix 3.4), from which the actual analysis was made, and from which the results were drawn. While most of the answers matched, there were some cases in which the coding wasn’t unanimous, in which case majority ruled. The answers that didn’t cohere are highlighted in each of the analyses, as well as in the master (Appendix 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 & 3.4).
7.5. CONTENT ANALYSIS - ANALYSIS & RESULTS
After collecting the data for the content analysis, the data was analyzed both by univariate and bivariate analysis. The content analysis counted every model present in every fashion editorial from ELLE US 2017 – a number that summed up to a total of 100 models.
Here, the results of the analysis are presented, firstly to gain an understanding of the racial diversity in numbers, and secondly in comparison with relevant factors, that will be further explored in the discussion.
The first analysis looks solely at the racial diversity throughout the entire material, as Graph 1 shows the percentual representation of each of the five racial codes. As expected, the most predominant group is ‘White’ models, which makes up 60% of the overall content. The second largest group, counting 30%, is 'Black’ models, while models coded as ‘Asian’, ‘Latin’ and ‘undefined’ make up the last 10%. Translating the percentages into ‘real numbers’, the statistics tell us that throughout an entire years worth of editorials, the ELLE only features three Asian and six Latin models.
GRAPH 2 - RACIAL DIVERSITY COMPARED TO US CENSUS
Since we are looking specifically at the racial diversity of the American issue of ELLE and will be discussing how lack of representation affects its audience, it is interesting to look into to how the racial diversity in the magazine compares to the racial diversity in the US (US census is attached in Appendix 4). As the graph above shows, the category white is the only in which there is a somewhat coherence between the representation in the editorials and the American population, where both the Asian and Latin categories are clearly underrepresented in the editorials. The most interesting aspect of the graph is seen in the category ‘Black’, of which the representation in editorials is more than double as high as in the US Census.
The last analysis on the data from the content analysis is a comparison of the racial diversity in editorials featuring respectively one model or two or more models – an aspect that is interesting to compare, as there is a difference between a model of color having an editorial to herself, or including a model of color in a group of models. The most striking result is that the category ‘Asian’ is completely eliminated in Graph 3, meaning that not a single Asian model was featured alone throughout the entire year. Looking at editorials featuring two or more models (Graph 4), the numbers are almost identical to those on ELLE’s overall racial diversity (Graph 1).
8. VISUAL ANALYSIS
Where the content analysis has given us a bigger picture of the racial diversity in the material, numbers and percentages can only tell us so much and only illustrate one aspect of the racial issue. The purpose of the visual analysis is to explore the material from a qualitative perspective, to be able to look more detailed into aspects, such as stereotypical representations, in the
material.
8.1. MATERIAL – VISUAL ANALYSIS
As explained in 8.1 Material, the specific material for the visual analysis would be determined based on the results of the content analysis. Graph 2 showed a surprising result, as the category black models stood out, being the only variable in which the representation was higher in the magazine compared to the population, which made this specific category interesting to look at in greater detail. Simultaneously, the representation of both Asian and Latin models is so sparse that it would be difficult to draw any conclusion from the little material there is. The material for the visual analysis has therefore been narrowed down to the six editorials that exclusively contain black models; FEB-2, MAR-2, APR-1, MAY-2, JUN-1 & SEP-3.
8.2. METHOD – VISUAL ANALYSIS
Using semiotics as a methodological standpoint for a visual analysis, means employing a set of concepts that help make sense of not just which meanings images are portraying, but also through what elements (Rose, 2001, p. 106). Based on Rose’s description of semiotics, the following analysis will look at the six selected editorials and characterize them through denotations (signs that labels things and concepts for what they are) and connotations (signs attributed with socially constructed meanings and associations) (Hall, 2013), to understand the narratives and elements by which the models are represented.
constructed meanings. Whether indexical, iconic or symbolic, signs work to help us understand meaning, as we exchange it with other members of our society. On a methodological
level, semiology doesn’t just work with images on a denotative-, but also on a connotative level, allowing us to understand the meanings that the image carries in its cultural context (Rose, 2001, p.105). Rose (Ibid.) presents a comprehensive list created by Gillian Dyer that presents various elements that might be of interest when analyzing images that present people. While Dyers list is aimed at analyzing advertisements, some of the categories – other than the obvious race, also
setting, clothing and props – are equally relevant to apply to editorial images.
8.3.VISUAL ANALYSIS - ANALYSIS & RESULTS
As earlier mentioned, six of the 30 editorials have been analyzed from a qualitative, visual
perspective. As the methodology is applied in similar ways, the following section will present two of the six analyses. The complete visual analysis (including images) is attached in Appendix 5.
EDITORIAL B
MAR-2 ,TAKE THE A-TRAIN
As both the title and sub-title indicate, this editorial is shot in Harlem - a Manhattan
neighborhood famous for the Harlem Renaissance4. ’Take the A-train’ refers to a famous
jazz-standard by Billy Strayhorn, named after a train-line that went to Harlem (Wintz, 1996). Already by the first page, the editorial has shown us that we are in a neighborhood that has played an important role in African-American history. The editorial is shot in a variety of different locations in Harlem - using either neutral big-city settings (image 1 and 7) or places with either historic or cultural relevance; for example as in image 12, taken in front of the iconic Apollo theater, or image 8, taken in a classic black salon/barbershop, which is an inherent part of African-American culture, and often used in visual representation - movies or images - of black culture (Smithsonian, 2018). The models are styled with natural curly and braided hair
respectively, and while a variety of styles of clothing is shown, elements such as big, gold hoop earrings, jewel-toned colors and denim are frequently used –characterizing a style that is often linked to African-American girls and women.
Image 11 is interesting to discuss in relation to stereotypes, as this image portrays a group of African-American ballet dancers in the background - an industry that has also seen issues with racial diversity, and in which African-American ballerina Misty Copeland stood out as a trailblazer, when she in 2015 became the first African-American to be promoted to principal
4 The Harlem Renaissance was a social and artistic up rise of American culture in the US. Where the black migration, as
African-Americans moved from southern to northern states was a physical move, the Harlem Renaissance was the mental equivalent of this shift. Harlem, NY, was the hot spot of this blossoming of black culture, being home to many black artists, writers, composers etc. (Wintz, 1996).
dancer in the American Ballet Theater (Waxman, 2018)
(Take The A-Train, ELLE US, March, 2017)
EDITORIAL C
APR-1, ‘HEAVEN AND EARTH’
This editorial is set in what seems to be some sort of African scenery. The images portray a fairly anonymous building, dominated by natural materials and earthy tones in both surroundings and the fashion the model carries. The walls and ceilings are of a raw concrete, and the floors seem to be either dirty or wet, as if it has recently rained in the open-space rooms. The play of colors and materials between the flowing, monotone dresses the model wears, the large jewelry of metal, rope and beads and the rustic backdrop contribute to creating a very natural, simplistic and primitive environment. Also the props and accessories add to the ‘back-to-nature’-feel of the editorial. The element of an open fire (image 10) helps set the stage, while its wild flames also work on a symbolic level, adding an element of an uncontrollable force of nature. Especially the large, unglazed ceramic pots appear in the background, and that the model carries (image 2) create a clear reference to documentary images of African scenes, often portraying women who carry pots and jars on their heads, but here working more like an African myth. The editorial is the perfect example of racial stereotyping and mirrors an African edition of Saids orientalism. It relates the model to a culture and a world that has nothing to do with the modern-day African-American, thus continuing a long-held historical and mythical stereotype of people with black skin.
9. DISCUSSION OF THEORY, METHODOLOGY & RELIABILITY
The first thing to consider in relation to this research is that some of the theory – Du Bois and Said – is somewhat older, compared to the contemporary nature of the material. In regards to my subject it is, however, interesting that theories on racial difference that were written almost 50 years ago are still relevant to material produced today. Another aspect to consider is the
limitations of the racial codes used in the content analysis. While such a framework is necessary to carry out an analysis, the categories are simultaneously restrictive in a more general discussion of race. An example here is, that while the category ‘white’ covers a very wide set of physical attributes, there would be a grand visual difference between, for example, a Dane and an Italian. Because the visual analysis ended up looking exclusively at ‘black’ models, this has obviously affected the results, and will affect the following discussion, as we won’t be able to discover whether Asian and Latin minorities are represented in stereotypical ways. However, the fact that there were so few models of Asian or Latin race that it would have been hard to draw any conclusions on their representation is a point in itself. Regarding the visual analysis, it is also important to consider my role as a researcher – the interpretations of denotations and connotations are made based on my social understanding and context.
When comparing the racial diversity in the magazine to the US Census, we must account for a demographic difference. Unfortunately, the census isn’t defined by neither age nor gender – aspects that would have been beneficial to the comparison in Graph 2, and could have given much more specific results. Simultaneously, ELLE US doesn’t disclose the racial diversity of their readership, which would – if available – have made for another interesting site of comparison. Another aspect worth noting is that the material is limited to only one publication. Had the analysis rather looked comparatively at different magazines, the results might have been different, and would have given us a greater understanding on the subject as a whole. Finally, for the following discussion, we must keep in mind, that the material has been approached with a critical perspective, aiming at identifying problematic tendencies and representations
10. SUMMARY ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
As expected, the content analysis strongly confirmed that the racial diversity in the material was highly dominated by white models – almost two in three models were white.
Looking at the numbers alone, the results in Graphs 1 & 2 give reason to discuss both the issue of tokenism and symbolic annihilation. While the percentage of models of color doesn’t differ drastically compared to the US census, the numbers are still strikingly low considering that an Asian or Latin reader would only see a model who looks like her 3 and 6 times respectively throughout a year. Numbers that clearly point towards symbolic annihilation, and gives reason for concern, considering Tuchmans notion, that absence of a social group allows a devaluation of the minority in question (Lind, 2010, p.5) When it comes to the concept of tokenism, it is harder to determine from the quantitative approach, as the concept implies a perfunctory motive of including models of color just to reach a diversity quota and avoid criticism, something I cannot comment on, as I haven’t spoken with the editors behind ELLEs editorials.
The most surprising results from the content analysis is seen in Graph 2, which shows that the percentage of black models in ELLE is almost twice as high as compared to the US census – a fact that, objectively, should be acknowledged. Where all other data points to an
underrepresentation of minorities, it is interesting why one of the three minorities here
accomplishes the exact opposite – a result that naturally raises the question of why black models seemingly are ‘overrepresented’ compared to Asian and Latin models. While there isn’t one true, factual explanation to this, it is relevant to consider the context of ELLEs production. Of course, the editorials don’t exists in a vacuum; just like editorials take part in creating and portraying ideals to their contemporary society, they are also a product of the social understandings and the discourse of that same society. Both historically and currently, the black community has been object to discussion and controversy, as the community has moved from being segregated to a continuously rising equal role in the American society. Looking at a movement as Black Lives Matter, the black community has a presence in the media, which demands attention, and raises awareness of racial inequality. That being said: one thing is representation, another is equality.
Searching for tendencies of stereotyping, it is eye-catching that three of the six editorials from the visual analysis (MAR-2, JUN-1 and SEP-1) were set around a theme of street-style fashion, were all shot in New York, and visually repeated many of the same features; basketball-courts, skaters, graffiti, denim and gold-hoop earrings. While these three editorials all portray the same theme – a
repetition that points toward a stereotype – it is interesting to see how some elements in some of the images actively work to disprove stereotypical concepts or stigmas concerning African-Americans – as, for example, the ballet dancers in MAR-2. One on hand, the
counter-stereotypical elements indicate that ELLE does make an effort to include different cultures, and had they shot the same editorials with a white model, some would be quick to criticize the content of cultural appropriation5. On the other hand, however, the repetitiveness of the theme
does raise an issue. When half of the editorials featuring black models revolve around similar narratives, the representation becomes stereotypical, as they almost seem to be naturalizing a modern stereotype of ‘the black girl’ through simplified, reduced characteristics (Hall,2013, p.247). Generally the black models are almost exclusively represented in series that have a strong narrative (except in FEB-2), and in which the color of their skin has significance to that particular narrative. Where the New York-themed editorials are playing with stereotypes of a modern character, other editorials (APR-1 & MAY-2) have narratives in which the representation is closer to Barthes myth, by not relating to reality. Especially the editorial APR-1 is concerning, in which the representation could be described as an African version of Saids orientalism – the desert-like setting, natural textures, the open fire and especially the element of the model carrying large ceramic pots refers to a mythical African scene that in no way relates to African-Americans in our modern society, but solely concentrates around the models skin color.
As Said (1979) and Hall (2013) theorize, and as Stern (1997) go to prove in her research,
representations by the media are highly influential on its audience – it takes part in governing our shared meanings, as well as how individuals understand and construct themselves within a society. While this research purposely hasn’t examined the specific effects of ELLEs
representations on its audience, it has identified elements in the material that raise concern - it lacks diversity and conveys racial stereotypes. Tendencies that indicates a postcolonial discourse, as Said (1979, p.205) describes it as having a subconscious presence in our modern society. These representations – or lack thereof – are problematic due to their influence on ELLEs audience. On a general level, the representations only continue to condone racial stereotypes, which will carry postcolonial issues further into time and continue to naturalize it in further generations. On a more individual plan, stereotypical representations make it hard for young girls and women to identify with the representations of beauty in the media. As Stern proved in her research, girls
5 Cultural Appropriation;’ The unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members
of another and typically more dominant people or society.’ (Oxford English Dictionary, 2018)
and women are almost bound to struggle with self-confidence and sense of identity, when they aren’t able to meet the unrealistic ideals that they see in the media. In the article Why does Media
Representation Matter?, Heusinkveld (2015) also discusses effects of lacking representations on
media audiences, expressing many of the same concerns as Stern. Although Heusinkvelds article only presents fractures of her research (of qualitative interviews), she does highlights a quote by a young college student, who self-identifies as biracial; “When I was asked to draw pictures of myself, I
would always give myself a head of blonde hair until I was about six years old. Why did I want to do this? Because I thought that being blonde was way prettier than having dark hair. However, a part of me likes to think that if the movies and TV shows I watched showed a more accurate representation of who I was, I might have been more willing to embrace who I was at a younger age” (Heusinkveld, 2015). A quote that clearly illustrates why diverse media representations matter. As a powerful media-institution, ELLE is telling
women not only how they should see themselves, but also how society sees them. Even if the audience knows that the images are constructed and that the ideals presented are unrealistic, this does in no way mean that they aren’t affected and influenced by the content..
Taking up the results and considerations just described, it becomes relevant to discuss the concept of intent. It is, personally, my belief that none of the material in ELLE US is in any way meant to exclude, offend or harm any of its readers, but, as the theory of new racism suggests, our contemporary, postcolonial society is subject to a new form of racism that is much more subtle than what we normally relate to the term ‘racism’. Considering both the diversity and representations found in ELLEs editorials, the material present a clear postcolonial discourse. The content of the magazine reflects not only the social understandings by ELLE as a brand, but also the collective understandings of the staff behind the magazine –photographers, editors, stylists, writers etc. – who in cooperation are responsible for the messages that their material portray. The content they produce mirrors their perceptions, which, as the research tells us, seems to bear traits of certain socially taught, outdated misconceptions about people of color – understandings which are then continued and maintained through the content they produce. Where some magazines, such as Essence, Latina or I-D Magazine are very conscious of making diverse content, these don’t have quite the same status and impact as more high-profile brands. As one of the most acclaimed and recognized fashion-magazines worldwide – alongside Vogue, Marie-Claire and Glamour – ELLE has a hegemonic power on the discourse of fashion and beauty. Just like we, as visual communicators, have a responsibility and ethical obligation to consider the effects of the material we produce, ELLE has exactly the same.
ELLE itself has addressed the issue of racial diversity through several articles on elle.com – (e.g. Katsha, 2017 & Hunt, 2017) – in which they discuss the subject and even refer to the same data on diversity from fashionspot.com that was presented in 1. Introduction. These articles show that ELLE, as a brand, does have an awareness of the issue, and judging by the discourse in the articles, ELLE is very much pro racial inclusion, equality and diversity. Unfortunately, their own material doesn’t quite fit the form – a point that illustrates the subconscious nature of new racism and postcolonial discourse, and stresses the importance of critical evaluation.
11. CONCLUSION
The results from both the quantitative and qualitative analysis have – to some extent – confirmed the hypothesis, that the material would show both a lacking diversity as well as a tendency of stereotypical representations of models of color. While the numerical representation of black models exceeded my expectation, they were still subject to stereotypical or even mythical portrayals. From a postcolonial perspective, it seems that ELLEs representation of all three minorities are problematic, and contribute to maintaining a sense of ‘otherness’ – a defining difference - between ‘them’, the minorities, and ‘us’, the white majority. Though each individual issue of ELLE US might not raise concern - the racial diversity of each magazine might seem fairly diverse, and the representations might not scream ‘stereotype’ – it is, from a visual communication point of view still important to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Exactly that has been the aim of this research; to consider not how each individual magazine or editorial appears – but what the overall messages and discourses produced, published and pushed by ELLE looks like. While this research can only conclude on the racial diversity and
representations of race and beauty in ELLE US, I am personally convinced that the issues we have identified here are far from exclusive to ELLE. Considering the climate of the ongoing debate on racial diversity, inclusion and equality, one can only assume that the issues don’t stop at ELLE, but applies to many other magazines and types of media – which would point to a much wider problem in both American and other western societies.
In conclusion, this research goes to show how important it is to have a critical eye as a visual communicator. Even though we have identified flaws in ELLEs editorials, I simultaneously recognize an effort of trying to create racially diverse material. In my opinion, it seems that there is still need for a continuous, conscious effort to break through the glass ceiling of new racism, before reaching a new era in which diversity and beauty - not only regarding race, but also age,
gender, body shape etc. – is represented widely and equally.
12. FURTHER RESEARCH
Where this research has looked at the material and issue of racial diversity and representation from a somewhat objective perspective, it would be both relevant and interesting to widen the research with a qualitative analysis of the direct effects of the specific material, conducting interviews with the audience of the magazine to understand if and how they are affected by the ideals that the magazine presents. When writing about difference, Hall says that what is said about racial difference could equally be applied to other dimensions of difference, such as gender, sexuality, disability etc. (Hall, 2013, p.215). Had the time and opportunity been there, it would have been immensely interesting to not only look at hegemonic beauty-ideals from a racial standpoint, but also include other aspects such as body-type, gender, and age – aspects in which the current diversity and representations is also very monotone.
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Advertisements
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