Women Of Colour Are Taking Up The #VogueChallenge And Putting Up Pictures Of Themselves On Magazine Covers As A War Cry For Inclusivity. We Love This

Women Of Colour Are Taking Up The #VogueChallenge And Putting Up Pictures Of Themselves On Magazine Covers As A War Cry For Inclusivity. We Love This

For far too long we have been living in a world that has held on to archaic beauty standards. Tall, fair-skinned, no blemishes, straight hair, thin waistline, voluptuous boobs and a year-round bikini body- do you realise that I am describing the Malibu Barbie and no human being? And despite this, we hold women to these standards and the ones that tick the most boxes make it to cover of magazines and the few things they don’t have, photoshop puts it in. These outrageous beauty standards are the reason that for so long dusky women and women of colour all around the world are discriminated against and even bullied. Unfortunately, beauty stands, racism and colourism all go hand-in-hand. 

Of course, no one factor can be blamed for this but the even you have to admit the fashion and beauty industry plays a huge role in propagating beauty standards. For a long time, fashion designers only picked conventional models to advertise their outfits and fashion magazines rarely chose a person of colour to be on the cover. The people that were reflected in these magazines and by these brands only represented a narrow subset of the population. Although the industry as a whole has become much more inclusive, we need to keep these conversations going.

Now, I am sure you’ll have all wondered why your Instagram is flooded with a slew of Vogue magazine covers featuring people of colour from around the world. They might even feature your friend or neighbour who has made a  DIY Vogue cover with their picture on it. This is all part of the viral #VogueChallenge that features people, mainly of colour, posing on what looks like different editions of a Vogue magazine. 

You see, this trend is so much more than a hashtag. It’s a subsidiary of sorts of the Black Lives Matter movement. The thing is, it’s no secret that huge fashion magazines refrain from hiring black models or having people of colour on their covers.This #VogueChallenge is a commentary on all that. To break these norms and to show that these magazines needs to be more inclusive, people from the black community started making these DIY Vogue covers with gorgeous pictures of themselves on it and posting them online. 

What started out as a challenge to depict inclusion quickly spread all around the globe, just like the protests. People of colour everywhere started sharing gorgeous pictures of themselves on a Vogue Magazine cover and it is starting a ton of dialogue. 

A lot of people believe that this challenge is the answer to Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour’s letter that she sent out earlier this week apologising for the lack of inclusivity. 

Do you know what I love about this trend though? The fact that it is a proactive movement that is paying tribute to the BLM movement. I mean, through this challenge all the participants are taking matters into their own hands instead of waiting for fashion brands and magazines to realise the lack of black and other community representation.  

Also Read: Priyanka Chopra Is Being Accused Of Selective Activism And So Twitter Made A Thread Comparing Her Outfits To Trashcans

Check out some of the posts that were shared:  

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBVhdgTJaI7/?utm_source=ig_embed

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBaYOD2Ar8W/?utm_source=ig_embed

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBcjttMliFM/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBc_HFCB6Nu/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBb9CgeDX1s/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBWspKtFuQy/

Finally, there’s a trend that means something and one that may actually lead somewhere!

https://thehauterfly.com/lifestyle/dhruv-rathees-comparison-of-black-lives-matter-to-feminism-completely-misses-the-point-and-this-needs-to-stop/

Mitali Shah

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