'African Queen' editorial uses white model
French fashion magazine features white teen model painted in blackface.
The fashion world has been known to push the boundaries of what’s socially acceptable and without a doubt, stir controversy.
In the March 2013 issue of Numéro magazine, 16-year-old white model Ondria Hardin appears drenched in a very deep bronze for a fashion spread called "African Queen,” reports Jezebel.com.
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Hello! This would have been the perfect opportunity to hire a black model, as there are fewer job opportunities for non-white models. Eighty-two percent of the models at New York Fashion Week this season were white, cites Jezebel.
More than 150 people have commented on author Laura Beck’s article, including this one from “fashionlady”
“Can I just say as a young black model (I'm a girl) having worked my ass for the past 3 years, this hurts my soul. I'm happy for Ondria as a person but the amount of times I have been told ‘oh sorry we already have a black girl that looks like you’ or ‘most of our clients dont hire black girls, sorry’ and then I see THIS, it pisses me off! There are so many beauitful black models out there working TWICE as hard for barely half the recognition and the only time they give a shit about us is when they need our dark skin for some ‘ethnic’ photo shoot and in this case with Ondria, they couldn't even be bothered. Can I see a black girl do SCANDANAVIAN PRINCESS please? Hmmm?”
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This is not the first incident a magazine has caused a cultural stir.
In 2009, Vogue was accused of racism for using photos of white model, Lara Stone, with her face and body darkened in brown make-up.
Do you think it’s okay to use a white teen model in an "African Queen" spread?
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Good grief...so what. We've apparently become so overly-sensitive to anything racial that we now vent our spleen over artistic license. Grow up and be overly sensitive about something that really matters - human trafficking, violence toward women, radical Islamic terrorism, extreme poverty.
Some artistic director painted a white girl bronze? Give me a break.
It's sad that you can't do anything in this country without someone blowing the trumpet, or pulling the race card. It's ok for the Wayan brothers to do a movie called "White chicks" in which they cover themselves with makeup, but as soon as a white person does it, it's racist?... What are we coming to as a society?
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