If you want to know how white people view black people, just look on the cover of magazines. Check out this story grinded by chachacha.
The perpetuation of the stereotype that black people are hyper-sexed
entities is alive and well. And somehow, it's only when some evolved
white person points it out to us, or Michael Eric Dyson--whomever is
louder at the moment, although it's usually Mike--do we get mad.
Marilyn Monroe--the sexiest white woman of all time--made her mark,
although very subtly and subconsciously, with the openness of her lips.
She knew that an open mouth signaled sex, and not the nice and neat
kind either. She is the only white woman I can recall who stamped her
photos with a fellacio-ready pout.
Fast forward to the point I'm making now: Magazines are the new slave
masters. They tell us where to eat, what to wear, what we're 'supposed'
to look like, and generally how to live--how to invest our money, how
long I'm supposed to date Mr. "Right(?)" before I sleep with him, etc.
Magazines have taken a place in our personal lives that exceeds their
initial function- to entertain.
So I guess it makes sense that if there were to be a venue for the
reinforcement of centuries old racial stereotypes, magazines would be
one of the more viable candidates. What's more is that you don't even
have to buy them for the impact to have been made. I walk by the snack
vendors in the train station with a reasonable amount of disgust and
part amazement at just how huge that girl's ass is on the cover of
Smooth, and if her mouth were anymore ajar surely...you can imagine the
rest. I mumble to myself as I buy my usual bag of cashews and raisins:
"If that's what I'm supposed to look like, then too effing bad because
I wouldn't even if I could...ridiculous!"
Also, make sure you get your worthy fashion mag (ie. Lula, Preen,
Jalouse) while still in Manhattan, because once you're in Brooklyn you
can forget getting anything even remotely pertaining to 'fashion.'
Although, you can get American Vogue, which should speak to its
"so-not-worthiness." Any Vogue of mine will be from Paris or London. At
least then can I ensure the fashion to be up to standard because
Europeans are not as interested in reinforcing the stereotypes on which
America was founded as they are in Alexander McQueen and Alber
Elbaz--who focus on making all women look damn good. -Charlie