The problem women face when trying to demand a broader range of representation from the media is in part because of the normalization of a traditional type of body: mostly tall, thin, C cup breasts (no bigger or smaller) and, typically, white and blonde.
According to the Guardian, Hendrik Vermeulen, a South African designer who created a line of clothing for the FTL Moda group, did something different this year.
He hired model Madeline Stuart to walk in the group’s show.
Stuart has Down syndrome, and she was joined by other models who have a number of different handicaps.
Many are applauding the company’s bold choice to hire these models, and while I am in full support of their willingness to serve as a representation of a number of different women, I can’t help but be critical.
This Fashion Week was no different from any other and just because one company did a good deed does not mean the industry is suddenly a beacon of diversity and a champion of accurate women’s representation.
First, FTL Moda was the only company out of a horde of designers to use disabled models.
And we cannot forget about race. After New York Fashion Week 2015, thefashionspot.com reported 77.4 percent of the models were white while 8.7 percent were black. Asian models comprised 8.5 percent and a stunning 3.5 percent were Latina.
The fashion industry is the main generator of beauty standards in the United States. Magazines, television and movies in large part follow the cues that fashion designers leave behind.
When designers are unwilling to use anything but the thin, white woman as the standard of beauty, it translates into other commercial media. Viola Davis’ passionate and emotional Emmys acceptance speech this year called TV networks out about their lack of diversity.
Disabled women of all backgrounds and races are equally as important. They are possibly given even less media attention than other under-represented groups.
I fervently believe the general whitewashing and unequal representation on television and in movies is simply a symptom of a much larger issue within media as a whole.
And that is the unwillingness of networks, designers and other media companies to break away from standard ideas about beauty because — for decades now — thin, blonde, white women have generated money.
People are afraid of representation because it forces them to grapple with diverse standards of beauty, with race relations between women, with cultural differences, with disability and with a whole can of worms that, if it were opened, would finally allow us to explore women as people and not as objects.
And I think that we are ready to do that. The U.S. is an incredibly diverse country, and we need to see all of our faces in the media.
I applaud FTL Moda and hope that they continue this campaign. And I hope that it will finally generate the kinds of discussions we need to be having about women.
ewenning@indiana.edu
@emmawenninger
