gabourey sidibe on magazine covers

Posted by Black in The Baystate on September 25, 2010 · 7 Comments 

Am I the only person disgusted by Gabourey Sidibe gracing magazine covers of such prestigious publications as Elle and Ebony? I can give Ebony a pass because they consistently showcase beautiful, in-shape and overall attractive black women on their covers. But Elle cannot get that same understanding from me.

As a worldwide mainstream magazine, that has access to the worlds most beautiful women in all shapes and sizes, Elle could have had someone who did not look like such a hot mess as the ‘Precious‘ star. I fell that, although it could have been done subconsciously, this was just another attempt at sabotaging the image of the black women. Or at the very least they are perpetuating the stereotype that this is what we look like. I have nothing against plus size women, but there are many women who are not a size 4 who are still drop-dead gorgeous and more suitable for a cover. Please do not fool yourselves into thinking that this is their way of embracing all shapes and sizes. Jennifer Hudson, who has accomplished a hell of a lot more than Ms. Sidibe, also has a story to tell. Even Mo’nique looks better than her. Queen Latifah would do just as well. No my friends. This is just Elle Magazine‘s way of keeping the flame of the asexual mammy stereotype alive and well.

I was positively sickened when I saw an up-close picture of her on the cover. It’s like they didn’t even try to make her look good. You are telling me that a team of stylists working with the world-renown Elle Magazine could not have found better hair to put on this girl’s head? It looked like straight up horse’s tail. If they are so willing to embrace the asexual fat woman, why isn’t Roseanne Bar on their cover? With only one movie on her resume, Ms. Sidibe about as relevant as Roseanne. And Lawd, oh Lawd! Don’t even get me started on her outfit. This girl looked like she tripped and fell in a cheap motel and got trapped in their ugly green curtains. And I couldn’t help but wonder if her second and third chins would not have been Photoshopped if her name had been Kim Kardashian. As if lightening her skin takes away from the rest of the damage that was done in the first place.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that most, if not all white women, who break out into showbiz, with zero popularity at all, become popular for being ‘hot’ or ‘sexy’. They are not popular because of talent, but because they made some man’s top ten-list of “I’d tap that.” Let’s take Megan Fox for example. Can anyone name what move she’s been in besides Transformers? (I think.) Or do you know who Danika Patrick is? Yeah, exactly. But they are beautiful white women. With a little Photoshop, they easily maintain the status quo: White women’s beauty is inherently superior to all else.

But when you take someone like Jennifer Huson, whose weave is actually half-way decent looking, her looks might actually turn the tides and redefine what we think of as beautiful. Even loud mouth Tasha Smith with her raspy voice would make men do a double take. Call me crazy, but was Jill Scott not available? She’s big, she’s black, she’s talented. Why couldn’t she be on the cover? This is their way of keeping us in our place by robbing us of our womanhood.

In a world where some black women are striving despite the barriers, where we are going to school, working and moving on up, we are becoming a threat. They have sabotaged us for centuries. They have destroyed our families, withheld jobs, made us sit in the back of the bus and paid us less for doing twice as much. But we have been fighters and we have been resourceful. Most importantly, lately, we have been learning to say “eff that” and fearlessly loving the white men who have loved us back. What better way to take it to back to basics and put us in our place by putting such a cow on the cover?

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• Gabourey Sidibe Elle Magazine Cover: Photoshop Disaster (nowpublic.com)
• Gabourey Sidibe Responds to ELLE Controversy; Mag Says Nothing ‘Out Of The Ordinary’ Done (omg.yahoo.com)
• Gabourey Sidibe’s ‘Elle’ cover: Why the outrage? (popwatch.ew.com)
• Gabourey Sidibe: Did Elle Lighten Her Skin on October 2010 Cover? (stylelist.com)
• Elle magazine is in trouble over Gabourey Sidibe (wwtdd.com)
• Elle Accused of ‘Whitening’ Gabourey Sidibe on Cover (newser.com)
• Elle Editor On Gabby Cover: “People Want To Make Something Out Of Nothing” [Mag Hag] (jezebel.com)
• Gabourey Sidibe’s Elle Cover: Offensive? (abcnews.go.com)
• Elle Under Fire For Gabourey Sidibe Cover (cbsnews.com)
• Elle Seems To Have Also Lightened Gabourey Sidibe’s Skin [Mag Hag] (jezebel.com)
• Gabourey Sidibe: Did Elle Lighten Her Looks? (eonline.com)
• Gabourey Sidibe Cropped & Lightened On Cover Of Elle Magazine (popcrunch.com)
• Was Gabourey Sidibe’s skin lightened on Elle? (scoop.newsvine.com)
• Elle magazine in Gabourey Sidibe skin lightening controversy (telegraph.co.uk)
• “Gabourey Sidibe’s Cover Shoot Sparks Controversy” and related posts (okmagazine.com)

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