WUNRN
European Women's Lobby - EWL
Call for Petition to Protest Skin-Whitened Beauty Standards - Media,
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13 January 2011
[
Indian actress Aishwarya Rai
Bachchan appears on the January cover of Elle
Elle claims to celebrate women of
color by featuring them on magazine covers, but this is the second time in just
six months that Elle has blatantly made women of color more white. (The last
controversy surrounded Precious actress Gabourey Sidibe.)
For better or worse, publications
like Elle play a huge role in determining global standards of beauty -
especially for young girls and teenagers who read it. It sends a cruel and
dangerous message to women of color everywhere when Elle manipulates the skin
color of one of India’s most famous actresses just so she can appear on a
magazine cover.
Here’s our opportunity: Elle is a
business that cares more about its bottom line and public image than anything
else. To change their behavior — and send a message that reverberates through the
whole fashion industry — we need a public outcry.
Join Change.org members in
telling Elle Magazine to ends its practice of racist skin-whitening.
India already has a
billion-dollar skin-whitening industry. Many women burn their skin through the
use of unsafe whitening products. And there’s a pervasive prejudice against
girls who are "too dark" and therefore can’t get hired or married.
A global publication like Elle
has no business reinforcing that racist and damaging stereotype. Elle suffered
from some bad press when the magazine cover came out, but there still needs to
be a massive public campaign to force them to take real action. This is that
campaign. Tell Elle that women don’t have to be white to be beautiful – and to
apologize for its offensive doctoring of its cover models:
Thanks for taking action,
Judith and the Change.org team