I love (and agree with) your response. I must note that I hate what has happened to "Vibe" magazine. I was a subscriber from the first issue and it was a revolutionary magazine in my estimation. Why? Because it looked exactly like its white counterpart. By that, I mean it was as thick and had as many ad pages as its white equivalent. The pages were as glossy. The stories were as in depth and well-written. Flash forward and I am no loner a subscriber. Haven't been in years. My 20 year-old son is a subscriber. When I saw a recent issue, I was shocked by how thin and advertising free the magazine was. It looked like a score of other cheaply printed, underfinanced, poorly edited magazines directed a young black folks. My disappointment was profound.
~(no)rave! --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "Lockhart, Daryle" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > 1. "The Hip Hop and R&B Popoulation is a multi-billion dollar, > multicultural market with a median age of around 30. The Hip Hop and R&B > population includes people who are in the market for yachts as well as > people who are comparing health insurance providers for their families. > Vibe is a magazine that needs to actually find its focus right now, but > please don't marginalize hip-hop. I am of the true hip-hop generation, and > I own Yamamoto, Armani, And Sean John suits. To imply that because I'm > into a specific kind of music I have less taste or class is not just > insulting, it's inaccurate. > > 2. From Wikipedia: "Vogue publishes a magazine based entirely on fashion, > life and design." From that entry, you can find Caroline Weber's > description of it from the New York Times in December, 2006: "Vogue is to > our era what the idea of God was, in Voltaireâs famous parlance, to his: > if it didnât exist, we would have to invent it. Revered for its editorial > excellence and its visual panache, the magazine has long functioned as a > bible for anyone worshiping at the altar of luxury, celebrity and style. > And while we perhaps take for granted the extent to which this trinity > dominates consumer culture today, Vogueâs role in catalyzing its rise to > pre-eminence cannot be underestimated." > > This is not a magazine for the beautiful upscale put together woman. It > is a series of historical documents that will be part of many other > documents that people in the future wil look back upon and judge us with. > How do I know this? because if you want to know what people did for a > living in the 60s you look up documents to that effect. If you want to > know what they LOOKED LIKE, you look up old magazines. THis is why > EBONY magazine was so important, because before it was invented, You > could look back and assume taht "LIFE" magazine implied what all LIFE > looked like. Which was mostly white. NOW you can look back and see that > not only was Star Trek important, but that Nichelle Nichols was on Star > Trek, and you can read an interview with her in her own words. > > Vogue Magazine, and any magazine with a high ciurculation, has two > responsibilities: one to its advertisers, and two to be accurate. In the > case of Fashion magazines, in the 21st Century, there is no excuse. If > General Motors and Proctor & Gamble can have ethnic peopole in THEIR ads, > and they are selling stuff people actually USE, then surely these fashion > brands can knock it off. The editorial staffs of these magazine must first > make their magazine more reflective of the fantasy they are trying to > sell. White women wish they had Halle Berry's body just as much as they > wish they had Heidi Klum's. Thandie Newton looks great in Gucci. Alek Wek > and Oluchi Onweagba have bodies that illustrate a designer's new dress > just as well as Nadine Wolfbeisser or Victoria Wallace -- if not better! > > It's easy to dismiss this as "it's just fashion" -- believe me I > understand -- but in many cases, it's not. It's culture. It's history. > > > On Wed, 14 May 2008 11:26:24 -0400, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > In a message dated 5/14/2008 10:05:43 AM Eastern Standard Time, > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > > > Good question. The answer is: "Vogue" has a larger circulation than > > "Vibe." And so, if you're going to be the official documentation of > > fashion culture, having nothing but white people in your photo essays is > > Completely inaccurate. The fact is that until somebody Black, Brown, or > > Asian rocks your design, it's not hot. > > > > Vibe does not cater to everyone. They cater the hip hop and R&B > > population. > > The urban market. That is very limiting. Vogue markets itself as the > > magazine > > for the beautiful upscale put together woman. It can add more non white > > models. However it is not going to add models that look as if they just > > stared in a > > hip hop video. It does not matter the color of the model it is the image > > that > > you portray. Just look at the models in Ebony and Essence. They have a > > certain > > look. It has changed over the years. You will still not see a lot of > > models > > with braids in there either. > > > > > > > > **************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on > > family > > favorites at AOL Food. > > (http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001) > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > -- > > "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking as we used > when we created them." -- Albert Einstein >
