Grazia UK’s editing of the actor’s image recalls the treatment of Solange Knowles. Why do editors remove a black woman’s afro hair and features?Fashion has always been political. How people dress,what they choose to wear, is a reflection of their innermost tastes and preferences. Fashion is an extended form of self-advertisement. For centuries women have used their appearance as a means to exert political influence. Coco Chanel once said: “A woman who cuts her hair is approximately to change her life.” Throughout history a woman’s hair has always mattered when putting together her ensemble.
So when I read the heartfelt post by Lupita Nyong’o final week the actor, or who won an Oscar for 12 Years a Slave,expressed her disappointment that her image had been so significantly altered by Grazia UK – I was surprised at how petite it surprised me. They had lightened her skin, smoothed the kinks in her hair and removed her frizzy, or afro pony tail – leaving a more slick,stereotypical representation of African women in fashion: bald.
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Source: guardian.co.uk