Racism Revealed: The Colour of Beauty

By: NewNaturalista

Recently the short Canadian documentary “The Colour of Beauty” (see below) hit the blogesphere, shedding light on what was already suspected. There is systematic racism in the modeling industry – and it’s not going away anytime soon. This revealing documentary is part of a larger Canadian Government Project showcasing the challenges minorities face in the workplace.

I had the pleasure of asking the producers of the film, Elizabeth St. Phillip and Aisling Chin-Yee about the process of producing this piece and the public’s reaction to it.

NewNaturalista:  Where there any surprises your team discovered while producing this film?

Elizabeth St. Phillip: The biggest surprise for me was how easy it was to find a model who has experienced discrimination and was willing to talk candidly. I found Renee through NAM modeling agency in Toronto She is driven and talented but also very frustrated by the lack of opportunities for models of colour.

Renee was willing to discuss her concerns with us even though she knew it could impact her ability to get jobs in the future which I thought was quite brave. Also I was surprised by the honesty of the industry insiders. I thought that perhaps people would be uncomfortable discussing race or diversity but they were surprisingly quite forthcoming with their opinions, especially the comment that the “right” black model is a ‘White girl dipped in chocolate.”

Aisling Chin-Yee: I think we always knew that the topic of racial discrimination in the fashion industry would be a hot one. And one that everyone can have an opinion on in one way or another. Whether its relating to Renee’s story, as a Black model trying to be successful in her career, or as someone who never noticed that the faces that sell us products are predominantly white. And because we had to focus on this film as a short punchy documentary with one strong narrative, we had to make choices to what we could cover in this vast topic that spans across race, the concept of beauty, the role of advertising media in our lives, and the struggle of men and women on a day to day basis working in an industry that can discriminate based on the way you look, but we knew that there was more to cover.

NewNaturalista: What has been some of the feedback surrounding The Colour of Beauty?

Elizabeth: The online feedback has been great. Several online magazines and fashion blogs have featured the documentary or written reviews.I think the documentary struck a chord. Cities across Canada and the United states are very diverse but the fashion industry does not reflect this reality. Until fashion is more in step with the rest of the world we will continue to have this discussion.

Aisling: The feedback has been very positive. People want to know more on the issue, and ask questions to why they don’t see more diversity in fashion magazines, and on the runway. The idea of a “Caucasian aesthetic” as the gold standard of beauty and held above the physical characteristics of other ethnicities is something that people want to talk about. And people relate to Renee, and can see how she has the drive, and perseverance and raw talent that should propel her to the top of the industry.

NewNaturalista: In the documentary, one fashion industry person said he’d heard designers say before they wanted “A white model dipped in chocolate,” another said most black women are looked at as possible “tokens.” In any other industry, these comments might most certainly be looked at as racist – do you think they are?

Elizabeth: I think fashion is probably the only industry that can discriminate on the basis of skin colour. Women of many ethnicities feel excluded.

I don’t think individual designers, agents, or fashion editors are racist. But they can make decisions that contribute to systemic racism within an industry.

Aisling: These comments fundamentally point to the fact that we have a very narrow definition of beauty, and diversity and ethnicity is not seen as an asset. The individuals in the industry are not necessarily racist, but work in a system that is. Without a cohesive sense of responsibility for all aspects of the industry to paint a global picture means that things won’t change. This exists in other industries, but it is made plain and clear in the fashion industry because they can discriminate based on what the models look like. So yeah, the industry is riddled with racism, and these comments indicate this systemic problem.

NewNaturalista: There’s a short synopsis of the film underneath the video which asks the question

Photo Courtesy: Nam Personal Management

“[In] an industry that many dismiss as a frivolous and decadent, what discussion can we have around race and representation?” What questions would you like for people to take away from this film?

Elizabeth: I would like people to ask why are the catwalks and editorial spreads predominantly white when we live in a world that is so diverse and where “visible minorities” are actually the “visible majority”. Is fashion out of step with the real world?

Who do we consider beautiful and why?

What impact does this have on young Black, Asian and Indian girls who are surrounded by these images?

Those are some questions I hope to answer in a more in depth, feature film.

Aisling: I hope that people give more thought to the images around them. And ask themselves why certain images and a certain aesthetic is used to sell us products, and represent the highest form of beauty. I would love for the people who do disregard these images because the discussion of racism in fashion and advertising is just part of the ongoing critique of this industry. There are many things that need to be looked at, sex, health, etc in the use of advertising images, but having a very real discussion on race is very important too.

And I hope the public starts demanding equal representation, and to see a celebration and pride of other ethnicities walk down those runways and in magazines.

Learn More About Work For All @ http://workforall.nfb.ca/

Headline Photo Credit: Dallas J Logan Flickr