Blue Owl Brewing
Cover Was Tasteless: A Black Woman Commodified, Exoticized And Exploited
RECEIVED Mon., Aug. 11, 2008
Dear Austin Chronicle art director/editor(s) responsible for cover art,
Last week you ran a beautiful cover image [Aug. 1]. I also think it was wildly inappropriate and insensitive.
Your story: avocados.
Your image: A naked, nameless, faceless black woman artfully photographed from behind, holding a glistening avocado right where her thighs meet.
If the Chronicle cover consistently depicted black women's faces as well as their bodies because the lead stories were frequently about the concerns, activities, and achievements of black women, this cover might pass muster.
That's not the case.
Black women's bodies – even more so than women's bodies generally – have been commodified, exoticized, eroticized, and exploited. At this point in history, black women's bodies and their representations should really belong to black women. Period.
But certainly the Chronicle has the opportunity, if not the obligation, to make examined choices about how and when it features black women's bodies.
Equating them with a sexy piece of fruit – ripe for plucking, selling, and eating – is tasteless and leaves me feeling sick to my stomach.
Last week you ran a beautiful cover image [Aug. 1]. I also think it was wildly inappropriate and insensitive.
Your story: avocados.
Your image: A naked, nameless, faceless black woman artfully photographed from behind, holding a glistening avocado right where her thighs meet.
If the Chronicle cover consistently depicted black women's faces as well as their bodies because the lead stories were frequently about the concerns, activities, and achievements of black women, this cover might pass muster.
That's not the case.
Black women's bodies – even more so than women's bodies generally – have been commodified, exoticized, eroticized, and exploited. At this point in history, black women's bodies and their representations should really belong to black women. Period.
But certainly the Chronicle has the opportunity, if not the obligation, to make examined choices about how and when it features black women's bodies.
Equating them with a sexy piece of fruit – ripe for plucking, selling, and eating – is tasteless and leaves me feeling sick to my stomach.
Camille DePrang
