The media’s obsession with skinny white girls
on July 24th, 2005 at 12:33 am
One of the most depressing things about grocery shopping is reading the headlines of the celebrity gossip magazines. Every issue of these magazines are covered with photos of famous skinny white girls (and Beyonce’) who are either being glamorized for wearing the perfect dress, or dramatized for suspecting their husbands on having an affair (which may be true in some cases). We also see pictures of them walking their dog down the street while trying to cover up their face (oooh! Wow!)
If you are unfortunate enough to pick up one of these magazines while standing in line, you will read second and third hand accounts of people who swear up and down they saw so-and-so kissing so-and-so and they have the pictures to prove it. Who cares? Well apparently someone does as the gossip industry in Hollywood has been a profitable business since the early beginnings of the entertainment industry.
So why so much focus on skinny white girls and not on the others that are out there? Personally, I am glad to not see the likes of Will and Jada being smeared throughout the tabloid world. Don’t get it twisted, we too like our share of celebrity gossip as the latest tidbits in the black entertainment world are broadcast on black radio stations throughout the US. For some reason, vacation pictures of so-and-so just do not interest us as others.
Here is an article that I found on Raven Symone that briefly addresses the absence of paparazzi she has noticed in her career:
Celebrities gripe about the press all the time, but Raven Symone’s hard-luck story was a new one on us: the actress says that at her 19th-birthday party last year, only a single paparazzo showed up. “It was so sad,” she says with a laugh. “I mean, I was dressed up and ready to party and not one flash went off. My mom is always telling me not to leave the house with my sweats and T shirts that might have jam from breakfast on them. But I know they don’t even know who I am.”
…Could it beâ€â€we’re just taking a wild guess hereâ€â€because Symone is African-American, not even close to a size 2 and prefers sweats and T shirts to Dolce Gabbana? “It’s understood that African-American celebrities aren’t the big deal their white counterparts are in magazines,” says Bill Jones, a photographer who regularly shoots celebrities for Ebony, Jet and Essence magazines. “Half of the celebrity photographers I know that aren’t black couldn’t tell a black celeb if it wasn’t Will Smith or Halle Berry. They only know the obvious ones. And even then, there’s not a whole lot of interest.” (more…)
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