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Entertainment February 15, 2017
Vogue’s March diversity issue has come under fire once again.
This time, it was because of a spread featuring white supermodel Karlie Kloss dressed as a Japanese geisha, posing in Japan’s Ise-Shima National Park.
And boy, was the internet not happy. “BREAKING: Vogue dressed Karlie Kloss up as a geisha for their diversity issue because people don’t learn,” Stephanie Resendes tweeted.
Another Twitter user, @honobonolog, posted, “I was gonna ask why vogue decided to put karlie kloss in geisha makeup & clothing when there are amazing japanese models but i know why.”
And if the cultural appropriation wasn’t bad enough, this also comes at a pretty poor time for the entertainment industry.
Scarlett Johansson has made headlines recently for her role in “Ghost in the Shell,” an upcoming sci-fi action film based on a Japanese manga series by Masamune Shirow.
RELATED: ‘Ghost in the Shell’ Trailer Reveals Scarlett Johansson as Human-Cyborg (VIDEO)
Tilda Swinton faced similar heat for her role in Marvel’s “Doctor Strange” as The Ancient One, a character who originates from Tibet.
And we can’t forget Emma Stone, who infamously played Allison Ng, a character who is supposed to be a quarter Hawaiian and a quarter Chinese, in “Aloha.”
Following all of those high-profile cases of whitewashing Asian roles – just in the last few years alone – it’s easy to understand Resendes’s argument. No one seems to be learning.
The Karlie Kloss Vogue spread featured “Asian Face” or “Yellow Face,” which is incredibly offensive. Image via Instagram @mikaeljansson
And this particular case, due to Kloss’s styling, can be seen as an example of “Asian face” or “Yellow Face”, which has long been a problematic practice and part of the history of racism in the United States, Mire Koikari, a professor of women’s studies and affiliate of the Center for Japanese Studies at the University of Hawaii told the Huffington Post.
“The images also recirculate the overly sexualized understandings of ‘Asian women,” she explained, of the highly problematic shoot.
And Kloss realized her mistake in doing the spread – not early enough to simply not go through with it, but better late than never – and apologized with a post on Twitter.
She wrote, “These images appropriate a culture that is not my own and I am truly sorry for participating in a shoot that was not culturally sensitive. My goal is, and always will be, to empower and inspire women. I will ensure my future shoots and projects reflect that mission.”
Vogue had previously come under fire for the cover, on which many complained that plus-sized model Ashley Graham had been made to pose in an effort to conceal part of her thigh. It was also suggested that Gigi Hadid’s arm was photoshopped so that it could cover Graham’s waist.
Graham, however, has since taken to Instagram to shoot down any criticism over the cover, insisting she had chosen that pose herself.
So while we applaud Vogue’s decision to aim for a more diverse issue, all we can ask is… please do better.
