![Dita Von Teese Gets "Scared" On <em>RuPaul's Drag Race</em>](http://cache-06.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/39/2010/02/126x100_RPDRpoledance_jez.flv.jpg "Dita Von Teese Gets "Scared" On <em>RuPaul's Drag Race</em>")
![<i>Weekly Standard</i> Writer: The Real Victims Of "Hookup Culture" Are Guys](http://cache-07.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/39/2010/02/126x100_guys_spring_break.jpg "<i>Weekly Standard</i> Writer: The Real Victims Of "Hookup Culture" Are Guys")
Mar 17, 2008 11:30 AM
64,816
Enter your username and password.
New York, 11:26 AM
Wed Feb 10
70 posts in the last 24 hours
Have you heard? There's a black man on the cover of the April 2008 Vogue. (Richard Gere and George Clooney are the only other men ever to be on the cover, reports Time magazine.) Vogue does not have a history of embracing African-Americans on its covers. Back in November, Portfolio's Jeff Bercovici pointed out that while 4 out of 12 covers of Men's Vogue had black men; when Jennifer Hudson hit the cover of Vogue last March, she was only the third African-American celebrity to do so, though the magazine was founded in 1914. But on the cover of new issue, Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James seems to be embodying ugly stereotypes about black men: The wild, savage, white-woman-obsessed beast.
Over on the blog Feministe, Jill Filipovic writes, "I see a scary animalistic black man, a primal scream, and a beautiful white woman. Google image King Kong for a comparison." What's interesting is that the editors had another, more "civilized" photograph of LeBron and Gisele they could have chosen. 
Upon seeing this more "civilized" image, blogger Angel from Concrete Loop asks, "Why wasn't this the cover instead of that other HORRID one?" Commenters on that site agree: "Lebron is straight up perpetuating a stereotype (that of the brutal, wild savage) that helped enslave, lynch, and murder hundreds of THOUSANDS of our black men for centuries... and I'm just supposed to be content because he made it onto "massa's" magazine?! Take that weak shit somewhere else," "MJ" writes. Adds "cococola72284": "This 'King Kong capturing the damsel in distress'... is offensive. Not only does this man look like an ape, but he's got this good ole prize, a white woman on his arm. There are a number of black high fashion models they could've paired him with and other shots they could've used of him. At least put him in a suit. He carries a suit VERY well." On this site, a shot of the cover prompted similar comments.
Why didn't the editors chose the more "civilized" image for the cover? Were they looking for something more dynamic and animated? Did they want something with action, with impact? Why not put LeBron James in a suit? (FYI, other athletes in the issue — skater Apolo Anton Ohno, snowboarder Shaun White and swimmer Michael Phelps — also appear in sport "uniforms" while the models wear high fashion.) Was it easy — maybe even on a subconscious level — to choose a photo that casts the black man as "big and scary" and therefore comfortable and familiar?
"Nobody says more about fashion size and shape than Gisele and LeBron," Vogue spokesman Patrick O'Connell tells Time. Really? Nobody??
LeBron James To Grace Vogue's Cover [Time]
I Know Vogue Isn't Exactly Racially Conscious, But... [Feministe]
Comment Spotlight: LeBron & The Vogue Cover [Concrete Loop]
Preview of US Vogue April 2008: The Shape Issue [ONTD]
Earlier: Holy Itshay, What Is That Big Black Man Doing On The Cover Of Vogue?!
Men's Vogue: Not Afraid Of Black People
What's The Message Behind A Black Man In Heels On The Cover Of Vogue?
Send an email to Dodai, the author of this post, at dodai@jezebel.com.
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
Start a new discussion