�J.Lo was the first to stress that women shouldn�t be afraid to show their curves, and the popularity of rap made that shape more acceptable,� said Critchfield. �And it is about these low-riding jeans looking good on a sexy, tight fit.�
�J. Lo butt form�
The company launched a �Sex� mannequin with �a larger booty and body� tailored for fashion label Express and for stores carrying lower-end trend clothing, said Critchfield. (read the rest of the article…)
so why does the big booty mannequin, the one styled after black women, have to be called the “Sex” mannequin? Stereotypes, anyone? With a side of racism?
and how in the hell did J. Lo get credit for what black women have been doing for like, oh, I dunno, centuries?
discuss.
http://www.ferris.edu/news/jimcrow/jezebel/
kinda relevant to your subject, the above website is something interesting i’ve come across.
question: do you think the creation of Blaxploitation film was crippling or uplifting to the identity of Black folk?
From the same article, I quote: “the tyranny of the undernourished perfect model is over.”
Perfect? As if the “j-lo butt” is *not* perfect (which I would argue that many people believe that J-lo does, in fact, have a perfect ass). Fuck perfect. And whose definition of “perfect” are we living in? Does this mean that the mainstream (read: white) society is now accepting and even embracing a non-white image? Nah, they just need to market to a larger audience to make more money.
Side note: Wasn’t Twiggy the model that sucked the curves out of Marilyn Monroe?
great point hunn. when have we ever gotten credit for anything?
This is no different than the creation of the bustle after the subjugation of the Hottentot Venus, Sarah Baartman, in France at the turn of the 19th century. She was denigrated and riducled by her white audience but the fascination with her sexualized body led to white woman adopting a “fashion trend” that would last for decades. Isn’t it interesting to note that the creator of this mannequin is, Marc Ecko, is a white fashion designer who is a part of the long history of cultural appropriation that plagues black history all the way to the Nile and Fertile Crescent.