Is Beyonce's photo "blackface"?

Recently in the news, Beyonce has been criticized for her pictures in the French fashion magazine L’Officiel Paris.The usually fair skinned singer's skin was painted darker (see the top two photos) which many of her critics say is offensive because it is akin to "blackface". Read more here. What they are referring to is a very racist aspect of American history when whites (and later blacks) used to put on minstrel shows.Minstrel shows were, as wikipedia state, "American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface. Minstrel shows lampooned black people as ignorant, lazy, buffoonish, superstitious, joyous, and musical." Many people are saying that using "blackface" was outright offensive on Beyonce's part. 

On the other side, according to the magazine this photo shoot was "a return to her African roots, as you can see on the picture, on which her face was voluntarily darkened. " According to most celeb news websites like this one, Beyonce was paying tribute to Fela Kuti, a Nigerian musician and human rights activist, whose music she is using as inspiration for her next album.  

Personally I feel like it is hard for me to argue either way. I question whether they are treating blackness as  "fashion" or some sort of accessory. I am also wondering why, if she wanted to pay homage to her African roots, why she didn't actually wear clothes from Africa. As it turns out it was her mom that designed some of the dresses. The other thing that also keeps me from completely liking the photos is that Africans are of varying hues and I feel as if she is reducing a continent into one color. But am I really in the position to say so? I am not an African American and I have no idea how this may or may not be offensive to an African American. I also feel like I am not in the position to criticize Beyonce for paying a tribute to her African roots. So when can someone of one race comment on something related to another? Is this just another racial boundary that hasn't been crossed?

Misrepresented or Unrepresented

Recently in class we've been discussing the portrayal of African Americans in the media which coincidentally comes at the same time as the oscar nominations consisting of not one African American this year. Interestingly while I was looking into this topic I came upon an article talking about the increase of African Americans in commercials but how the portrayals are stereotyping black women. (Click here) The author writes that the stereotypical overweight black woman "typically finds herself in an exchange that is either confrontational or embarrassing. And her best line is often little more than a sassy “Mmmm hmmm.” The article also says that, "over the last 15 years the number of blacks appearing in commercials has been roughly proportional to their share of the American population, about 14 percent." It's good that blacks are no longer underrepresented in terms of population but is it still ok if they are being misrepresented?

What is interesting is that even though African Americans are prevalent in commercials, this year they are extremely underrepresented in the film industry. According to this article (also from NY Times), the Oscar nominated movies are " more racially homogenous — more white — than the 10 films that were up for best picture in 1940". I find this very sad in the fact that we elected a African American president but don't even have ONE African American up for an Oscar.  If we take both commercials and movies together, we are getting a misrepresented and an underrepresented portrayal of African Americans. Of course there are exceptions in both cases and I know I am being very general but have we really progressed in our portrayal of African Americans throughout US history? The latest movies that are in theaters:  I am Number Four- blond actors; Gnomeo and Juliet -white gnomes; and Big Mammas: Like Father, Like Son- African American actors. But interestingly it seems like in Big Mamma: Like Father, Like Son they are only fueling stereotypes.

Where are the overweight people?

In class few weeks ago we watched a clip of a news anchor whose body was in full view opposed to the man she was interviewing who could only be seen from the chest up. It seemed as if the news program was using the anchor for her attractiveness. Something interesting came to mind: do we ever see overweight or unattractive people on tv?

I did a little research on "how to become a news anchor" and found that most websites stated that people in college  go for a undergraduate degree in communications or journalism. Then they work their way up from interning to new reporter to anchor.( see this link). What I found to be particularly peculiar is the fact that almost no website ever stated that a new anchor must be somewhat attractive. Each made it seem like anyone could eventually become one. A recent article states that more than 6 in 10 Americans are overweight or obese. If very few news anchors are overweight (if you were to search "overweight news anchor" into Google no overweight anchors come up), then theoretically couldn't only the 40% of healthy weight people have the chance to become news anchors? This brings me to my biggest question: Why are there few overweight people on tv, besides the shows specifically about overweight people? There are TONS of shows now that are solely about people losing weight and being overweight but it there ever an overweight person on tv where their weight isn't the main focus?

Personally I feel like the only way an overweight person can get on tv is if their weight is the main focus. Shows like "The biggest Loser" "I Used to be Fat" "Too Fat for 15" "Huge" and "Dance Your Ass Off" are all based off of people being overweight. I have yet to see a truly overweight main character on the Disney Channel. Most of the shows on Disney Channel are supposed to be about normal kids, but if 1 out of 3 kids are overweight, how realistic is that? They show kids in high school but why are there few overweight people in the hallway?