Last night, Cosmopolitan unveiled their November issue with the Kadarshian-Jenner women calling them, “America’s First Family”, and many were not pleased.
To some on social media, the cover, which features sisters Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian, Kendall and Kylie Jenner and mom Kris Jenner, and not the Obamas, was a disrespectful act towards the real First Family.
this wild disrespectful. https://t.co/ckeov4cRlP
— everything i’m not (@No_Cut_Card) October 5, 2015
The only First Family we acknowledge @Cosmopolitan. Y’all tried it. pic.twitter.com/2FuEJUcKBZ — BK (@kswills) October 5, 2015
According to USA Today, the magazine emailed in a statement, “We are teasing!” Spokeswoman Lauren Demitry also wrote, “”They are a huge cultural phenomenon. What we do know is there is nothing like the cover of a magazine to provoke a national conversation.”
Yet, this was was not the first time the magazine was criticized for its disrespect of Black people. In April, the magazine’s “Beauty Trends That Need to Die in 2015” only showcased Black women for out going fashion trends, but captioned “R.I.P”, while their white counterparts were labeled, “Hello, Gorgeous”.
The magazine at that time issued a similar statement downplaying its disrespectful captioning. An editor’s note explained: “Some images have been taken out of context, and we apologize for any offense. Celebrating all women is in our mission, and we will continue to work hard to do that.”
Unfortunately, Cosmopolitan and other mass media outlets catering to white audiences continues to fall short. Black people, and Black women in particular, have consistently been attacked and disrespected by the media. Many magazine’s social media accounts routinely post articles and pictures that erase Black women’s contributions to style and culture. Last year, beauty magazine Marie Claire posted:
Kendall Jenner takes bold braids to a new epic level: http://t.co/IMPn41xorh pic.twitter.com/Cgp7X8CfNg
— Marie Claire (@marieclaire) April 2, 2014
While just this summer, Elle UK deemed “baby hairs” as the newest trend.
New Trend Alert: Baby hairs. Here’s everything you need to know http://t.co/LmuDgKGbMV pic.twitter.com/KACoFwqsRw — ELLEUK (@ELLEUK) July 13, 2015
The only trend we see is using Black culture to market white companies and individuals, but erase the Black people behind it.
