The idea that there is one type of beauty or that one look is "standard" while all others are variations or "sub-standard" is absurd. I had this thought when I saw the cover for the first issue of Vogue India. My first thought was.. "Wait, I didn't know there were blond-haired, blue-eyed Indian women!" Then I saw this cover of the first issue of Vogue China. And again I thought, " Wait, I didn't know there were blond-haired, blue-eyed Chinese women!"
And then it hit me. That's the same blond-haired, blue-eyed chick on BOTH covers!!! Come to find out she is Australian model Gemma Ward. Australian!!! I got nothing against Australia but what the heck is she doing on the India and China covers??? I am not big into fashion magazines and maybe I missed something but it just seems like putting a White model on the covers with famous Indian and Chinese women is a bit insulting. Why couldn't these models/actresses stand alone, at least for the premier issues? Is this another example of how White beauty standards permeate other cultures or is it simply typical fashion magazine protocol??? I guess I would go for the latter over the former...except the Indian women have blue contact lenses and flank the blond chick like book ends. Maybe this is why so many Asian women are getting eyelid surgery to mimic more western-looking eyelids and why skin lightening creams are being pushed in India by companies that also claim to push a "campaign for real beauty" here in the states. Hmmm... sounds frighteningly familiar to a skin bleaching, hair straightening, identity stealing concept of beauty we have here too. We gotta stop this madness.
By the way, on the Indian cover are two Indian models: Monikangana Dutta and Lakshmi Menon and three Bollywood superstars: Bipasha Basu, Priyanka Chopra and Preity Zinta (this is a foldout cover and the other three women are inside the front flap). On the China cover are Chinese models Du Jaun, Wang Wingin, Tong Chenjie, Liu Dan and Ni Mingxi.
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