WTF! November 2018 by WTF! Fashion Magazine

WOMEN OF COLOR Issue #59 November 2018

MICHELLE MICHAEL LAMBERTINE MUNTU

DEVA BAILEY-LOGAN VENESSA NICHOLE-SMITH MARIAH GUZMAN

KIYOMI STEVENS EVI OHMAN

29 30

BS FASHION GRACIE LEDDIGE MA-AN GUEVARRA CHRISTINA CASSERINO CELILO MILES SEQO DANCE

32 34 36 42 44 45

VANESSA BUTLER

26 28

On the cover: Michelle Michael Lensed by Michelle Inman

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CREDITS

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Clothing and Accessories

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Lake City Photography lakecityphotography.com

Audrena Camm @obsessed_with_getting_dressed

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Colorism I’ve observed a phenomenon several times over. Lightskinned women spend money to get a nice golden tan putting themselves at risk for the dreaded C. And darkskinned women (more often than not Asian women) buying creams and anything that would lighten their skin and make them look “whiter”.

Alas, that Spaniard snobbery no longer rules supreme in the Philippine Islands. History of course, is replete with examples of European conquests by the Spaniards, Portugese, Dutch, and British of other civilizations including the African continent furthering the mentality regarding fair-skinned supremacy.

Have you heard of the brown paper bag test? I, admittedly, haven’t heard of it but the term is “colorism” and actress Viola Davis puts it this way...

We are now in the 21st century and most of those countries have now gained their independence from their so-called “masters” but certain ideas and perceptions continue to this day.

“That’s the whole racial aspect of colorism: If you are darker than a paper bag, then you are not sexy, you are not a woman, you shouldn’t be in the realm of anything that men should desire.” It is a global phenomenon that fair-skinned people are given preferential treatment and are “perceived” to be “more beautiful” than their darker-skinned counterparts. I can attest to that fact especially since I come from the Philippines where what we term as “colonial mentality” is prevalent. This “colonial mentality” dates back to Spanish times. If you don’t know yet, the Spaniards colonized the Philippine Islands when Ferdinand Magellan set foot on the shores of Mactan in the Visayas province and was swiftly shown the depths of the sea when local chieftain Lapu-Lapu and his men met the Spaniards and sent them scurrying back to their boats. That didn’t stop the Spaniards from lording it over and ruling the country for three hundred plus years. And that’s where this whole idea of fair-skinned people are preferrable to the darker-skinned Indios. While the Spaniards brought religion, fiesta (feasts), siesta (afternoon naps), and merienda (light snacks) to the natives, they didn’t want the Filipinos to learn anything and instead preferred to subjugate the “brown people” into submission further imposing this mentality that fair-skinned people were superior in all things especially in the beauty arena.

Fortunately, the views and standards of beauty are changing ever so slowly, recognizing that beauty is more than skin color and that confidence in your self, your body, and your “own skin” is more important than the fleeting physical aspect of beauty attributed to skin color. We will never “escape” the true colors of our skin because that’s how we were born but we should learn how to eschew and undo the yoke of European mentality that teaches us that fair-skinned people are more beautiful and better than anyone with darker skin. This issue is dedicated to all the women who are beautiful in their own right. We feature women from the African continent, the Asian continent as well as the Native American population here in America because we recognize that there are these wonderful, amazing, and beautiful women around us who, while they may not represent the norm, are true embodiments of a beauty that’s a class on their own. The women in this issue are just a few and we could have featured more but for now you get to admire their beauty as we see them.

Women who invest in themselves go farther.