@Lolo: Could you elaborate on why you don't agree with my statement? (curious)
I initially thought your statement to be somewhat generalised with regards to what an 'African' girl is supposed to look like and what 'African features' are. An Ethiopian girl would, for example, have vastly different features from a South African girl. And even that is a generalisation, because within South Africa (I use it as an example because it is my home country) there are a number of different indigenous general 'looks' amongst South African girls, notwithstanding the fact that we are all individuals and of course all look different.
From your explanation though it seems you actually agree with this? That an 'African girl' has 'African features' by virtue of being just that - a girl from Africa, with no other known ancestral influences - and that those features are nonetheless African, even if they are not to the 'traditional'/stereotypical African features you mentioned?
If so, I definitely do agree with you. However, I do think
@Golden ice makes a fair point. Do you not think that African models, whether born in Africa or when used as a term for 'black models', nonetheless become more successful in the International modelling arena if they ascribe to a certain look? That certain features are selected/preferred above other features, and that these features often ascribe to the traditional Western standard of beauty? And if so, what does that mean for the representation of black women in modelling?
I will use my own country as an example of what I mean again, as I cannot really speak from any other vantage point, but this is something I have observed in the International modelling industry as well. In South Africa, a certain ideal for black woman is still held up as the standard of beauty, and I believe this standard is shared worldwide in many circles. This is of course debatable, but that ideal is normally a. Lighter skin (almost always); b. Longer hair relaxed hair/a weave (very often); and c. Full lips are good, a broad flat nose is not (almost always). We have a term for the proliferation of the requirement for this 'type' of African girl in the media, but I won't post this term here as it is quite derogatory.
Now, is this a 'white' standard/ideal? I don't know. The hair, the skin, the nose - I find it hard to see where else that standard comes from, if not the Western ideal of beauty.
Now that is well and fine for the individual model, and I don't think it's fair to term any model or female that ascribes to the above mentioned ideal as any less African than a model or female that has the 'traditional'/stereotypical African look. Such a girl is just as much African as any other model or person from Africa.
However, the fact of the matter is that such a model is not necessarily a representative of what the majority of the black people in the country look like, and while there is no reason why any specific model
should be, the fact that the vast majority of black models in the industry have the selfsame features and that there there is very little diversity amongst these models is problematic.
To me, the fact that a certain look is still preferred and prevalent when looking at the representation of African models in the International fashion industry, and that in my opinion that look is based on a white ideal, lends credence to
@Golden ice's point.
To my observation, many black models in the industry do have a certain look that does ascribe to "white girl dipped in chocolate". In my country this is changing, which to my mind is about damn time, but worldwide I still see very little diversity. That is not to say that a black girl with a certain look is un-African, but just that she cannot - and should not - be the only 'African' representative on the catwalk.
There are of course exceptions to this, whereby African girls with an entirely different look (and often more toward the stereotype of an African look) do work Internationally and every once in a blue moon 'Make it Big' (such as Alek Wek, for example), but this a whole other issue - because I believe that those girls are often chosen specifically for their 'otherness', and that is a problem too.
I am not an idealist though, I do know that a lot has to change before there can be diversity of African representation in the industry. Truth be told I believe the world's standard of beauty as a whole needs to be broken down and changed. Given the nature of the fashion industry and the power of the media as a whole, I do believe both the aforementioned have a specific role to play in this.
Given the fashion industry's current representation of African models and basically any model who is 'different' though, I'm sorry but I'm not going to be grateful with the bone they have thrown to diversity.
I am sorry for the long ramble, and for going
very, very much off topic.
EDIT: While my observation of the representation of African girls is naturally subjective since it is experience and opinion-based, I just wanted to add a disclaimer that I am not jaded or bitter (since I am neither black, nor a model), these are just my honest observations having worked in the industry
