There are three very specific things I would like to point out in that photo of Kendall Jenner.
First of all, it’s Kendall Jenner. She is American, not Indian, and therefore she does not represent my culture. There is a long history of whitewashing in India; lighter skin represents higher social standing. However, most Indians now do not care for that hierarchy, and embrace their skin colours. Using Kendall Jenner to represent India is like using a white person to represent an Asian fictional character, only India is not a character, it’s an entire country. For that, I am very offended.
Secondly, she is wearing full black clothing. Most people are not aware of this, as it is a tradition that is slowly fading out, but wearing solid black is inauspicious, as black is associated with evil. Hence why, when people wear black clothing, it is often decorated with colour (usually gold just because it looks nice). Not just that, but I’m not even sure if what she’s wearing is current Indian fashion.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/05/entertainment/vogue-india-kendall-jenner/
My third point comes from this link. This is the collector’s edition cover, and again we see Kendall wearing black. There are photos of tweets in the link above, some stating that using Kendall as the model for this cover is a jab at our shameful history of whitewashing, and does not embrace our skin colour. Another tweet says that Kendall looks bronzed, as if she has been made to look like an Indian woman. I have no words that can express my distaste for this blatant discrimination. If they, the editors and photographers and such, wanted a coloured woman, why didn’t they just use a coloured woman?
Using Kendall Jenner to represent a culture and country that is obviously not her own, as she is a white American, was a very poor choice. As the twitter account @eemanabbasi says, it prevents Indian models from achieving their goals because it prevents them from taking these opportunities. Not only that, but it also prevents actual coloured people from India to be represented.
I had hoped that Kendall would realize her error when she parodied the Black Lives Matter movement in that Pepsi ad, but apparently not. That was a lack of awareness. This is a lack of awareness and education. I’m not saying that this Vogue cover is worse than the Pepsi ad. What I am saying is that Kendall needs to learn how to respect and appreciate cultures and movements, support them even. There is a line between appreciation and blatant disrespect for a culture. And Kendall has crossed that line at breakneck speed.
