The ‘Obama effect’ on fashion
The New York Times reports:
“Some casting sheets actually said ‘No Blacks,”’ the 19-year-old model Shawn Sutton was saying on Friday, backstage at the Duckie Brown show in the Bryant Park tent. He was referring to the model castings at the recent men’s wear shows in Milan.
…
Mr. Sutton was one of 24 models in a show whose casting, for once, reflected some ethnic diversity. It is early days in New York’s Fashion Week, but already there are signs that the recent industry habits of exclusion may be undergoing a shift. Call it the Obama effect, if you will. “Oh, it’s totally about Obama,” said Marcus Lloyd, a 22-year-old African American model from Dallas. “I remember my agent was like, ‘If Obama does become president, there’s going to be a lot more work for you guys.’ “
As much as people like to pretend that the world runs by meritocracy, I suspect an Obama presidency will have huge and continuing impact such as this. We already saw it affects black pupils at school - I have a feeling there will be more.
“We already saw it affects black pupils at school”
I missed this, could you link me to the article/post? Thanks.
here you go:
http://www.pickledpolitics.com/archives/2766
These people you talk about, must also pretend like affirmative action and positive discrimination does not exist. If you believe that these are necessary (I don’t), then let’s not bitch about the fact we do not live in a meritocracy.
There is no question that blacks and hispanics score worse in school than other ethnic groups, and this is partly explained that these groups come from low socio-economic backgrounds. However, there is also the motivation factor to do better, and part of me thinks that years of “you can work as hard as you want, but that does not matter because you are black” from politicians like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, didn’t help much. I always thought that people like Obama with his message of responsibility and by example, would have a far beneficial effect. The NY times story you linked seems to confirm that. I have no doubt that we will see a lot of this stories in the years to come.
However, I think this fashion story is really a non-story, which seems to capitalise on Obama’s change you can believe in factor. Race seems to be an issue in the fashion world, along unrealistic sizes, drugs and whatnot.
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