Scandal in the photo of Kamala Harris on the cover of …

The Vogue Magazine he stirred up a new scandal to distort, to adjust to his canon of beauty, the image of a recognized woman on his cover. This time the target of the photo editing was the elected US Vice President Kamala harris: similar to what happened with Mexican actress Yalitza Aparicio in Hola magazine, on the cover of Vogue the official appears with a lighter complexion. The president’s advisers were also surprised by the choice of the cover photo, with a more casual look than they had agreed with the publisher.

The cover of the next edition of Vogue United States leaked this Sunday and within hours it was already trending on social media. In it, Kamala Harris poses in front of a pink and green background in a black jacket and sneakers. However, a source close to the official’s environment revealed that this more informal photograph was to appear inside the magazine, while on the cover Harris would be depicted posing in a light blue suit against a gold background.

The photo instantly sparked anger on social media, for depicting a Kamala Harris from lighter skin with a more streamlined silhouette. Lawyer and playwright Wajahat Ali called the incident a “disaster”, adding that Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour “really shouldn’t have black friends and colleagues.” Other users have come to accuse the magazine of falsifying the image, which was later denied by the publisher.

As reported by a CNN source, the Harris advisers have asked the magazine to change the cover– although the print version went to press in mid-December – and Vogue responded by releasing a second digital cover that showed Harris in a light blue Michael Kors suit against a gold background.

In a press release sent by mail, a Vogue spokesperson said the magazine “loved the images Tyler Mitchell (the first black photographer to appear on the cover of Vogue America) took and felt that the more laid back image captured the authentic and approachable nature of the VP Elected Harris, which we believe is a hallmark of the Biden and Harris administration. “

“To respond to the gravity of this moment in history and the role it needs to play in the leadership of our country, we are celebrating both images as digital covers,” he explained. He also referred to the apple green and salmon pink background that appear in the informal photograph and noted that was inspired by the colors of Alpha Kappa Alpha from Howard University, the “historically African-American first sorority”.. In this way, he would have wanted to “honor the college days of Harris and the powerful women who are in the ranks of sororities like Alpha Kappa Alpha”.

Although after the cover of Vogue, criticism of the “informal style” of clothing predominated, opinions were divided. “People are arguing over Vice President Harris’ Vogue cover photo, but here’s what’s important: She’s gorgeous, she’s honored and The blanket drives Trump and Melania crazynovelist Paul Rudnick tweeted, referring to the president’s complaint that his wife has yet to make the cover of a major fashion magazine as first lady.

Meanwhile, Washington Post senior critic Robin Givhan wrote that while “there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with this image,” choosing the more informal coverage “Vogue stole the roses from Harris”.

The interview

The controversy arises 10 days after Kamala Harris was inaugurated as Vice President of the United States. In an accompanying detailed profile, uploaded by Vogue Sunday, Harris talks about climate change, the protests for racial justice, and recalls the timing of the election and his subsequent victory speech.

“I always say this: I can be the first to do a lot of things … let’s make sure it’s not the lastHarris told reporter Alexis Okeowo. “I was thinking of my grandnieces, who will experience a world where a woman is Vice President of the United States, a woman of color, a black woman, a woman whose parents are born out of the United States. added.

As stated elsewhere in the memo, the top priority for the Biden-Harris administration in its first 100 days will be controlling the pandemic.

Ideal beauty in magazines

Publishing is, par excellence, the moment when the media construct the ideal of beauty that they want to install from their pages. In this direction, Kamala Harris’s image manipulation adds a new name to the long list of celebrities who have fallen victim to this digital retouching process.

Among them Yalitza Aparicio, the lead actress of Roma, the multi-award winning film by Alfonso Cuarón produced by Netflix. In February 2019, the magazine ¡Hola! He went so far as to lighten the skin color of the actress to adapt it to this ideal of beauty that she tries to maintain in her publications.

In Argentina, the most recent case is that of Cecilia Roth, who in August 2020 appeared on the cover of Gente magazine with features of youth. The abuse of Photoshop, criticized on various social networks, outraged the 64-year-old actress, who responded with an image of her home, in front of the mirror, showing herself as she is. “I want to be what I am at the age that I am and with the time that I have lived. Unfortunately, they have been touched up a lot”, complained the artist.