African/ African-American Wedding Images
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
To whom this may concern. I am again disappointed,this time with your magazine (like the media,T.V.,other magazines) on how you choose a large African-American women wedding image for the cultural pick. All other groups of ethnic women. you had no problem showing slim (smaller) in body sizes. I am not saying larger women should not be considered. But lets be fair here. There are many other Africa-American women you could have shown instead. We are not all large. And women of other groups are not all small. Large and small in all races. I really get tired of this kind of representation of who I am. I do not subscribe to any magazine because of this. I wanted to buy your January 2012 but think not. The media seems to get a joy out of making us the laughing stock. Are we that big of a threat that you can not feature
all women alike. Thank you.
Hi Rose,
Thank you so much for your email and feedback. Let me begin by saying that I appreciate a good dialogue over issues that affect us both. I too am a woman of color (West African), and until your comment, I would never have thought of that image as offensive.
I believe you’re referring to the bride in gold (full figured) in the image gallery section. I selected that picture because it represented beauty, genuine love and a glow that radiated in her very original style, which you can see here. I hear what you are saying in regards to stereotypical portrayals of Africans and African Americans, and I also agree that it is our responsiblity to trump those misconceptions when it comes to generalizations like size, as honestly and fairly as possible. Which is why I make a point to portray women of ALL sizes, shapes, colors and creeds on Wedding Nouveau. Our real wedding section exemplifies that. You will see from our features that the focus is on culture, fashion and story, regardless of color.
I hope this clarifies any confusion, and I hope to continue the dialogue.
Cheers
oh wow!! I was thinking the SAME exact thing but wasn’t going to say anything at all…until I read your comment. No offense to the women in gold but in all honesty, I immediately noticed that every single one of the women from the different cultures were slim, delicate looking and beautiful. Not to say that the AA woman is not beautiful but all the other pics are similar in the kind of woman they picked. I thought the bride Cynthia in blue would have been a perfect pick but….oh well.
Hello,
I found out about your website through beyondblackandwhite.com. I also agree with rose. Although the bride depicted in the african/african-american icon is very beautiful and obviously glowing, she does still strongly represent the stereotype/image attributed to black women more accurately African-American women. I can’t help but notice that all the icons representing other cultures possess tremendously slimmer figures than that of the black female.
It is a small detail that only one from that (AA, I believe) culture would strongly take to heart and if you truly wish to break down barriers as you say regardless of color, I would strongly suggest not only changing this icon (of course with no offense the beautiful woman in this picture), but also demonstrating those various sizes of women from the other cultures in your other icons. If you truly wish to reach all your readers, than the smallest of details should not matter.
I have one more thing I would like to point out, actually two. This grouping of African and African-American women is wrong and I feel should be separate. They are two VERY different cultures and should have separate icons to represent that. Black women should not all be grouped together, that happens too often. Also, there are other ethnicities/cultures to represent here: Carribean, Afro-Latina, etc. Just some more food for thought.
All in all, what you’ve done here is beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like this and when the day comes that I become engaged I will have this magazine as my inspiration. That means more than you know. So, thank you to all those who love and dream in culture.
Hi Eli,
Thank yo so much for your comment, and for responding to Rose’s concerns. You both make very good points, and I will definitely take these to heart as our ongoing web design efforts unfold. It’s always helpful to hear how our readers are feeling, and although I can’t promise a full on revamp in the near future, you be sure that we are taking all of this into consideration as new give our site a much needed make over. Thanks again, from one dreamer to another…
I saw the photo and I think that the girl in gold is beautiful. By the way I am slim.
I am a woman of color and I think that the photo is beautiful and well-chosen. We come in all shapes, sizes and shades and if she had throw up a picture of a “light-skinned” skinny woman, somebody else would have complained about that. I don’t find the photograph stereotypical or offensive at all and applaud WN for celebrating a woman who looks lovely in her dress, regardless of size.
That being said, I would also appreciate a separate section for women of West Indian descent.
Keep up the great work!
Chelle
Thank you for your kind words, Chelle. And yes, as we expand our site in the coming months, we will definitely keep your suggestion in mind. Merci and have a wonderful day.
Fri, I just wanted to let you know that I’ve been following your website since 2011, and I love it. You’re not going to be able to please everyone, and the recipe for failure is trying to do so. With that being said, I would love it if you continued to be as creative and do what you want on your website. It’s beautiful, it’s eclectic, it’s creative, it’s passionate, and it’s real. Thank you for giving life to such a place on the web for women like myself to come to and enjoy!
interesting, does it bother some that this sister is heavier, has a ample figure and also wear her hair natural.of course people know all black women aren’t overweight etc. but i think its the sort of thing we should be celebrating instead of trying to hide or admonish plenty of women look like her ! If we are going to break down barriers we have to include women of many sizes and hues. not just the slim ones.
someone mentioned ungrouping the african / african american. I am not saying the person who wrote is wrong but it feels extreme! really? why. yes the cultures of africa are very different from african american, but we share a common ethnicity, maybe that is why they are grouped together, please let’s not split hairs here. I am not the least bit offended or put off at the diversity under that category. Should she also ungroup Asian and have seperate icons for ” malaysian chineese” “korean” ” american born japanese” etc. etc.
I enjoy this site and was a bit disheartened someone wanted to pick th at out and criticize it, it was a lovely wedding,s he looks great.
Thank you Tia for your perspective and voice. I welcome and encourage discourse as we can all learn from differences in opinion. Have a wonderful day.
After reading the comments above, I definitely see Rose and Eli’s point. I see that the hispanic, pacific islander and south asian brides are not your average looking women. Matter of fact, they are all gorgeous enough to be models. Why is it when it comes to Black women, keeping it real mantra is practiced but not with other races. There are naturally beautiful black women that are not overweight, that are consistently ignored by the media. Why not feature the average asian woman or average hispanic woman or white woman on your site. We all know that they do not look like the women that are featured on your site. This is beautiful thing you have, but please consider to be fair.