galliano and the quasi apology

The artist formerly known as creative director of Christian Dior, John Galliano, has released a statement about his recent anti-semitic drunken rants, that includes an apology.  Well, sort of an apology:

"... I completely deny the claims made against me and have fully co-operated with the Police investigation ... However, I fully accept that the accusations made against me have greatly shocked and upset people ... I must take responsibility for the circumstances in which I found myself and for allowing myself to be seen to be behaving in the worst possible light." (Telegraph.co.uk)

You know what would be an absolute breath of fresh air?  If the next called for public apology turned out to be just that: a plain and simple apology, with no extra I'm-Not-That-Bad frills around it.  We could be spared extraneous bow tie/sweater combos in melon-berry-burst-skittle blue, and/or the part where we, the offended, are somehow the ones who got caught up "losing the point"  being made.  We could skip those bits all together, and just focus on the topic at hand.  Maybe then, these apologies would feel more real, and not so much like emergency public relations moves.

But to be fair, substance abuse is real and very rarely produces rational behavior, so Galliano's sort-of apology shouldn't come as a shock. We do love that he has chosen to go to rehab, and wish him the absolute best.

Read Galliano's full statement here .  What do you think?

miss representation: movie takes on media's message to women

The mainstream media --specifically, whatever twisted barrage of messages it sends out to the world about women-- has not been a conscious everyday concern in my life.  I have known for a long time, and from much personal experience (I am after all a black woman living in the United States), that the media is no friend to my womanhood. I feel almost immune to advertisements.  I’m that shopper who knows what she wants, because she has done the research, not the one who needs the salesperson’s opinion in order to make a decision.   At the same time, I don’t have the resources to change the system I live in immediately, so what ends up happening is my daily attempt at finding balance between living with a certain automatic sense of armor about me , always there like an extra thickness to my skin, and trying to be what I would like to see more of in the world (love, positivity, manners, attention spans, real conversations, etc...).  Until recently, this is what worked for me.  

Then I heard the first two soundbites from the trailer to Miss Representation, a documentary by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, that explores the ways in which women are under-represented in positions of power, challenging the limited and often disparaging portrayal of women in the media:     

"The media is the message and the messenger, and increasingly a powerful one."

Pat Mitchell, President & CEO of Paley Center for Media

Former President & CEO of PBS

"In a world of a million channels, people try to do more shocking and shocking things to break through the clutter.  They resort to violent images, or sexually offensive images, or demeaning images."

Jim Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media

Lawyer and Professor of Civil Rights at Stanford University 

Along with the accompanying imagery, these two people’s words snapped me out of my way of thinking.  See, the images (women in various stages of undress in different scenarios, some with legs splayed open and cash being poured on them, etc...) were nothing new, and what was being said was nothing new, but the way the information was broken down and delivered hit home:  So what if thus far, I’ve had the (collateral) luxury, as a woman who chooses not to have children, of not having to think about how the media’s potential role in my offspring’s self esteem, or their sense of perception in general?  I’m still not immune to the results of what is happening.  

Even if I can see through it, many more (and many younger) cannot, and that’s dangerous for us all.  On a personal level:  If things keep going the way they have been, that random pack of ill-behaved, way too loud young girls in barely any clothes, who just know they’re grown,  that we can still cross the street to avoid in a pinch, could very well become the norm.  What happens when there is no other side to cross to?  Do we really need to get there to know that it’s not where we want to be?  Check out the trailer.  What do you think?

from the mouths of beauties: edwidge danticat

"Looking pretty, looking beautiful, in a disaster zone might be one more way of exclaiming to the world that you are doing more than breathing, that you are surviving, that you matter."

Edwidge Danticat
--excerpt from A Place Of Refuge, an essay in Allure's March 2011 issue, about the redemptive power of beauty for some women in Haiti, when poverty and devastation threatens their basic humanity.

10 highlights from allure's beauty timeline

Yes, I did go out and buy the March (20th anniversary) issue of Allure.  And I love the fold out cover to set it all off with a timeline of the past 20 years of beauty.
Remember back in ...

• 1991, when Demi Moore was featured "very pregnant and very nude" on the cover of Vanity Fair, causing many to stir?
• 1992, when Veronica Webb became the first African-American to have a cosmetics contract (with Revlon)?  
• 1999, when Felicity star Keri Russell cut off her long curls and the show dropped 20 spots in the Nielsen ratings? (Really, America?)
• 2000, when David Sedaris popularized the term "tanorexic" with the publication of  his book Me Talk Pretty One Day? 
• 2003, when model Gisele Bundschen turned down a multimillion-dollar offer to become the face of cloning service Clonaid?
• 2005, when Dove's Real Beauty campaign featured women who weren't professional models (and caused sales to jump)?
• 2006, when Kevyn Aucoin's Making Faces (still one of my favorite makeup reference books!!) shared the New York Times best-seller list with Angela's Ashes?
• (also in) 2006, when black nails became such a "hot trend" that Chanel's Black Satin polish, normally $18, could be found on eBay for $50? (?!!?)
• 2007, when a photo of Jennifer Love Hewitt in a swimsuit hit the internet, and some folks felt the need to comment negatively, causing her to respond "To all girls with butts, boobs, hips and a waist, put on a bikini--puit it on and stay strong." (yes, hello!)
• 2008, when Helen Mirren was photographed in a bikini, just before her 63rd birthday looking hawt?

Now, those were just the things that jumped out at me, but check it out for yourselves.  Which are your favorite moments of beauty past?

saturday special: man beauty, daddies

If I Were Your Daddy, This Is What You'd Learn is a recently released book touted as the most comprehensive parent-to-parent mentor guide ever put together.  When author Julia Espey, a former aerospace engineer for NASA, became a single mother, she wanted to find out how highly successful men were raising and inspiring their kids.  "This is for all the moms who have to be dads (at any time), dads who want to be better dads and for parents who want to improve their successes with their kids," says Espey. (PR Newswire)

Happy Saturday to all the daddies out there who make it their business to raise their children.  We see you, beauties.

beauty music: k' naan - america

There's no official video for this, but it won't matter.  Close your eyes,  or stare at the photo.  Either way, beautiful ...



Access K'Naan's website here.

locrocker brittany on stylelist

While a lot of ladies go natural for reasons having to do with authenticity and/or identity, Brittany Thomas, who blogs at LocRocker.com, did it because she was broke and tired of spending so much money maintaining her perm in Florida weather.  She cut the relaxer out and ended up in love with her natural hair. Featured on stylelist's natural hair bloggers series recently, she writes:

"There's something about not running from the rain and being able to work out without fear of sweating out a perm that just feels good. Being natural means I don't have to schedule my hairstyles around my life. I can't be the only lady who wouldn't work out before a wedding or an event. My natural hair isn't on a calendar. I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. That's just freedom!" (stylelist)

Check out the entire article here to see Thomas' top 5 natural hair care tips, products AND a tutorial on her favorite natural hair style.