The Power of Women. June Sarpong

Beyoncé. Franca Sozzani, the late great editor of Italian Vogue, also made it her mission to make her pages more inclusive and, as with Wonder Woman or the astronomical success of Black Panther, the numbers speak for themselves; the famed ‘Black’ issue of Vogue, which featured the most iconic models of colour, past and present, is to date one of the biggest-selling editions of that magazine.⁷

      Unfortunately, the UK still lags seriously behind on this issue, though there could be sunshine on the horizon as we again turn to Vogue. The appointment of Edward Enninful as its first editor of colour (who also happens to be a man) could result in the UK’s most trusted and elite fashion bible becoming a publication in which all women can see themselves represented.

      So far, this seems to be the case. In his short reign as head of Vogue, Enninful has already began a wave of more inclusive editorial and covers, which has not only proved refreshing to a wider consumer base but also incredibly lucrative. Vanessa Kingori the first ever female publisher of British Vogue (who also happens to be black) recently announced: ‘Total sales are up 7.5 per cent since Edward’s first issue and UK newsstands sales have also increased. Total advertising revenue is up too, fuelled by a 26 per cent increase in digital advertising, and the company reports a 1,033 per cent increase in events and special projects revenue.’

      And as we saw with Vogue’s ‘Black’ issue, or indeed Nike’s #betterforit campaign, if done right, inclusivity can also be very lucrative.

      But is it any wonder that representative media is the exception rather than the rule? The less public side of prejudice can be found in the severe under-representation of BAME individuals in the creative industries. We’re at risk here of taking steps backwards rather than forwards – the government have cut funding to Creative Access, an organization that has been working to increase diversity in the creative industries through internships, apprenticeships, and other entry routes for young people from underrepresented backgrounds.

      This brings us to an even more damaging element of gender inequality because, when it comes to representation in the media, the fight for gender equality often crosses over into, and sometimes clashes with, the fight for racial equality, and black women are at the epicentre of these two struggles. They have a fight on two fronts: they must negotiate a society that discriminates against them because of their gender, and also imposes upon them a standard of female beauty that is at the other end of the spectrum to what they represent. And all in a patriarchal society where women are judged primarily by their appearance before they even say or do anything.

      It is in this context that we find the labels of the ‘strong black woman’ who overcomes opposition and adversity, and the ‘angry black woman’ who is loud and unreasonable. In the UK and US, women who are given these labels soon become aware that they were not meant to be the delicate damsel rescued by the hero we see depicted in Disney movies. In fact, in order to be worthy of acceptance they need to become as close as they can manage to their white counterparts by suppressing the essence of their authenticity, i.e. their ‘blackness’. The burden of women being judged by their appearance before all else is, therefore, especially damaging for women of colour.

      So it is that black women in corporate front-of-house roles are often told that their natural Afro hair or braided styles are unacceptable, and that chemical treatments or weaves and wigs that give the appearance of straighter hair are preferable. Even then, wigs and weaves can become a means of denigration, as black US congresswoman Maxine Waters found when US political commentator Bill O’Reilly of Fox News claimed he ‘couldn’t hear what she was saying because of her James Brown wig!’

      As a black woman in the media, I have my own wounds and scars from some of the prejudice, rejection, and subtle slights I have faced throughout my career. I learned very early on that the rules were not the same for me, and that my point of difference, although an asset in most cases, was also sometimes a liability.

      One incident that comes to mind was when I was around 21. I had not long been at MTV, yet had one of the highest-rated shows on the network: MTV Dancefloor Chart. I was succeeded by Russell Brand when I went to co-present MTV Select with British comedian Richard Blackwood. It was a great time in the channel’s history – I was part of a wave of MTV VJs (video jockeys) that included Cat Deeley, Edith Bowman, Donna Air, and Sara Cox. We were young, hip, and the voice of Generation X. MTV had just newly rebranded in the UK and Ireland, and the network comms team embarked on an extensive marketing campaign to promote the faces of the channel. This involved a Sky Magazine cover titled ‘MmmmTV . . . Delicious Reasons to Watch MTV’. The cover was a substantial beauty spread that included every female MTV presenter, except me – even though, at the time, my show was riding high in the ratings and I was a firm favourite with the viewers. My heart sank as I walked past newsstands and saw the cover glaring at me. I was happy for my colleagues but couldn’t help crying at the fact that I’d been excluded.

      What happened next completely raised my spirits though. Because it was such a big cover story, the viewers of MTV started calling the network to ask if I had left the channel. The news soon spread that I hadn’t left, I just hadn’t been included in the shoot. It would later transpire that it wasn’t Sky Magazine that had vetoed me – rather, it was the MTV PR team, who didn’t think I was right for the feature so hadn’t put my name forward. I have always been a glass-half-full type of person, and always look for the silver lining where possible. This rejection, painful as it was, ended up working in my favour – more and more viewers kept calling the MTV switchboard to complain. As a result, the MTV press office devised a marketing campaign specifically for me and I ended up shooting a piece for Sky Magazine with the legendary David Bailey.

      Incidents such as these would continue throughout my career. Many times I would agree to a cover shoot, only to be bumped off at the last minute – something fuelled by the general unspoken belief in the industry that women of colour do not sell magazines, which as demonstrated by Vogue’s bestselling ‘Black’ issue, clearly isn’t the case. So, it’s fair to say that women of colour have a double dose of discrimination: we are often ignored and excluded or, worse still, insulted in the media – and sometimes that insult is at the hand of our colleagues.

      Such was the case for stalwart Labour MP Diane Abbott, following the Article 50 vote that awarded Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May the authority to begin the process of leaving the European Union. The Brexit Minister David Davis allegedly attempted to hug Abbott for voting with the government, but apparently her response to his show of affection was a strong verbal rejection. Davis then proceeded to inform a ‘friend’ about this exchange via text, remarking that he would have to be blind to hug Diane Abbott. Fortunately, this ‘friend’ leaked Davis’s text to the press. As hurtful as this was for Abbott, it was important that Davis’s disgraceful disrespect was exposed for all to see.