Light except Lupita: The representation of Black women in magazines

Psychology is dominated by White Westerners. Subsequently researchers have minimised or ignored Black women’s body dissatisfaction. This study sought to account for the intersection of racism and body dissatisfaction by coding the representation of Black women, the number of appearance adverts and articles across 8 issues of mainstream women’s magazines (Elle, Vogue) and Black women’s magazines (Essence and Ebony) from 2015/16. The majority of Black women featured in the magazines (N = 539) were young (83 per cent) slim (62 per cent), had light skin (66 per cent) and straight hair (60 per cent). Compared to the Black women’s magazines, Black women were rarely represented in the mainstream women’s magazines (N = 64, 11 per cent) and when they were represented generally had straighter hair, narrow noses and lighter skin tones. This study underscores the need for psychology, including body dissatisfaction researchers, to recognise (and challenge) the intersections of racism with other impacts to wellbeing including body dissatisfaction.

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