The fashion business has met difficulties and problems concerning biases and discrimination based on gender, cultural affiliation, race, and disability. The industry aims at being more tolerant and prompting diversity, equality, inclusion, and social justice to keep up with the current social trends. It actualizes the necessity of investigating cases in the fashion industry that demonstrate stereotypes. The paper provides one recent issue relating to discrimination within the fashion world.
It may seem that the issue of race has already been thoroughly studied and proved. Inclusion implies that an individual is able to “participate fully in the decision-making process” (Burns, 2019). Even nowadays, there are a number of significant cases of racial discrimination. Concerning racial diversity, the industry is becoming more and more inclusive (Subair, 2019). Nevertheless, even if black models are allowed into the industry, they are not given the proper care and respect. For example, Olivia Anakwe wrote on Instagram about a common situation relating to how non-black hairstylists treat the black model: they cannot care about afro hair and may turn their backs on her (Anakwe, 2019). The public supported the model in the comments, and E. Subair wrote about it in the media (Subair, 2019). Nevertheless, this did not lead to a drastic outcome but contributed to this issue’s discussion.
To conclude, although the fashion industry seeks to contribute to cultural and ethnic sustainability, there are some issues that require discussion. Black women’s representation is still a topic, which needs to be spoken about. Support from the public helps to draw attention to the existence of the problem and bring it to the people who are involved in casting and ensuring that models are properly respected during the work process.
References
Anakwe. O. (2019). This message is to spread awareness & hopefully reach anyone in the hair field to expand their range of skills. Instagram. Web.
Burns, L. D. (2019). Sustainability and social change in fashion. Fairchild Books.
Subair, E. (2019). Why Are We Still Failing Black Models In 2019?Refinery29. Web.