Jamie Keiles, of the Seventeen Magazine Project and Teenagerie, wondered how racially representative Seventeen was compared to the U.S. population. So she offered some data based on the May 2010 issue. Her methods:
There are 332 faces in this month’s issue of Seventeen. I counted a face as a head with at least one visible eye. That is, backs of heads and disembodied mouths or eyes were not included in my data. I researched the races of the models and celebrities that I could identify. Those whose race I could not determine with reasonable certainty I’ve excluded from my data, making for 319 surveyed faces.
Keiles was also surprised by the fact that, compared to the U.S. population, there were many models who identified as bi-racial. My guess is that it’s because advertisers think (and perhaps know, but I’m not sure) that models whose identities are hard to discern appeal to a larger array of audience members who may see themselves in what is otherwise an “ambiguous” appearance.
Any ideas as to why white Hispanics are particularly underrepresented? Is it possible that white Hispanic models simply identify publicly as “white”? Other ideas?
Keiles finds a similar patterns when she looks by gender and by whether it was Seventeen content or advertiser content:
Comments 21
Miss Werewolf — August 8, 2010
Oh white hispanics... I am a white hispanic, and I am normally mistaken for white. So that could be a possibility.
But apart from that, interesting study! I loved the Seventeen Magazing project.
Sadie — August 8, 2010
I think for a lot of "hispanics" (latinas), they could be easily just taken for "white"; after all, they aren't doing a lot (or any) speaking! That would be a really, really hard call to make, even before the addition of photoshopping to change a model's proportions and skin tone (which is done all the time).
I really admire this young blogger and her project; she has an incredible future ahead of her! Unfortunately this specific analysis of the magazine is pretty inaccurate, but then again, she's just learning, and at least she is headed in the right direction! On the flip side, the fact that there aren't a lot of models who can easily be identified as "other than white" does speak volumes.
Way to go Jamie Keiles!
Heather Leila — August 8, 2010
I think it's pretty impressive that she at least researched the back round of those models/celebrities that she could identify. This shows that she understands that she can't really classify people - I would say especially not with Hispanics - by just looking.
But grouping race and ethnicity together in a pie chart is really hard because Hispanics can be of any race. If she didn't know who Zoe Saldana was, she would probably be marked as Black, when she is also Hispanic. Maybe that's why Hispanics are so underrepresented in this chart. Because there are a lot of models whose names we don't know and don't appear in the magazine, so there's no way to investigate.
Syd — August 8, 2010
I have to say, as a former avid reader of Seventeen (and still an occasional reader). While I have no idea what's going on with the Hispanic white percentages, or why Asian, Native American, and Pacific Islander are all grouped together, Seventeen is the ONLY fashion magazine for girls and women that I see with anything remotely resembling actual diversity. CosmoGirl was decent in its day (MUCH better than it's mother magazine, though not great), but reading Teen Vogue (does that still exist), Glamour, Cosmopolitan, J-14, or any of those other magazines with vaguely similar content. Reading the makeup sections, it actually acknowledges that there are skin colors other than 'white, white, really white, and Beyonce.'
I'd be interested to find out why Seventeen seems to be the only magazine putting forth even the most minimal of efforts on this front.
b — August 8, 2010
I'm curious why she excluded those whose race she couldn't determine rather than including them as their own category - they make up about 4% of the sample. It seems likely that most of those models weren't entirely white, and it's very possible that most of the Hispanic models fell into that category.
Jessica — August 8, 2010
I have a feeling that many white Hispanic models were either included in the white category, or weren't able to be classified.
Christina — August 8, 2010
As a white Hispanic, I identify as both, but agree that it would sometimes be hard to tell just by looking at people, as with black Hispanics (which she oddly didn't seem to count separately). The good thing is we come in every color and are very diverse, but it lets us defy easy categorization, with further layers coming from how people self-identify.
Hannah — August 9, 2010
Latino is not a race in the same way African, Asian, etc. are. It is by definition a race created by the mixing of other races, so probably she missed many of them because Latinos often look native, white, or African. But also, I think the United States' anti-racism and affirmative action has still not come close to helping out Latinos. Part of that may be because they haven't historically been as oppressed as, say, African Americans, who were enslaved, but also because the current socio-political climate is incredibly anti-Latino and anti-Muslim. I'm sure you don't see girls wearing hijabs in Seventeen, either.
Greg D. — August 9, 2010
What would be interesting is having the same classification done by different people who identify as belonging to different races/ethnicities and see if they agree and who belongs where.
Sarah — August 9, 2010
Part of the "biracial / race" could be a generational difference as well. Many people who identify as bi or multiracial are younger - whereas older generations are more likely to classify by a single race (eg: Pres. Obama). My guess is that most of these models are younger.
Although - now that I re-read it it looks like she classified the models herself. I wonder how she can identify someone as "two or more races" by eye? I guess I'm confused by the methodology because she says she was surprised that "compared to the U.S. population, there were many models who identified as bi-racial" but it sounds like she is the one who identified them as such?
I just think its interesting b/c I know people who are not multiracial, who are mistaken as such, as well as people who are, who people assume are not.
Thaddeus — August 9, 2010
What's the racial breakdown of 17 magazine's demographic?
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