Black Images and the Politics of Beauty
When Ebony magazine debuted in 1945, it pulled in readers with a photo of Hollywood star Lena Horne. It’s not surprising that a popular entertainer would be featured in a magazine that, according to publisher and founder John H. Johnson, had a mission to showcase the “whole spectrum of black life.” But that photo of Horne was more than it seemed. It, and the concurrent rise of Black-owned beauty-centered businesses, were all part of a challenge to mainstream standards of attractiveness. Before World War II, historian Malia McAndrew points out, “popular American culture, including ne...
Source: jstor.org