the magazine EBONY?

Question

what is the deal with that magazine? I saw it once in the library and was very offended. i actually counted the number of white or just not black people in the magazine and counted SEVEN. that includes advertisments, people in the backround of pictures, and drawings of people! i was highly offended whether the editors of the magazine think that or not. if black people can have their own magazine, why can't white people? just IMAGINE seeing a magazine in the store called Ivory or something and says its "just for white people" can u IMAGINE that? no. because when white poeple do anything at all, its racist. but black people can be as cliquish and discriminative as they want. nothing against black people, im just asking y is this socially excepted? y can black people make fun of white people and not get in trouble, but not vise versa? do we have a double standard, america? i think we do.

does anyone read/have read Ebony? what do u think about its obvious discrimination.

be honest.

Answer 1

It's a magazine for people of color. Heck, white people have many magazines for them. So don't trip and try to make it seem it's discrimination.

Answer 2

Ok, I guess I will start off by being honest. Let me remind you that the magazines Jet and Ebony originated in a time of racial hardships(Ebony1945,Jet1951). The magazine(s) were created as source of belonging to preserve the culture of African Americans in white America. This magazine gave African American writers a sense of accomplishment. As a member of the "white" race, I know that "white" people, as well as any other race of people are capable of doing anything they please. Of course you know that you can create a magazine and call it "Ivory" and it probably would be rather popular. If I were you I wouldn't have been offended. I think you should be more open-minded. I am sure the editors of the magazine did not mean to offend anyone. Everything that white people do is not always considered racist. I am sorry that you feel that way. A good thing for you to do is maybe address this issue with editors of the magazine and see what their response is. Maybe you will get an apology if there is any substance/foundation to your opinion.

Answer 3

Are you freaking kidding me......lol. You must be young. Yes I do read Ebony. If you knew the history of the magazine and the purpose of the magazine maybe you when understand better. The magazine was create to show blacks in a positive light that we weren't getting. Back then you could never pick up a "People" or other magazine where black were not on the cover or something positive about us. And if so I bet I could count on my hand how many. Second, you have to realize the magazine is marketed for blacks. If that the case then you should also be offend with magazine that only have nothing but Hispanic.

Answer 4

To begin with, about every fashion magazine still could be called Ivory--have you leafed through them lately?? But forget the fashion magazines, have you really paid attention to about every other magazine genre too? Take Time, People, Newsweek, The Week, Star, Horse & Rider, American Artist, Reader's Digest, McCalls Quick Quilts, Model Train, etc...--leaf through them, and see how many minorities are represented in a POSITIVE light, you might be suprised.

Continuing, yes, we have a double standard in America! We have for a long time! White men have been controlling things in this country throughout history. Yes, I said men. Things will not begin to change unless people educate themselves, quit trying to point out differences, etc...

Do I read Ebony? No. However, I have used it in reference before. But, to truly appreciate the magazine, you MUST understand the HISTORY behind it! Afterall, would it make sense to mount a campaign that a magazine such as Cat Fancy does not have any pictures of Poodles in it? Or that American Artist is not featuring the great art movement currently occurring in Australia? Or that Hairstyle magazine is not featuring tattooing? You must understand that magazines are targeted to specific genres, if you do not like that genre, magazine, category, content, etc..., do not purchase it.

Of all the social injustices that occur everyday in this country, not to mention the world, I can not believe that you have chosen this as a platform. But, that is the wonderful thing about this country, you are entitled to make this your issue if you want.

Answer 5

This can not be a serious question in this day and age.

I read Ebony magazine every month because I am a loyal subscriber and have been for about 7 years.

Ebony magazine is targeted towards to the African American community, just like Teen vogue is for teenagers, Home and Garden is for white middle america, AARP is for older citizens and Highlights is for little children.

I dont get offended when I see King, Playboy, Hustler magazines?

Have you looked at the magazine section inside your local bookstore?

Do you see the variety of magazines for EVERYBODY?

Do you get the drift?

I surely hope so.

Answer 6

How about counting the number of articles in Cosmopolitian, Redbook, Glamour, Elle etc. that feature black women? Check out the hair and makeup tips in the magazines also to see exactly how many would actually be of any use to black women? Then on top off that count the number of ads in those magazines that feature black women. Count the number of models in the ads that are featured and not just in the background or there to fit the one black for three whites quota in those magazines. After you do that and find more than seven black women in each of those magazines then come back and tell me that whites don't have their own magazine.

Answer 7

Most magazines are selective. It makes it easier to get advertisers. Ebony and other magazines don't discriminate because u can find an array of different skin tones working to produce the magazine. Try to count the number of African Americans in VOGUE and u will be surprised as well.

Answer 8

What the heck is your problem? Its not discrimination, dumb ***! The magazine is catered to Blacks the same way that Vogue, Cosmo, Redbook, and just about every other magazine are catered to White people. Whens the last time you saw someone in Vogue that was of color and NOT a celebrity??? I don't hear you complaining about Latina magazine. And while were at it, lets go ahead and complain about magazines that are only for vegetarians. How dare they publish a mag that doesn't feature any meat! How discriminatory! Get a life, you hag!

Answer 9

I have seen and read Ebony Magazine. I seen your point and understand where you are coming from. However, the goal of this magazine is not to discriminate although it may result in constructive discrimination. Its goal is to take away from the negative sterotypes of African-American as often portrayed in the media by depicting a variety of issues and celebrities in a more positive light. Some find it empowering to see the contributions and sucess of African-Americans on a daily basis as opposed to being restricted to hearing about these contributions during the annual month long celebration. This magazine fills in the blanks that our often left out in our society. However, there are individuals who are not of an African-American descent who read and enjoy that magazine. The market group of this magazine is African-Americans as with its spin-off Jet. There are also magazines out there that target other ethnic groups such as the chinese Latin Americans Europeons, and so forth. As well, there are newspapers that are culture specific. These are only the target group of these material and do not blatanly say he "such and such ethnic/nationality need not read." In other words, there are other material out there that caters to a specific race. I do not find those materials that cater to those races/nationality appauling. Personally, I feel that material is telling the story of the culture and the perspective of the world from the eyes of that culture. I read magazines that cater to other ethnic groups/nationalities that differ from own, to be informed and balanced. There are no laws or rules that say one cannot read this material. Another type of magazine where there is segregation is the hairstyle magazines. There are hairstyle magazines that cater to African-Americans. Then there are hairstyle magazines that cater to non-African Americans. On its face, these magazines could be seen as discriminatory as they target a specific group. Some non-African American hairstyle books do not depict any African-Americans at all. In this aspect, non-African Americans are not dubbed as racist.


I agree that there is a double standard, but that double standard stems across the boarders. The double standard not only involves race but a wide variety of issues as well. In terms of comedy, I think it is appauling that one has to provoke laughter at the expense of another's nationality or ethnicticity. I don't why comedy in general has to make fun of anothers race. Or why non-African Americans get into trouble when they poke fun at the culture, race, or nationality of the African-American. There are many comedians who do this and I will not name names as this is not the proper forum to explore the issue. It should also be dully noted that differential treatment in the magazines and comedy scketches extend to other types of social discrimination such as disability, weight, age and so forth. Thus, discrimination extends across the boarders.

Answer 10

ebony was created at a time when black people were opressed in america i believe you're very young and that you don't really know your history and in most "white magazine" you hardly see black people maybe you haven't noticed.