Latinitas Reports from SXSW 2017
It comes to no surprise that the media and the images that they label to be “beautiful” have a huge impact on the way women see themselves and their confidence. This is an issue that has been largely debated in the beauty industry, and continues to be a topic of conversation. At Revelist, a mobile-first publication for millennial women, this conversation became the foundation for their company. Rather than build a traditional beauty and fashion publication that showcased the stereotypical cool girl the legacy fashion publications focus on, Revelist decided to focus on the real girls that would be reading their content.
In the March 12 SXSW panel, Rise of the ‘Real Girl’ in Beauty and Fashion, Revelist Deputy Editor Alle Connell, Revelist Fashion Reporter Jessica Torres, and Vivala Associate Editor Cindy Diaz, discussed the importance of showcasing real beauty and fashion, and how this focus helped them grow rapidly. These three women all came from different backgrounds and parts of the world but all share a passion for pushing for diversity in the fashion and beauty industry. The two Latina panelists said they were making sure that the voices of their communities were being heard.
One of their strategies to be more inclusive was to create Facebook pages for specific topics that could be covered on the site, such as a Selena Quintanilla fan page, and to showcase the style and beauty of Latina women and other women of color on their sites. This strategy, along with their focus on real beauty and fashion, allowed Revelist to grow to six million monthly readers in a little less than a year.
Besides focusing on diversity in ethnicities, the panel also focused on diversity in size. As someone who has always struggled with their weight, this part of the panel hit very close to home and it was great to hear that there are other people who feel the way that I do.
Torres did a great job at describing the issues and insecurities that a majority of plus-sized women deal with. Many of the insecurities that women face today have been created due to the lack of representation of what average women’s bodies look like. Connell said that a 2016 survey found that ninety percent of American women feel unhappy with their bodies — NINETY percent! How is it possible that almost the entire female population is unhappy with their body?
One problem might be that until very recently, most major fashion publications have never had a plus-sized model on their cover or in many spreads. This lack of representation in varying sizes also continues to brands. Most stores only carry up to size Large or 12, but over sixty percent of American women wear a size 16 or higher.
Although we still have a long way to go until we see accurate representation of women in beauty and fashion, it is empowering to know that brands and legacy fashion magazines are finally starting to recognize this issue and are trying to do something about it.
About the Writer
Ari Gonzalez is Latinitas’ Social Media Intern. She is studying Business Administration at St. Edward’s University in Austin and started with us during the Fall 2016 semester. Ari will graduate in May 2018 and hopes to get a job with a nonprofit organization.
