The controversial March 2012 issue of FHM
Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 8:19PM It's an old, old war. White skin versus dark skin. In popular media, white is thought of as pure and expensive, while black/dark skin is considered dirty and plebeian. When will it end? When will Filipinas, specifically, finally be free from the all-consuming idea that only white is beautiful?
Well, FHM is not helping for sure. Their cover shows a shining white Bela Padilla in the midst of grasping black-skinned women. She is "stepping out of the shadows", that is, stepping out from the undersirable status of being obscure. I guess? I haven't read the cover story yet so "shadows" can mean any number of things, but one thing is for sure - no one wants them, no one wants to be in them.
I'm not over-sensitive when it comes to white vs dark-skinned girls as I think that everyone has the right to define what they think is beautiful. But I think this FHM cover is vulgar and overtly racist. You can't spell it more clearly than this: that white women are perfect while black women are second-class. It goes beyond the perception of beauty, really, and ventures into racism.
I don't know if this is just a publicity stunt by the publication or if they are just truly ignorant in publishing this cover. Either way, it is wrong. Someone needs to take responsibility and apologize for it.
Liz Lanuzo
Internet -1
FHM - 0
FHM apologizes, scraps 'racist' cover
"When FHM hits the stands in March it will have a different cover. We deem this to be the most prudent move in the light of the confusion over the previous cover execution. We apologize and thank those who have raised their points," FHM Philippines said in the statement, which was released on the magazine's website.
Reader Comments (17)
Whoa! Nagulat naman ako dito! FHM just did that? WOW! I had to take a second look if it's FHM Philippines. Grabe lang. Naaamaze din ako kung gaano kahilig sa pagpapaputi ang mga Filipina. Maybe because of these marketing/publications. Laging bida pag maputi. Even in teleseryes, pag maitim madalas api-apihan. I love the FIlipina color. Morena. If only i can achieve that color in a snap. I'd certainly will. Don't want to judge too. But I do hope that FHM will have the will to explain this issue. "Stepping out of the shadows", wow!
The photo made me squirm...
Bela addressed the issue on twitter saying that she doesn't see the cover as racist bec she doesn't practice racism-- i think this statement is rather selfish and on the verge of being ignorant because one does NOT have to practice racism to (actually it doesn't take a rocket scientist....) actually deem something as offensive. Given that FHM wasn't INTENTIONALLY being racist, it still doesn't take away the fact that they should've been more sensitive.
The main thing here is: fhm should've seen that using dark skinned girls as metaphors for the shadows of bela padilla does nothing but merely intensify the racist stereotype. it's the 21st century. Pwede naman ibang gamit yung ginamit nila for the shadows.
They published this for the world to see and they have to deal with the repercussions of such, and they really can't do anything about the people who see differently.
Nako naman FHM! If this was published in the states nako for sure it would be a big issue and wouldn't even make it to the magazine stands. I also don't condone the belief that you have to be extremely fair to be considered beautiful. It just sends out the wrong perception of beauty to their readers. Lately the advocacy of Body Acceptance has been making waves and I think this is a step back. =(
Pwede namang itim na tela nalang ang shadows or i-grayscale nalang ang ibang girls at siya lang ang colored... tsss fhm talaga o
I can imagine if this was in the US, the editor will not see the light of day.
last saturday the cover spread over my FB with my friends sharing their shock over the implied statement of the cover. most of them were gay. my skin is darker than morena and i've been teased since i was a kid. but nevertheless, i feel proud and never once thought of trying any whitening product or treatment. but for those who prefer whiter skin i also respect that. but the cover only tries to widen the gap between white=beautiful and dark=not beautiful.
obviously FHM didn't think about this enough. did they release statement already?
The nature of FHM magazine is in itself discriminating because they only feature women who are beautiful and sexy (physically).
Oh holy hell. This is just wrong on so many levels. >.<!
I agree with everyone's comments. There are a lot of other tasteful ways to convey the meaning of "stepping out of the shadows" why oh why oh why did they have to go with the most offensive one?
Are they trying to get publicity? Do they want to be talked about? A lot of reading has shown me that most of the covers from our local magazines are actually uhm, interpretations if not total copies from covers of western magazines. Did they reveal their inspiration behind this cover? They usually do that, right?
It's the subtle little things that show such a negative message. The dark-skinned women have their eyes cast down, Bella has her elbow rested on the dark-skinned woman like she's something to lean on as leverage to go higher, that woman on the back who seemed to look at Bella with so much envy. I hate it I hate it I hate it.
Frankly, it's not just the racist implications, the cover isn't even attractive in the most basic sense! The blue tint makes the photo look tacky, IMO.
Maybe IF, the women at the back had stronger postures and fierce eyes rather than looking so docile and weak, it would have made for a better picture. I might even be driven to accept it. But the way they're just fawning all over the fair Bella whose only difference from them is her fair skin makes me sick.
I certainly agree with you... the main reason why Filipinas want to have whiter skin is that media gives us the reason to: showing us white-skinned women clad in a sexy outfit makes us go "ay! i want to be as white as her!"... i cant blame them, though... sa ganyan bumebenta ang mga whitening products and specialty skin clinics...
i would admit that i also go crazy for whitening products, but that is to clear up my imperfections. i love my skin color - not white but not dark at all, but i can't seem to avoid whitening products just because I want clearer (imperfection-free and scar-free) skin. I guess, if whitening product companies would come up with something that could help girls like me, then, there would be a lot of women wanting to keep their precious skin color.
I hope next time, media could teach Filipinas to embrace their rich caramel skin color... ^__^
i think they're just trying to remake nicole kidman's moulin rouge? me npanuod kc akong interview ky bela and she said that that was their peg for the shoot.. :)
FHM should step out of the shadows. Really.
This is offensive on so many levels :/ and it's a sad reflection of how backward we are when it comes to issues regarding race and discrimination. What does annoy me,personally, is when you try to educate people about things like these and they act like you're overreacting or being "too sensitive" over something "so small" like a magazine cover.
*sigh*
If you watched yesterday's episode of Follow that Star,you'll learn that Bella PAdilla is also partly blamed here. According to her, at talagang pinagmamalaki pa nya ha, na ang gusto nya concept ay yung parang sa moulin rouge na lutang na lutang sya kaya ito daw yung na naging result. Kaasar lang. Parang edukada pa man din sya. International brand pa man din ang FHM, they should have know better
I've read somewhere that the whole editorial team of FHM Philippines had decided not to use this as an actual cover for March 2012 issue, after all the rants from the critics. Kasi naman FHM eh.. be more sensitive next time!
Is Bela a Belo endorser or the cover story sponsored by Belo? Her name's written using the same font as Belo's kasi. Just an observation. :)
just the main character itself flaunting herself almost naked speaks of the cover's theme..she's clearly stepping out of the shadows since that was not her packaging when she was first introduced in the limelight..so i really could not see the point why the need to put on black women there..symbolic? NO..discrimination? i say YES..