in brief: ELLE magazine under fire for mindy kaling cover
Image: ELLE
US women’s magazine, Elle has come under fire for its cover-selecting decisions after featuring a monochromatic close-up of The Office actress, Mindy Kaling.
The image is starkly contrasted with its sister covers printed in a series on female television actresses: full body, colour shots of Zooey Deschanel, Allison Williams and Amy Poehler.
The cover, which is Kaling’s first, is reportedly also the first Elle cover to feature a woman of colour solo.
Despite being a striking cover – cited as perhaps the reason Kaling’s is not like the others – the editorial decision has enraged some for perpetuating thin, Caucasian women as a beauty ideal.
Kaling has been vocal in the past about how her image has been perceived by the media.
‘I always get asked, “Where do you get your confidence?”’ she said in a recent issue of Parade magazine.
‘I think people are well meaning, but it’s pretty insulting. Because what it means to me is, “You, Mindy Kaling, have all the trappings of a very marginalized person. You’re not skinny, you’re not white, you’re a woman. Why on earth would you feel like you’re worth anything?”’
The criticisms her cover have garnered have not seemed to spoil the experience for the actress, however.
‘Wishing for more skin on my @ELLEmagazine cover? Chris Messina & I are naked on a brand new #themindyproject tonight, ya pervs!’ She tweeted, plugging a new show.
‘I love my @ELLEmagazine cover. It made me feel glamorous & cool. And if anyone wants to see more of my body, go on thirteen dates with me.’
The magazine has also been criticised in the past for lightening the skin of its cover girls and de-curving full figure women (including Melissa McCarthy.)
