My love for Elaine Welteroth & the politicalization of women’s magazines
Mix fashion, beauty and politics – it works. Maybe it’s a formula that has arisen in Trump’s America where women’s magazines realized they needed to speak to their audiences on larger issues, but former editor-in-chief Elaine Welteroth realized Teen Vogue needed to make this change long before the new administration. “You cannot change the stories unless you change the storytellers,” Welteroth commented on the need to diversify the people creating the stories.
Like many women, I’ve always loved to flip through the glossy pages of women’s magazines, reading articles and scanning editorial photos. Yet fashion, beauty, and lifestyle magazines targeted toward women have a long history of superficial coverage of women and the removal of specific topics like politics. Traditionally, coverage of women in popular media has largely revolved around topics like what they’re wearing, or who they’re dating. So you can imagine how Vogue’s sister publication, Teen Vogue, shook up the public perception of women’s magazines when they first published an op-ed by Lauren Duca titled “Trump is Gaslighting America.”
Pushing the fashion magazine into a political force was not an easy job. The magazine received major criticism online as Duca’s article dominated the news cycle. Feminist writer Roxanne Gay tweeted about on the backlash Teen Vogue was receiving, commenting, “the condescension and surprise directed toward @TeenVogue for publishing great writers is a measure of how women/girls are underestimated.” Roxanne Gay, among other women who celebrated Teen Vogue’s move into news and politics brought forward the larger underlying issues of expecting young women to stay out of political issues.
Enter: Elaine Welteroth, who spent her time at Teen Vogue striving for more content on social justice and bringing politics back into women’s magazines. As the youngest editor-in-chief, first black beauty director, first black editor-in-chief in Condé Nast history, Welteroth understood the gravity of her own identity in any room she entered. Rather than being a voice of authority, Welteroth focused on handing the mic over to voices in minority communities to change the nature of the conversation. Welteroth has left Teen Vogue with a legacy of highlighting young female activist voices, exploring cultural appropriation vs. appreciation, and hiring journalists that could move the conversation forward.
Fortunately Welteroth isn’t the only one seeking to highlight social issues and push for change in the world of women’s magazines. Editors of Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire are expanding the conversation on issues of sexual harassment and reproductive rights. When I stumble across shelves of women’s magazines, I’m happy to read about identity politics alongside the latest skincare routines.
