Anna Wintour is not canceling herself

“Empress Wintour, with her power, has disappointed me in her humanity.” He wrote in his book. “Our friendship has accumulated layers of thick rust over the years. … I am no longer of value to her.” After apologizing this week, Talley was unmoved. “She is part of the environment of colonialism.” Sandra told Bernhard recently on her Sirius XM show. “She is entitled and I don’t think she will allow anything to get in the way of her white privilege.”

None of Wintour’s elitism, her refusal to show different body types or skin tones in the magazine, or her cruelty to her staff was a secret. After all, it wasn’t until 2018, when Beyoncé She graced the September issue of Vogue, it Tyler Mitchell Became the first black person to shoot the cover – A Request from Beyoncé itself. (To get a black person to shoot the cover of Vogue, obviously, you have to be one of the most powerful black women in the world.)

2006 movie The devil wears Pradaadapted from the novel of the same name, which was based in part on Loren Weisberger’s experience working for Wintour, received positive reviews in part because it humanizes a Wintour-type boss — a woman who tramples over everyone, dismissing those with a different point of view. The opinion that needs to be won at all costs. She has no friends, but she has her job. Still, she’s impressive, played by an American icon Meryl Streepwho even received an Oscar nomination for this role, and who Cerulini’s infamous speech It has been praised both now and then Completely exposed.

Wintour has built her entire career on the baseness of white women. That doesn’t mean she’s not talented or doesn’t deserve the job, but it reflects the culture she brings to a brand like Vogue, or frankly to Condé Nast as a public company. Wintour is not just that of a hard-to-please boss; woman A boss who is just as awful as a guy. It’s an early, less PR-enhanced incarnation of the Nasty Woman/Girl Boss modus operandi: the idea of ​​being authoritarian or disdainful at work is a feminist one, because if men have to do it, why can’t women?

Wintour embraces a version of femininity that says you have to be thin, white, elegant, aloof, and rich. If you don’t have any of these traits naturally, you’ll have to work hard at them: eat less if you’re very big, conform to European beauty standards if you’re black, act rude, and never smile. There’s a whole generation of young women who saw that Sex and the City And I thought Carrie Bradshaw’s affection for Vogue and its tenants was something to be contested, not scary and desperate. “Sometimes I would buy Vogue instead of dinner.” She says In one episode. “I felt like it nourished me more.” (Do you know what nourishes you more than Vogue? All foods.)

Wintour may be unique in how powerful she is, but you can trace her influence across many industries, not just media. The company founded on the cult of unique female personality can be seen in brands as disparate as ThanxNasty Gal, Glossier, and the women’s coworking space The Wing, founded by Audrey Gelman. But there is a distinct difference between women like Wintour and those like Gilman: Wintour found strength in being icy, while the leaders of third-wave “feminism” learned how to deal with it. They hide their cruelty behind public displays of feminist solidarity.

So it’s disingenuous that Wintour is now acting like she’s just a cog in a big anti-black machine. Wintour’s appeal lies in her all-encompassing power; If you want something to happen in Vogue, you need Anna’s permission. (Even the Creator Hills He knew that if he wanted Lauren Conrad to get the Teen Vogue internship, he’d have to sell Wintour on him in a closed-door meeting first.) Her entire brand is about her not wanting to compromise, but with that comes questions about how she handles that. She chose to exercise her power. There is no other reason why Vogue’s culture is so hostile toward the black people who work there or He wants to work there. After three decades of her work, the magazine operates entirely according to her design, and the publisher is so influenced by her that it is almost impossible to imagine Condé Nast without her as its representative. Technical Director and Global Content Consultant.

Almost every publication in American media has to confront its failures when it comes to hiring, promoting, and retaining black employees. They all need a seismic shift in their office cultures. Wintour has publicly expressed her desire to see Vogue become a more inclusive magazine and workplace. But it seems Wintour isn’t about to sacrifice her privilege or position to advance Vogue. She just took it 20% salary reduction Condé Nast has embarked on drastic cost-cutting measures and layoffs in connection with the pandemic (which is a trick given reports that… Salary: $2 million), and that so far, Per Condé Nast CEO Roger LynchShe refuses to resign, demonstrating her extreme reluctance to give up any of her powers. A president like Anna Wintour should be removed from office, similar to the French Revolution.

If her entire brand is ice queen, how reliable is Wintour’s apology? Condé Nast and the fashion industry in general have allowed her to be that way, with seemingly no consequences, despite repeatedly failing to make her workplace even partially comfortable for black people. It is difficult to take her words seriously because she has no record of modifying her behavior; In fact, Wintour’s entire portfolio is going her way, critics be damned.

In her tepid apology, Wintour suggests that she was merely a passive participant in a media establishment that rarely gives black people any work, any compensation, or any credit. She’s not fooling anyone and she has to admit the truth: Vogue is this way because Wintour designed it to be that way. If ever an act Finally, it is unclear how the magazine can continue without Wintour at the helm since so much of it is influenced by her. But maybe that’s the point. Maybe it’s time for Anna Wintour’s Vogue to end and make way for something new. ●