Michelle Williams accused of racism after dressing as a Native American for AnOther magazine cover
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Michelle Williams has been accused of racism after appearing to dress as a Native American on a magazine cover.
The Australian actress donned a series of eye-catching outfits for British magazine AnOther, including one showing her in long braids, beads and with a feather in her hair.
The cover went viral as blogs labelled it 'offensive', 'racist' and 'sterotypical' and demanded an apology.
Offensive? Karlie has been accused of racism after appearing to dress as a Native American for the cover of AnOther magazine
New York based online magazine Refinery29 slated the cover, stating: 'We can't believe how offensive Michelle Williams' latest cover is.'
'They added super-long, thick, black extensions and braided them — and darkened her eyebrows,' they wrote. 'Then there's the makeup.
'The photo is in black-and-white, so you can't tell for sure if they've altered her normally fair skin, but there is some definite contouring around the nose and the cheekbones that not only makes her look nearly unrecognizable, but also appears to mimic the stark relief of facial features often seen in early portraits of Native American women.
'The same mimicry applies her stoic, unsmiling pose - also a typical trope in that particular genre and period of art history.'
Controversial: Karlie Kloss walks the ramp during Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in November; the images were pulled from the TV broadcast after they were accused of being offensive
Feminist blog Jezebel was equally incensed.
'Am I glad that unlike most racist, stereotypical caricatures of American Indians in pop culture today, Michelle is not practically naked? Yes — but just as Blackface is never okay, Redface is never okay. Ever.'
Taking their outrage even further they labelled Wizard Of Oz author Baum a white supremacist and compared the magazine to Hitler's Mein Kampf.
'Falsely aligning Native imagery with L Frank Baum is akin to putting a picture of a Gentile in a stereotypical Jewish getup on the cover of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf.
'AnOther Magazine and Michelle Williams have made a serious blunder here. The cover should be pulled, and all parties involved owe the American Indian community an apology.'
The Huffington Post also waded into the debate, writing: 'While not everyone might be offended, there have been all too many instances of fashion professionals ruffling feathers with ill-conceived Native American-inspired projects.'
A publicist for the 32-year-old did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The actress is not the first to accidentally offend the Native American community.
Victoria's Secret was forced to apologise after dressing model Karlie Kloss in a feathered headress and face paint as she strutted down the runway in her underwear at their show last year.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2292294/Michelle-Williams-accused-racism-dressing-Native-American-AnOther-magazine-cover.html#ixzz2NMCvGtFS
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