Muslim model Halima Aden not only made the cover of the always creepily anticipated Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition but headlines as the first cover model to wear a hijab and burkini, and the cultural diversity train must not stop there.
April 29 marked another win for body and cultural diversity, but let us not be dissuaded by imminent racist and cultural insensitive comments by lonely white incels.
The comments written by horny perverts, who clearly don’t know the difference between Playboy and Sports Illustrated, will run along these lines of, “Where are her tits?”
The point is not about tits, sickos, the point is celebrating diversity and the religious beliefs of others.
Think of the aspiring models who feel they won’t be successful due to their religious beliefs, cultural heritage, body shape and skin tone.
Due to this magazine cover, a generation will be able to look back and say, “I can be represented, I deserve to be represented, now it’s my turn.”
It’s for this reason that cultural diversity in public mainstream media should not be deterred and should continue to progress.
Barely last year, “Roma” actress, Yalitza Aparicio, became the first indigenous woman, to grace the cover of Vogue Mexico, and to be nominated for best actress at the Oscars.
You’d think a country “founded” by and comprised of immigrants there would be more cultural diversity in the public eye.
Alas, my dear ethnically diverse children, there is not, women by the name of Karen and men named Connor are still receiving the spotlight and represention.
How much more representation do rich, white people need?
I’m 100 percent positive that pawing through magazines where the only people being represented were thin and white didn’t postively boost my self-esteem and personal perception.
Quite to the contrary, that bullshit causes impressionable young people, which is all young people, to believe they aren’t worthy of representation due to heritage, the color of their skin or the shape of their bodies.
So keep it coming mainstream media, even though it is only being done to sell more magazines or gain more viewership, keep producing culturally diverse content featuring culturally diverse individuals.
We must call for more representation in mainstream media.
We, as a culturally unique community, must not be discouraged by lonely racist bigots who leave comments on the Internet at three in the morning because they have nothing to do with their lives.
The push forward for the celebration of different heritages must continue.
Trust me, we are all tired of the same boring representation of some skinny white woman or man because that’s what we have allowed mainstream society to push down our throats for so long.
So you go, Halima Aden, you go.