Fashionably Ethnic?

For the most part in this article "'Con-fusing' Exotica: Producing India in U.S. Advertising," the author Sanjukta Ghosh discusses the way in which minorities, specifically Indian Americans, are represented and excluded from the media. Ghosh develops the ideas of "Orientalism," "exoticism" and the way in which American popular culture has constructed a sense of "self" and the "other" or the "familiar 'us'" and the "peculiar'them.'"(275) By excluding and stereotyping Indian Americans in today's media, society, has in a sense developed a way to keep, not only Indian Americans, but also other minorities "in check."(276) According to Ghosh, the exclusion of these peoples from the media and advertising stregthens Indian American's position in the "power structure."(276) Thus, this absense in the media reinforces their sense of powerlessness in contrast to great power posessed by the Western/Caucasian peoples of America. In addition, this absense in the media can also be seen as a visual depiction of a "racially cleansed society."(276) By depicting a 'racially cleansed' society with the exclusion of ethnic groups in today's media, the concept of the "us" and the "them" is further enforced and the idea of needing the American Indian population "only for their labor and not their lives" is developed.(275) Furthermore, this articles describes the way in which Indians are developed when in fact they are included in the media and advertising. On the rare occasions that American Indians are depicted in the media it is almost always in the same, stereotypical way. Indians are seen strictly as an "exotic" group of people in American culture, they are seen as a group of people lost in their traditions which therefore hinders them from becoming constructive members of the modern world.(275) Therefore, their perceived sense of separation from the modern world makes it easier for the media to misrepresent and exclude them from advertising, film, television, etc.
In this collage of relatively recent fashion magazine covers the absence of Indian American, and minorities in general is painfully apparent. It is obvious that there is not a single representation of any race or ethnicity other than European/Causcasian. This exclusion of not only Indian Americans but also other ethnicities, from many mainstream fashion magazines and the fashion world in general, is one way through which the media has developed minorities' positions in society. By not featuring minority peoples in these magazines the media develops the idea that ethnic people are capable of being as beautiful as caucasian people. As a result, minorities are depcited as not being capable of acheiving success in our culture/society, which is so largely based on materialism and appearance.