"The Sexiest Man Alive": A Whites Only Club?

Apparently so, according to People Magazine. Surely I cannot be the only one who has noticed this. Save for one (Denzel Washington), there has never been a man of color on the cover of the annual Sexiest Man Alive issue. Seriously? You mean Nick Nolte actually once "graced" the cover of People as the Sexiest Man Alive and the likes of Benjamin Bratt, Taye Diggs, Blair Underwood, Boris Kodjoe, Will Smith, Jesse L. Martin (Law & Order), Terrence Howard, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Edris Elba, Eddie Murphy, Welsley Snipes, Antonio Banderas, Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes), Tyson Beckford, Rodrigo Santoro(The 300), Esai Morales, Oscar De La Hoya, um, President-elect Barack Obama, somehow don't measure up? Seriously? Isn't the adage or standard of masculine beauty "talk, dark and handsome?" So can someone please explain to me why People Magazine religiously voids that on their cover, every single year? I'm not saying the Matthew McConaugheys, Hugh Jackmans or the Brad Pitts of the world aren't cover worthy (personally, I very much believe they are), but, I find it strange that we live in a country this diverse, with a plethera of options, and all, but once has the cover ever featured a man of color. There is a rich and deep pool of diversity, perhaps People Magazine might want to look into using it. If not, you should just be honest as to whom your magazine is designed to address. That way I don't have to hear another misinformed white person make an Elisabeth Hassleback like statement such as: " what do you people need with Ebony Magazine or BET? What if we had WET or Ivory magazine?" Seriously, they should just rename the magazine to address the People they are actually targeting, because it is abundantly clear People is not addressing all People. For goodness sakes, Mel Gibson and Tom Cruise have been on multiple covers as The Sexiest Man Alive, so obviously there aren't that many of you (more on that later). Matt Damon, Harrison Ford and NICK NOLTE?!! For real?! I have a hard time believing if most women had to choose between that lot and the likes of any of the aforementioned men of color, that it would even be close...and no there would be no Bradley effect:-)

Copyright JLI 2008