Image courtesy of Chic Profile
Juarez, Mexico is a town in Mexico that has been called one of the most violent places in the world that isn't an active war zone. Juarez is probably most infamous for it femicides, or female homicides, of women factory workers ranging in age from 12 to 22. Following me now? Since 1993, authorities have speculated that there have been more than 400 deaths but many local residents believe the death toll is well into the thousands. Women are often found days or months later left out in the desert or abandoned in vacant lots. In Mexico, they even have a saying for these women: las muertas de Juárez.
MAC initially planned to continue release of the collection, despite the backlash, with changed cosmetic names and a donation of the profits from sales. However on a statement released on MAC's official Facebook, MAC expressed their regret and dropped the news that the collection would no longer be hitting stores. Here's their official statement:
Out of respect for the people of Mexico, the women and girls of Juarez and their families, as well as our MAC Mexican staff and colleagues, MAC has made the decision not to ship the MAC Rodarte limited edition makeup collection. This decision will have no impact on MAC’s commitment to donate all of its projected global profits from this collection to local and international groups that work to improve the lives of the women and girls of Juarez. We are currently conducting due diligence to ensure we donate to organizations with a proven record of directly supporting the women and girls of Juarez. MAC and Rodarte are deeply and sincerely sorry and we apologize to everyone we offended. We have listened very closely to the feedback of concerned global citizens. We are doing our very best to right this wrong. The essence of MAC is to give back and care for the community and Rodarte is committed to using creativity for positive social change. We are grateful for the opportunity to use what we have learned to raise awareness on this important issue.What do you guys think about the whole controversy?
I'm actually disappointed that they've dropped the line. It certainly raised awareness in my case. I think the names are appropriate. That's the writer-artist in me I guess.
ReplyDeleteWhen dealing with a serious subject, graven imagery is sometimes necessary-- especially in the case of educating people. I'm sure the people of Juarez don't want people to only know them for the violence, but I'm even more certain that they want their sisters, wifes, daughters, mothers, aunt, and so on to be protected/avenged. If a tube of lipstick helps get the message out there then let it.
They even changed the names of the products. That's more than enough. Why not get to selling and campaigning and getting women all over the world involved?
The realist in me knows that Mexican officials are often extremely corrupt and will not help, but knowing the problem is there and even so much as writing a letter is just as bad.