Anne Enke Censored By Grey Magazine

My apologies to daily readers who are wondering what’s going on at AOC. My life has been totally crazy these past few days as we installed our first Elephant Bazaar shop in Lancaster’s Building Character and attended three GlamTribale events on Saturday and Sunday.

On Friday several upset AOC readers — women in fashion and one a prominent California newspaper publisher who wishes to remain anonymous — contacted me about the GREY IX cover featuring actress Hiroe Takei shot by Nobuyoshi Araki and styled by Valentina Ilardi Martin. I responded that I could barely breath at that moment and would write a more reflective piece this week.

AOC is devoted to telling women’s stories from fashion to flogging, while exploring the ways in which the fashion industry portrays women and how it impacts — or doesn’t impact us.

I commented on the Grey cover that as a believer in artistic freedom and women’s sexuality, I want to say “anything goes”. But at the same time, the world is moving against women aggressively, including Martin’s own Italy where acid attacks by Italian male professionals against women are on the rise. Italy’s problem is not related to immigrants, but its own issues with misogyny and dealing with successful women.

For women in many countries including America, rights that were considered safe are being taken away. Therefore, covers like this one are unsettling, a fact noted in other comments. On Saturday morning, I received this note from the woman publisher.

Anne, I’m glad I read your comment on FB link last night. Sadly this morning I notice they removed it. So much for intelligent discourse. I very much appreciated your words and insight regarding the complicated nature of this subject and the need to be artful. Women have been shamed so much for their sexuality and how we have this conversation is so important. We don’t want to add to the shame. You are wise in this. Human sexuality can be very complicated. Especially for women. My god, especially for women.

A prior AOC article that was totally balanced on Nobuyoshi Araki’s love of shibari-practicing women nearly created a personal safety crisis for the writer. One simply can’t ask a question about BDSM and it’s impact on women without being silenced as a provincial neanderthal — which I am not.

Women also contribute directly to our own suppression, having gone totally mad over ‘50 Shades of Grey’.So this entire subject is very complex.

To have a calm, reflective comment removed by Grey Magazine confirms the reality that women can’t comment intelligently and query as to the intention involved in publishing this cover. I have definite intentions in what I want people to experience as AOC readers.

What is the intention behind this Grey Magazine cover?

My life is so busy at this point, that I need a bit of time for reflection about my own personal goals and what really matters to me. Building GlamTribale is key, not having us spend countless hours posting fashion editorials supported by intelligent commentary — and then finding myself censored by Grey Magazine, when I wrote a thoughtful comment.

If Grey considers themselves to be a magazine devoted to intellectual discourse, then why not allow freedom of speech? I do. There are comments on AOC that are pretty horrifying, but they are thoughtful and detailed arguments. I want readers to explore them and make their own decisions about a topic, much as I detest the comment personally. 

I am having serious second thoughts about my relationship with the fashion industry, based on this incident. Perhaps I only want to be a critic, choosing only the best editorials or the ones focused exclusively on female sensuality, and the ones I consider to be controversial.

I’m totally disgusted with the antics of young male fashion photographers who use me when needed and have temper tantrums when I don’t march to their expectations. I’m on record with this experience. Hence, we no longer accept submissions.

People say all the time that the fashion world is so superficial, and perhaps it is just that. Carine Roitfeld would say I take this Grey magazine cover all too seriously. Perhaps she is right. Just for the record, I still LOVE Carine to death.

We will begin posting eds again today, but not with the relentless passion I’ve exhibited previously. Anne needs a time out, while I reprioritize my life and time spent. Fashion eds will get whatever time is left or maybe none at all, because I subsidize them at my own expense, paying writers $11/hr to do them.

I am really pissed and need to clear my head around this entire event. ~ Anne