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Her decision to pose nude diminishes her accomplishments and plays to the perception that black female bodies are pornographic.
With tantalizing pictures of black bodies on its cover, ESPN, the self-proclaimed “worldwide leader in sports,” contributes more to “jungle fever” among white men than arguably any other mainstream media outlet. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the nude body of Serena Williams graces the cover of the body edition, scheduled to hit newsstands today.
The real surprise is that Serena Williams allowed herself to be revealed in such a way.
Just a month ago, Serena Williams discussed in People magazine how insecure she felt about her body. Specifically, she talked about how masculine her arms were, and how her thighs made her think she needed to lose weight. Why the turnaround? How did she go from being guarded and insecure about her body one month, to a confident, overexposed exhibitionist the next? Perhaps she believed that by posing nude she would empower other young women with images of strength and sensuality.
Undoubtedly, Serena's decision to appear in her birthday suit will encourage some women to say “You Go Girl,” but I don't believe that empowering women had anything to do with it.
These images were not created with a female audience in mind. If that were among the main concerns, then these images would be gracing the cover of Essence or O magazine. Instead, Williams chose to publish the most controversial photo of her career in a men's magazine, one that caters primarily to white men. ESPN the Magazine is a men's magazine. Of its 14 million readers, 11 million—or more than 80 percent—are male. More importantly, a good number of the readers are young—between the ages of 18-24.
We have to wonder what white men will do with these images. Will they see a strong confident black woman in control of her sexuality? Or will this picture remind them of the sexuality and sensuality seen all too often in hip-hop where black women are oiled and shiny objects? Will it remind them of all the taboo things they were taught growing up about what black women will do that white women won’t.
The naked truth is that this picture will raise more than just eyebrows among men— particularly white men. Unfortunately, it will also communicate that no matter how talented, or accomplished she or other woman become, what she really needs most is to be attractive to men. This is a step backward.
At a time when women like Michelle Obama can barely go outside without being scrutinized for the little skin she reveals, it’s difficult to see how pictures like these do not contribute to some enhanced pornographic idea of black women.
Jewel Woods is the founder and executive director of The Renaissance Male Project, Inc. a non-profit advocacy and accountability organization for men and boys.
Comments
I registered here just to say that everything you wrote is crap. Who are you to judge Serena's doings. Her moral-conserver perhaps?
Please take care of your own problems. They surely don't deal with erotic pictures, don't they;)
Serena Williams is an American professional tennis player and current World No. 1. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) on four separate occasions. Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player also, currently ranked World No. 3. He won his first Grand Slam singles title at the 2008 Australian Open. Still, professional tennis players make millions – so it isn’t Djokovic will need credit cards to pay the fines.
Serena, don't let the naysayers get you down! Your body is beautiful, embrace it!
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Serena should be ASHAMED of herself for posing this way. I doesn't matter if you don't see her inimate parts! It goes against her Christian upbringing. It is quite clear that she has turned her back on Jehovah God. I will never again watch her tennis games nor will I allow anyone else in my household to watch her games. She has brought repoach upon God's name. SHAME, SHAME, SHAME!
Having gone through my Google reader, I saw this article and was so intrigued as to what your take on it was, that I clicked to the website--Having seen the irksome article that you typed, I spent time, yes, time to actually register for this site to respond. Because, you sir, are wrong. And while opinions can't be wrong, I will say that I believe that your opinion is severely misguided—a tactical error that may hinge on the fact that you are a man and see a helpless or lost female in Ms. Williams. That sir, is not what I see. I see an athlete. Yes, Serena is naked. Nakedness no longer titillates me, as I’ve grown beyond junior high school “tee-hees” by my locker. The nature of the photos is to highlight the athletic prowess of these women and men. You mentioned Serena’s body issues. Understandable that sometimes Serena has body issues--all women do. But, to see her confidently take center stage in the magazine, the magazine who's focus at that time was not so much her being a “perfect what-have-you size”, but was on the physical level of fitness that she as an athlete had achieved. Now, yes, it may be viewed as slightly sexual. But being a well respected athlete does not cancel out the fact that she is a woman, sensual and all. What I got out of the photo was Power. Inspiration. Beauty. In theatre there is such a thing as a “gaze”. The Your gaze may change how you interpret the photo, but my gaze reads a strong woman that works for her body--not to walk down a runway, but puts hours in at the gym and on the court and is able to make her body function like a well oiled machine. In those pictures, I saw bodies stripped of layers of clothing—bodies that revealed the amazing machinery that makes up the human body. Seeing the arms and legs may be momentarily titillating , but seeing the muscles beneath said parts--the muscles that are achieved by discipline, hard work, an interior drive? That’s simply amazing. Serena can’t control the gaze of her audience, true. But that doesn’t mean that she needs to censor herself. As with First lady Obama. I didn’t see the backlash of Mrs. Obama’s shorts as negative. I saw it as a growing pain. With Michelle Obama and the women of her family in the White House, black women are on the highest stage in America—this is a period of learning. They shouldn’t censor themselves because of how certain people’s gazes will interpret them—they be present as representatives of black female America and help people change their formerly narrow views of black women.
She absolutely looks good. This is for a change, she has shown that she’s not only good at sport rather she can also be a cover girl. Conversely, there are 3 alternate covers, one of Reinertsen, Serena Williams, and Gina Carano. Imagination apparently is too little, and getting a Playboy is too shameful. (It's a little more expensive too!) People who don't know about the internet might want same day payday loans for the issue.
Dang! Damned if you do and damned if you don't. I didn't have a "go girl" moment when I heard Serena would be on the cover of ESPN Magazine. Actually, I didn't devote much thought to it one way or the other. After reading... the article below, I thought, not everything is a f*cking political statement. Sometimes a picture is just a picture. In this article, the author literally snatches Serena's agency and autonomy and states she's being used by the mag. WTF! Maybe she had a personal moment and seized the day. Perhaps she didn't think about you, me, Black women or any other women. Maybe it was all about her, which is okay. Maybe SHE used the magazine. Seriously, take a break.
I like Serena William, very sexy Kenali dan Kunjungi Objek Wisata di Pandeglang
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Perhaps she did think, “she would empower other young women with images of strength and sensuality.” She has been doing just that for me for years. That also may have been her motivation for posing nude for the now defunct women’s mag “Jane” back in 2007. And you wonder “how did she go from being guarded and insecure about her body one month, to a confident, overexposed exhibitionist the next?” like most women she has insecurities about her self, she being a celeb has the unfortunate ability to read other comments on what they like/don’t like but she finds a way to deal with it and build confidence. And thank God for that or women wouldn’t ever take their clothes off…behind closed door.
Every image of a sexy black women isn't demeaning. She is showing the body of an accomplished and athletic woman. It relates to her sexuality on a purely marginal level. This isn't images of a black woman that is only the sum of her parts, like we see in videos. This isn't some asexual mammy like when Tyler Perry or Martin Lawrence or Eddie Murphy dress in drag. This is a body of hard work accomplishment and fight. I loved it. She looks great. I think this should be analyzed within the context and not from the general stereotype.