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Should Serena be naked on the cover of this magazine?
I am a man of tradition. I like women. I like sports. So when I saw that my favorite tennis player (admittedly, I only have one), Serena Williams, was one of six athletes photographed naked for ESPN the Magazine’s “Body issue,” and she was clad in nothing more than lipstick, I applauded their brain trust. As a fan of beautiful black women, second as a sports fan, and third as a former editor at the now-defunct King magazine—I’m well aware of both Serena Williams’ appeal and the controversy her cover may cause.
When I was at King, plenty of black women (and men, for that matter) would douse me, and the publication for which I worked, with criticism. Sexist! Misogynistic! Chauvinistic! I heard it all—usually in much harsher and less than polite tones. I heard similar remarks last year when, during my time as an editor at Vibe, we released a controversial cover of R&B singer Ciara wearing no clothes. But what a lot of critics failed to understand is how little the black woman’s body is celebrated in the mainstream. Prior to the success of men’s magazines like King, Black Men and Smooth, the only publication where I could get my beautiful-black-woman fix was reading, or rather looking at, Jet’s Beauty of the Week.
But none of these titles have ever had the mainstream cachet of, say, Sports Illustrated, which didn’t feature a black woman (Tyra Banks) on the cover of their annual swimsuit edition until 1997—30 years after they premiered their first swimsuit edition. Playboy would also wait close to two decades before finally putting black model, Darine Stern on their cover in 1971. Let’s face it, when it comes to the relationship between beautiful women of color and mainstream publications, beautiful women of color get no love—which is why Williams’ ESPN pictorial is a game changer.
ESPN editors are going to hear their fair share of criticism—the roars of those who say the last thing we need is yet another magazine exploiting the black woman and her body are going to be loud, but Saartjie Bartman this is not. Unfortunately, with black publications folding left and right (there is no more King, Jet (and its sister publication, Ebony) looks to be on its last leg, Vibe just received a second wind), the onus is on mainstream publications to celebrate this fact.
I hope other magazines with a largely white, male demographic will follow the lead of ESPN the Magazine and feature more beautiful women of color photographed in ways a man like me can appreciate. For sex to sell in 2009 and beyond (and make no mistake about it, that’s one of the principles the ESPN brass is abiding by with “The Body Issue”), it has to come in more colors than just white.
Jozen Cummings is a former editor at VIBE and lives in Harlem. His new blog is Untiligetmarried.
Comments
Good thing she is smiling, we wouldn't be able to see her if she wasn't. Get that ugly tub of goo off of the shelves and in prison where she belongs!
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It dudn't hurt dat Serena IZ such a HOT TOPIC n' a VERY PHOTOGENIC One, @ dat. U DO da Sistaz, women az a WHOLE, n' da resta Us PROUD, Young Lady!
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--TBW
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Yeah I'm with you Jozen "tradition" man...Can you imagine how ridiculous it would for fabulous, fit female athlete to pass on the chance to "celebrate" her body for us for a check? Like who the heck would think she might be celebrated with her clothes ON, right?? Thank GOD she knows her place--
Being a white male I am chastised for appreciating any beauties other than white. I have appreciated the beauty of women of all colors. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, however I do believe that black people, women especially have gotten the short end when people list their favorite beautiful women.
Serena is a beautiful woman, she has worked very hard to get where she is and regardless of her color she is attractive on many levels. I liked her comments a few years back when someone commented on her costume. She shot back basically I am a big girl, I'm black and there is nothing I or you can do about it. She caused a stir at Wimbledon this year for doing what male players have done for years. I dissagreed with the display but it was her right to complain, could have used different words, but they are WORDS, not action.
People these days are so thin skinned and looking for a payday or facetime.
N' da REST a' da World IZ comin' 'round 2 a Mo' REALISTIC view a' da female body...az da mo' ENLIGHTEN'D postz below show!
Sooo...Can We ALL Jus' Get OFF da Black vs. White Thang, Puh-leaze?
Serena IZ HOT in dat Cover Photo...n' It'z got little 2 do w/ her skin color.
We can pritty much GUARANTEE dat mos' guyz who are diggin' on it AREN'T concern'd 'bout it'z ARTISTIC meritz...EVEN tho' there iz MUCH 2 recommend it in DAT dept, too...
Da FACTZ IZ...Serena IZ Black...n' Black IZ Beautiful...
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n' Mos' White folkz AIN'T bad...in fact, Some ARE pritty F'n COOL...ch-Check It OUT...
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Az 4 Serena...We gonna ask her agent if she'll star az Mz. New York in Our Next Film Project...seein' az how she HAZ won 3 U.S. Open Singlez Titlez!!{ ( 8K
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Enjoy = )
--TBW
P.S. U can follow Our FLOW @ Our New Twitter account @ www.twitter.com/theblackwhole69
You'll be able 2 honestly say dat U KNEW Us b/4 We BLEW UP! = )
I am a Christian woman and I think this cover is beautiful-- This is the kind of message that we need to send to young girls; "Curvy is absolutely gorgeous". Look at her, a healthy and vivacious woman who works out and EATS. For once it isn't a model that is a virtually unattainable size 2. I applaud ESPN for puting a beautiful, curvy, black woman on the cover. Besides, by dictionary definition, she is nude, but by American cultures definition, she is completely covered. I have seen women in string bikinis reavealing more than this--lol
as a lover of beautiful women, no matter what color, i would love to see her pose for playboy. better yet, i'd love to see venus in playboy. even better! both in playboy!!
First off, there is nothing offensive about a beautiful human body partially clad or naked, black or white. Furthermore, posing in such a manner is not sexist - in fact, Serena posed willingly because she is proud of her physique and her status as a successful female athlete. However, white women who pose in the buff (sort of) on magazine or book covers also stir up controversy. Case in point, the cover of my new book features a beautiful lady (my wife) who is naked, but in a none revealing way similar to Serena's none revealing photo. The purpose of my cover was to illustrate a point and emphasize the title - the point being that anyone - even a 48-year old working mother of three children can develop a phenomenal physique when solid lifestyle principles are followed. Nevertheless, mainstream publishers and bookstore buyers were offended and put off by the cover - even though the content is stellar.
Dr. Sardone
Author of The Naked Truth: Overweight, Overwhelmed and Confused
www.drsardone.com
This photo isn't that much more revealing than some of her tennis outfits really. As far as covers go, it's all money; mainstream publishers fear that a black woman on the cover of their magazine is the death toll for sales. Some may take a chance, but if trending shows sales decrease by even one magazine, that's it, at least for a while. To paraphrase Chris Rock, black people have to make miracles happen to achieve what the white person eases right into. Has there ever been a black model on the cover of any monthly mainstream magazine for 2 months in a row? Maybe, but I'm thinking of Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Elle, etc. Nobody thinks twice about having white models on the cover almost every month. That's why we had to branch out and produce our own magazines, but, as this article states, these periodicals are in dire straights. I'd like to think we've made some progress on this issue since the 70's, but...
Serena IZ HOT in dat Cover Photo...n' It'z got little 2 do w/ her skin color.
We can pritty much GUARANTEE dat mos' guyz who are diggin' on it AREN'T concern'd 'bout it'z ARTISTIC meritz...EVEN tho' there iz MUCH 2 recommend it in DAT dept, too...
Da FACTZ IZ...Serena IZ Black...n' Black IZ Beautiful...
http://theblackwhole.wordpress.com/2009/10/10/xxx-tra-special-entry-111-...
http://theblackwhole.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/xxx-tra-special-afro-centr...
n' Mos' White folkz AIN'T bad...in fact, Some ARE pritty F'n COOL...ch-Check It OUT...
http://theblackwhole.wordpress.com/2009/01/31/28-jazziz-der-mann-mit-den...
Az 4 Serena...We gonna ask her agent if she'll star az Mz. New York in Our Next Film Project...seein' az how she HAZ won 3 U.S. Open Singlez Titlez!!{ ( 8K
Comin' SOON...2 Theaterz NEAR U...
Anotha THE BLACK WHOLE Production!
Starrin' Wesley Snipes, Halle Berry, Brad Pitt, AND Serena Williams az Mz. New York in...
THE GUY CODE
http://theblackwhole.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/tha-supa-dupa-xxx-tra-spec...
http://theblackwhole.wordpress.com/2009/06/09/xxx-tra-special-from-desti...
http://theblackwhole.wordpress.com/2009/07/07/xxx-tra-special-96-the-guy...
N' We'll get da NEXT "EPISODE" a' "The Guy Code" up here EXCLUSIVELY on www.theroot.com THIS WEEK...Soooo LOOK 4 It!{ ( 8K
Enjoy = )
--TBW
P.S. U can follow Our FLOW @ Our New Twitter account @ www.twitter.com/theblackwhole69
You'll be able 2 honestly say dat U KNEW Us b/4 We BLEW UP! = )