Monday, April 21, 2008

Black Women, Nudity & Weight


Since the nude Allure magazine pics of Jill Scott and Gabrielle Union have hit the internet, there have been a fair amount of blogs discussing them. You have the usual arguments about “oh not another black woman getting naked” to the nasty comments about the ladies bodies. Personally, I don’t see the pics as exploitative or nasty; to the contrary, I find them beautiful and artistic.

My only issue with the pictures would be the amount of photo shopping & lighting effects used on Jill. I’m sure Allure decided to give Jill’s pics all those “special effects” because she is not a thin woman. While I give them props for including women of color in the photo shoot and additionally including a woman who is not a size 6, I’m disappointed that they felt the need to alter the pics of Jill to point that she looks alien-ish.

Would it have really been so awful to show Jill’s curves in all their glory---the good and the “bad?” Would folks have fainted dead away? This is so a hot-button issue for me.

Gabrielle's pic for comparison.





Perhaps I’m being too hard on Allure. Thoughts?

No comments:

Post a Comment