Serena's Nude Cover: Celebration of a Beautiful Body or Scandalous?
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 12:00PM
As many of you probably already know, Serena Williams recently posed nude for the cover of EPSN Magazine. Smiling like she's from a cheesecake shot of old (Bettie Paige, eat your heart out). She's pretty, she's sexy, she's brown and looks delicious, but naturally you can't pose butt-booty-nekkid on the cover of a magazine without garnering a few comments. Everything from "Damn! She looks fine!" to "She is ruining black America!" Demetria L. Lucas of ESSENCE.com threw in her two-cents today, deriding those who are acting like one cheeky photo is going to bring down black womanhood.
A chocolate, curvy, confident, nude Black woman celebrating her whole self? Hmmph. I happily plunked down my cash for the cover and thought: One small step for Serena; one giant step for Black womankind.
I couldn't imagine anyone would think otherwise... so you can guess my surprise when the morning after the cover's debut, I was reading my daily blogroll (everyone was talking about the cover) and found comments calling the Serena cover a "sad day for Black America." Then I read she was "a whore" and a "ghetto hood rat" because she was "selling sex for money."
Huh? Was Jennifer Aniston a "whore" or "ghetto" when she sat nude wearing only a tie on the cover of GQ in January? Maybe I missed the brouhaha? I looked it up to be sure. Just as I thought, by and large, she was celebrated for being confident and fabulous at 40. So why is Serena being called awful, ugly names?
What's your take on the photo? I think Serena looks flirty and gorgeous and it is rare to see a woman, shaped like a woman, on the cover of any magazine, let alone a black woman. And it's not like Serena hasn't posed nude/near-nude before, so I don't quite understand the hoopla. She's fully comfortable with her body in a way I WISH I was comfortable with mine. She feels good about herself and it shows. What do you think?
Reader Comments (41)
I think she looks fabulous and I love her skin complexion. I dDon't understand the issues people have with this cover. I guess we still have a long way to go before we accept beautiful black women.
Why does every Black person have to be the spokesperson for all Black people, like we have no diversity. Her choices neither define or apply to me. I'm happy she's confident enough to do it. Go Serena!
I think she looks gorgeous. Frankly, if I had her body I probably wouldn't wear clothes unless I had to.
Not sure why Lucas is surprised that Serena has met derision. Her body has been disrespected by just about everyone for not resembling a Noweigian waif in tennis whites.
It's a great shot. Do the damn thing Serena.
I too think she looks great and applaud her security with her body. I fail to understand the issues we as black people have with our sex and sexuality. Is it a remnant of times gone bye when as slaves we were ridiculed for our beauty and sexuality while being raped and assaulted? We need to move beyond this and get to bigger issues - like HIV, teen pregnancy, domestic violence, etc. What ails us is our thinking, not our bodies.
I completely agree that this picture was nothing to be upset about. It just showed a beautiful black woman being beautiful. Nothing more! The fact is that she pulls it off masterfully! She is not a whore, hood rat, or any other negative name that naysayers may come up with.
"What ails us is our thinking, not our bodies." Speak, TMac. Speak. She's beautiful. The picture is beautiful. Excuse me, but I've got to get offline and go to the gym now.
It would be nice if the person would have pointed us to the blogs she claims had those comments on them. Otherwise someone might get the revelation that the person is making it up just to create a story where there really is none.
I think she looks fabulous! It's a tasteful and beautiful shot, and yes, I wish I looked that good!
Americans need to get over their puritanical hang-ups about the human body.
I found the article in essece quite boring. What she wrote regarding black women has been said over and over. I go on gossip blogs and I didn't see anything that she was talking about. I agree with another poster that maybe should have named where she saw the comments. I don't believe her.
She looks good and it's tasteful. If I subscribed to the notion that one black woman represnts us all, I'd certainly have an ample pool of offenders to pick on but not Serena for posing for this mag.
That cover (along w/ her sister) is that hotness!
I can see the avalanche of 'letters to the Editor' of Essence now. I agree with all the previous posters. The photo was tastefully done, and arguably will do the sister (and the rest of us) plenty of good.
That said, I noticed that one of the other covers featured a Caucasian sister wearing a red panty. It matched the cover art, but one wonders why (if she didn't want to go nude like everyone else did) did she get a cover shot rather than an interior one, hmmm?
talk about anti climatic
LOL
She looks absolutely amazing! I look at the cover and am proud to see a beautiful sister who is comfortable with her body.
I have seen negative comments on HuffPost and other places but she was voted #1 of the 6 covers on HuffPost anyways. Also...wow...what is with this disbelief on an opinion blog? Just don't read if you have a problem with the blogger. Dang.
the negative comments were found in response to a story by Jozen Cummings over on TheRoot.com. Read through. You'll see them.
The Essence post is also one that evolved from a post I wrote on my own blog, abelleinbk.com which cited the comments in their entirety along with the given names of the commenters.
thanks for the love, Snob.
DL
I think she looks fantastic. How can a cover like THIS be putting black america back? I thought BET/MTV did a good job of that already. I can identify with serena and that is a rarity to see when it comes to women on the cover of a magazine.
That's funny, there were several other athletes that also posed nude in that issue but no outcry there.
Personally, I would rather see a beautiful, confident, black, female athlete pose nude on ANY cover before I could look at another scarecrow skinny Lagerfeld model.
I am so sick of black folks setting double-standards for ourselves. Granted, our lives are always under a microscope, and I cannot stand coon TV shows or movies (*cough* Tyler Perry *cough), but instead of standing back whining that we need to be treated as equals, we need to act like it. Take it into our own hands, not ask for it. And we need to deal with our sexuality not with shame or gratuitousness, but with love, admiration and pride. We are beautiful, it's time we all really believe it. As far as I'm concerned, I say "Here it is America, a strong black sister, unafraid and beautiful. Not a blonde waif who has the body of a 10-year-old boy, but a real woman with real curves. In yo face! Deal with it!"
I'm mad they airbrushed her muscles. Serena in shape, is a beautiful thing, and I say this as a straight woman. as someone who just admires athletes at the top of their game, I thought she looked fabulous.
DL's post is The Problem With Serena Williams
A very thorough survey and analysis of commentary on the web about Serena's ESPN cover shot.
Serena looks great. As a guy I can only say this to the rest of you females....get working on your own bodies and maybe some day you'll look half as good.
.
I never understood how what ONE person did/does with their lives becomes the barometer for what ALL persons of African descent did/does with theirs. Serena does not define me, my sisters, mothers or other family members. I think her photo was tastefully done, but I wish the pundits and others would stop saying that her nude [or lack thereof] photo speaks of a greater cause.