Jezebel recently published an article questioning the political correctness of a set of images featuring Gisele Bundchen and some very chiseled black men:
They were wondering if the images were racy? Or racially insensitive?
I personally don’t see any racism in the images. It’s art, and as long as the picture isn’t based on an old King Kong poster, it’s just…beautiful.
Perhaps Gisele nibbling on old boy’s ear is a message promoting racial love and equality?
I’m reaching here…so tired.
Anyway, what do you opinionated bombshells think?
May 7, 2009 2:50 pm
These images are tastefully done and captivating.
Signed,
An African American women living in South Carolina. I’ve seen racism and this isn’t it!
May 7, 2009 3:09 pm
eh… the pictures ring of exoticism in the sense of the “mandingo myth” so i understand why they could be seen as racially insensitive. i think it’s one of those issues where it’s not blatant racism, but rather a subtle mindset that isn’t so easy to put your finger on but is still somehow disturbing.
all that said and done, the photographs are stunningly captured. and the men are gorgeous :)
May 7, 2009 3:23 pm
I think the pics are GORGEOUS! Especially the second one- OMG! Giselle’s legs go on for days! I think they’re hot and tastefully done. And the men are frikkin H-A-W-T! Seksi, seksi….
May 7, 2009 3:24 pm
why be sensitive to race in art. i think it is beautiful. Lets forget about race for a second and think about the beauty of color and contrast and SEX!!! oh im a young black lady if anyone cares.
May 7, 2009 4:32 pm
what puff said….
May 7, 2009 4:52 pm
LOL! I can see how one would think these are racist, somewhat… the whole Black man coveting/desiring a White woman but I don’t see it that way. Every time Mrs. Brady {now} takes pix w/ Black men, ppl seem to have an issue w/ it {i.e. the Vogue featuring herself w/ Lebron James}.
May 7, 2009 5:21 pm
the images are beautiful. I don’t see it as racist/racy at all.. a work of art. Let us not read into it too much. Anyway I’m so busy looking at the bodies, I’m really not thinking about anything else. Lawd have mercy…LOL
May 7, 2009 5:21 pm
I see where Puff was coming from on the “i think it’s one of those issues where it’s not blatant racism, but rather a subtle mindset that isn’t so easy to put your finger on but is still somehow disturbing.” But the first thing that struck me was more along the lines of what person said “Lets forget about race for a second and think about the beauty of color and contrast and SEX!!!” I love the contrast of her soft, pale, sexiness and the men are chisled, hard and dark. Beautiful!
May 7, 2009 5:21 pm
I don’t see racism in any of these images. I see beautiful people. If the simple image of a white girl surrounded by big, handsome black men, ignites racism in your thoughts, well then, you are the racist. I appreciate Art in all its forms and this to me, is Art. Pure and simple.
May 7, 2009 6:20 pm
I agree with Puff- they definitely perpetuate unspoken beliefs/prejudices about black men, and particularly with their relationships with white women. If, on the other hand, Giselle were portrayed as strong and willful, they would question those beliefs. I think this is not an instance of blatant racism, but it shows how long held stereotypes still pervade our society.
p.s How much would I bet this was shot by a white guy- they always have a latent resentment when white women date black men. I mean, really, in one of the pictures she is actually thrown over the guy’s sholder! Why don’t they just give the guy a club and loin cloth?
May 7, 2009 7:30 pm
agrees with Puff. my thoughts exactly.
May 7, 2009 7:36 pm
I think the images are artistic and beautiful. Sometimes we have to stop with the “is this racist” line..everyone isn’t out to offend us.
May 7, 2009 8:41 pm
Question: How come they never use a black model with hot white men slobbering all over her and lifting her over their shoulders to drag her back to their cave for a wild, sexy romp?
Just a question. I’ve seen photoshoots like this so many times an somehow it always manages to be white model + black guys.
When will it be black women’s turn to feel desired?
May 7, 2009 9:55 pm
Well said puff and Sugabelly. While there is a thread of racism (aggressive black men, subservient white female, rape, etc.) and black women are never displayed as the desire of white males or any male for that matter the photos are a beautiful display of contrasts.
P.S. And many white people are still in awe with black skin.
P.P.S. And that Giselle/Lebron cover offensive no matter how you slice the pie.
May 8, 2009 12:31 am
Racist? Racially insensitive? I see a model with a sick body in a photo with other models with sick bodies. Have we come so far just to turn around? It’s as if we have to feel some kind of way about seeing a non-Black woman in a photo with Black men. Really. It is racy at best; an artfully styled photograph for a fashion mag. If these men were White would it change the tone at all?
May 8, 2009 1:50 am
I agree with puff, but if puffy really wanted to keep it real he would promote more black women in his commericals/ads..(kinda off subject i know)
May 8, 2009 4:17 am
Black women are immensely glorified! Not enough black men are. We can never rise as a people until you stop trying to be so competitive with the opposite gender and just be the best you can be. That goes for us men too. Don’t compete about finances, different black skin tones, love eachother for who we are, and our common backgrounds and our struggle.
Black men have gone through so much in America, and are still going through. Why can’t we be displayed as something other than a professional athlete or a rap star? Why can’t the black woman be displayed as something other than the video vixen, or the T and A, object of lust? The answer is limitations, set by society, that many of us have embraced. Born to lose, built to win.
I’m a bodybuilder model and I loves my black women, but if a white woman enjoys my body enough to put me in a photo with her, why not? It’s not a show of disrespect to my sistas, it’s an advancement for our people. An advancement that we have been denied for centuries.
May 8, 2009 8:53 am
I think they are tastefully done. I can see how it can be read as racist because of the subservient “white” woman and the domineering/animalistic “black men” scenario that is commonly portrayed in most interracial pairings. But just food for thought, Giselle is Brazilian and who’s to say that the male models are not of mixed racial/national heritage outside of the typical “black American”. I say on this one, lets not jump the gun and enjoy the artistry and portrayal of sexuality and lust.
Signed another black female from the south……..
May 8, 2009 8:57 am
I agree with Puff and Sugabelly!!!!
May 8, 2009 10:42 am
I agree with Puff and Sugabelly to a certain extent. I agree with the point that black women don’t get this same kind of treatment in photo shoots. I won’t say that is discrimination, but I do think its a very unbalanced occurrence in fashion photo shoots.
Now, taking these photos into account, overall they aren’t bad. I think its a basic contrast black/white contrast, which gives the photos awesome visual effect. On the other hand, if you look closer, there are some distasteful aspects, like the one with Gisele over the guy’s shoulder.
I don’t see blatant racism in these photos, but they are dancing on the line.
And wasn’t Gisele in the one with Lebron James too? Whats with her and big black men? Is she trying to tell us something? I’m just sayin…
May 8, 2009 12:45 pm
i love the one with the hands on her face….avant garde….
May 8, 2009 1:11 pm
Sooo I can see the art in the pictures, their very beautiful, and beautifully photographed, however, I do have mixed feelings simply because the photos seem to center white beauty alongside a back drop of blackness. I don’t think its racially motivated but there is just something about the photos…for instance think of the photos in the reverse…black beauty held up front and center of a backdrop of whiteness..would you have the same feelings?
May 8, 2009 2:21 pm
I see absolutely nothing wrong with these pics. Someone mentioned having a black model with all white men. However, I think it would be just as beautiful having a black model with all black men, or a diverse group. That said, I think that the contrast here with all those beautiful dark bodies against Gisele makes a wonderful spread. The same with a black female and a bunch of white bodies doesn’t really strike me as the same, maybe because there would be less black shiny and beautiful black bodies.
And can we talk about the legs on dude in the last pic!!!??
May 8, 2009 4:52 pm
I still haven’t decided how I feel about these. But you have to see these rest of the collection. It would be art if….
modelliberation.blogspot.com/2009/05/giseles-mandingo-fantasy.html
May 8, 2009 5:05 pm
Initially, I definately got a sense of how this could be an issue of race or racism. Than i looked at it for what it is… absolutely racy for several reasons. First, miscegination has always been a very touchy social subject. Secondly, traditionally, white women are viewed as very innocent and “pure”, so for her to seemingly “desire” more than one man is already racy, for them all to be BLACK, is off the rictor!
May 8, 2009 5:34 pm
I think these are definitely racist. In fact, I think it’s obvious and am really surprised people are not calling it out. It looks like she’s being carried off to be gang raped by a bunch of huge dudes. What else is this depicting? Am I missing something? The girl has two feet. If it was willful she’d be walking.
Let’s not forget that a major psychological driver/justification of Jim Crow was the idea of protecting the “purity” of white women from the perceived out-of-control libidos of black men. Most of the lynchings were justified on claims of black men having raped, or even looked lustfully, at white women. These pictures play directly into this history, and that’s why they’re exciting to people. It’s the forbidden fantasy of our racist history.
Godiva, if you want to challenge miscegenation, show a white and black person in love. Maybe even make the man weak, the woman strong. But these pictures are not challenging. They reinforce a fantasy we’ve had for a long time.
Whether or not it is “art” is irrelevant. Racism and art are not dichotomous like pornography and art. Triumph of the Will is definitely art, it’s also definitely racist. Socialist Realist billboards and statues are definitely art, but they are also 100% political. Saying the pictures are art does not serve as any kind of argument against racism. One is about the surface. The other is about the content. They exist together.
May 8, 2009 5:41 pm
Black Male Model love your comment as well
May 8, 2009 5:49 pm
The first pic is artistic, but, the rest are not. I’m like Joshua, I can’t understand how more people are not calling this out as racist. I mean a skinny white woman being carried off in a sexual manner by four humongous dark black men? Really? It’s mandingo all over again.
These pictures are epitome of the mandingo tale. The mandingo is the big, black man who is oversexed and he wants to take the pure white woman off to have passionate sex with her. Is that not what they are trying to show in these pictures?
I think the people that are not offended by these pics, don’t understand racism and the history of it. Also, they must not understand that the thing about modern racism is that it seeks to do racist things in passive aggressive ways. Therefore, with pics like this they make you think it’s just about beauty and art and the contrast of colors, but, if that were the case where’s the Black women, where are the Asian women, where are the Hispanic women?
And why aren’t these types of women being carried away by White men or Asian, or Hispanic men? All the models of color in the world and somehow all they could find to show color contrasts was another skinny white girl and four random body builder black men? I don’t believe them, they need more people.
May 8, 2009 7:30 pm
Upon further investigation, take a look at her face versus his in the first pic… And her expression versus theirs in the second pic.. And, he has no face in the last pic. In none of these do I see them lusting after EACH OTHER.. Maybe I am holding on to stereotypes but I see what I see.
Good discussion! And chocolate! :)
May 9, 2009 2:23 pm
Theses pics are clearly racist. Very insensitive. It is in the old covert kind of, yet obvious way. Gisele does this stuff too much. It’s like the picture with the Black men grabbing her face? Are you serious? It’s so racist. “White woman in danger by BIG black men.” It also oversexualizes Black men, and places White women on this pedestal-again. Black men carrying a white woman to her throne. I mean this is clearly racist to me. When I saw it, I immediately said-Are they serious? Black men take these objectifying roles as ‘white women lovers’ and just run with it. Color contrast? Are you kidding? There is enough color contrast in the Black community to create a delicate artful picture with using a white woman as a token of femininity! Are you kidding?
And for people to say they don’t see this is insane? REALLY? I guess it’s true what Sojourner Truth said….”I could have freed more slaves, if only I convince them that they were slaves.” Damn.
May 9, 2009 8:47 pm
The pictures aren’t racist. I tried to picture a black model with the black men, or white male models with Gisele and the pictures won’t have been as captivating.
Instead of thinking of them as racist, why can’t they be considered a celebration of color, contrast, sex, freedom, heat, etc…
I think too often, we hold our breaths waiting to find something to be offended by, and while there is a pleothera of things out there to protest over, this to me isn’t one of them.
The more important question, I think, is why our minds immediately go to race, mandigo, gang rape and all the other images presented here when we see a picture like this. Perhaps only when *we* are able to free our minds will we truly be free.
May 10, 2009 10:16 am
I can’t help but wonder if this may perpetuate the idea that African American men see white women as a prized possession. Particularly pictures 2/4 and 3/4. She’s adored. She’s lifted up. She’s admired … by many. I’m not sure if that was the intention … but with little girls practically killing themselves to be as thin as what they see in the magazines, these pictures can too add to the stereotype that white women are the ultimate depiction of beauty and any man of any color should be so lucky to have one.
July 29, 2010 10:56 am
While yes, the picture is aesthetically pleasing, it’s disturbing as well. It personifies/implies the idea that Black men covet White women (one may also argue that art reflects life). Clearly, the photographer strategically placed Black men in this shot to provoke the types of conversations we’re having now. If such a popular photo exists with a prominent Black female model and White men, I’ve never seen it…
July 29, 2010 10:58 am
@JJ, word up! We’re getting a tad too comfortable here, art or not…