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Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Sparks Controversy. Offensive or Overreaction?
Yahoo News ^ | 2/13/13 | By Elise Solé, Shine Staff | Healthy Living

Posted on 02/13/2013 2:27:07 PM PST by YankeeReb

It's been a big week for Sports Illustrated. First, a blogger leaked the swimsuit issue's much-anticipated cover, upstaging David Letterman's big reveal on Monday. Now website Jezebel is calling out the men's magazine for using minorities as "props" in photos featuring models in bikinis posing in seven different continents.

Sports Illustrated coverJezebel argues that the magazine is perpetuating racial stereotypes by drawing power and class lines between the Westernized models and the "primitive locals" and points to a long history of media using minorities as "extras", citing Nylon magazine, the Free People catalog, British Vogue, and J-Crew.

Depending on where you look, the reaction has been mixed, even among the men who are supposed to be titillated. On Jezebel's website, one male commenter wrote, "Pics of woman with local natives is NOT hot, it's exploitative, so the mission is fail right there. Oh and exploitative. I do not know what they were thinking….fail all around." While another guy wrote, "Some of the examples are ›‹reaching a bit…the one with the boat….why pick that for China? Especially when everything I read about China is how they're an industrial powerhouse." And one helpful reader on Sports Illustrated's Facebook page pointed out, "Technically speaking they were not shot in all seven continents. While Easter Island may belong to Chile, it's a Polynesian island, and not part of the South American continent." Oy.

(Excerpt) Read more at shine.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: swimsuitissue
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To: YankeeReb
“Now website Jezebel is calling out the men’s magazine...”

JEZEBEL Magazine is calling out SPorts Illustrated? Really!

21 posted on 02/13/2013 3:25:12 PM PST by Makana (Today's solution is tomorrow's problem.)
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To: YankeeReb

Jezebel and the posters there live to be offended.


22 posted on 02/13/2013 3:30:13 PM PST by John W (Viva Cristo Rey!)
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To: dfwgator

The real problem is that those girls are all adult women. It's Western height-ism, I tell ya! Somebody ought to sue!!! :)

23 posted on 02/13/2013 3:32:38 PM PST by Mr. Jeeves (CTRL-GALT-DELETE)
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To: YankeeReb

Am I the only one who thinks it would be fun to try to slurp champaign from her belly button while simultaneously telling her dirty jokes?


24 posted on 02/13/2013 3:34:07 PM PST by Sirius Lee (All that is required for evil to advance is for government to do "something")
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To: Mr. Jeeves
It's Western height-ism, I tell ya!


25 posted on 02/13/2013 3:41:09 PM PST by eddie willers
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To: discostu
It’s funny they’re complaining these people are used as props, just what exactly do they think the models are.

So why aren't the idiots at "Jezebel" upset when B. Hussein 0booboo uses our troops as props on one of his campaign photo ops?

26 posted on 02/13/2013 3:53:39 PM PST by YankeeReb
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To: YankeeReb
The crap people get their panties in a wad over is mind blowing
27 posted on 02/13/2013 3:58:27 PM PST by Popman
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To: YankeeReb
Sometimes it's ok to use the local folks as props...


28 posted on 02/13/2013 4:48:58 PM PST by socal_parrot (I hate to say I told you so, but...)
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To: YankeeReb

On a related note, there seems to be a new push starting to force the Washington Redskins to change their name.

Prompting mascot change
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8944042/history-alone-prompt-washington-change-nfl-mascot


29 posted on 02/13/2013 4:58:04 PM PST by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: YankeeReb

“Jezebel argues that the magazine is perpetuating racial stereotypes by drawing power and class lines between the Westernized models and the “primitive locals” “

I think the REAL PROBLEM is that lots of us conservatives, including myself, married these “primitive locals” and find them to be FAR FROM PRIMITIVE, but still traditional, in the sense that keeping a marriage together is MUCH HIGHER priority than trying to calculate how much money a divorce lawyer can screw out of a husband.


30 posted on 02/13/2013 5:11:45 PM PST by BobL
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To: YankeeReb

“In Spain, a model leans on a Matador. (photo by Sports Illutrated)”

The Matador in the foreground looks quite serious. The one behind the babe looks a bit light on his feet, if you know what I mean...


31 posted on 02/13/2013 5:13:49 PM PST by BobL
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To: socal_parrot

If you post a version of that pic with her in a bikini, I will hunt you down.........


32 posted on 02/13/2013 5:56:47 PM PST by doorgunner69
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To: YankeeReb

I seem to have forgotten what the problem is.


33 posted on 02/13/2013 6:22:57 PM PST by Flick Lives (We're going to be just like the old Soviet Union, but with free cell phones!)
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To: discostu
Overreaction. For one thing where the photos were done those people aren’t minorities.

This reminds me of the newscasters during the Olympics in Australia - they said something really stupid about race and why it might be offensive.

Then someone reminded them that the race baiting they were trying to peddle wasn't as highly a rated commodity in Australia as it is in America! IDIOTS!
34 posted on 02/13/2013 9:47:56 PM PST by ExTxMarine (PRAYER: It's the only HOPE for real CHANGE in America!)
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