The season of tryptophan-induced napping and workplace cookie snacking is now officially in full swing. Now I fully approve with indulging and enjoying to your little heart’s content. One of my particular weaknesses is homemade, still-warm snickerdoodles. But I am also in awe and respect of the hard-work and dedication it takes to mold one’s body into a piece of flesh-and-blood marble. So then let us all indulge and enjoy in a delicious treat of another variety today. Something scrumptious like the queer black female “athletes, artists, lovers” featured in Nick Knight’s V magazine spread Studs. So. Many. Abs. I must say, for a glossy fashion mag, this is a pretty damn progressive, gorgeously gender bendy photo essay. Not a bad way to start a Monday, not a bad way at all.
And look, there is video too!
p.s. I am not even kidding, but there is an additional SIXTEEN AND A HALF HOURS of uncut footage from the photoshoot on the V site, in case you still can’t get off the couch from all that turkey.
9 comments:
wow!
As a fellow aficionado of fitness-sculpted bodies, I somewhat shamelessly love when you write posts that feature athletic women. (Seriously: THANK YOU.)
As a person who is sensitive to the history of slavery though, I am shrinking hardcore at the mag's choice to title their photo homage to black female athletes as "Studs" as the term was used during the period of the American slavery of African people for the grossest of reasons... (I can't even bring myself to explain this explicitly.)
Just to be clear though: I am NOT faulting you for making this post, much less accusing you of gross racial insensitivity. I love your blog to bits and love it even more that you greatly respect the very real diversity among queer women - in fact, of women in general. I'm just pointing out that the mag's titling (totally unintentionally, I believe) rings all sorts of viscerally disturbing bells. D':
really gross
But if they identify as studs, your comfort is really pretty irrelevant. I think this is so hot.
Darling, I love it when you get decadent!
I can just picture the scene: You reclining regally on that generously proportioned antique opium bed of yours, sipping Armagnac and nibbling away on those still-warm snickerdoodles (snicker what’s??? Think I prefer to live on in blissful ignorance on that one!) as your wives devotedly fan you and the equally sweaty “studs” with freshly cut palm fronds... (All that perspiration despite the fact it’s almost December - the mind boggles! ;) )
Sadly though I find I do not share your enthusiasm for this particular selection of “studs”. Perhaps they’re a little too sculpted for my tastes? A little too tattooed and pierced?
Still, all the more for you Rosa, skrailly and babs I suppose. ;)
PD
Thanks for posting. Powerful images of women being who they want to be and expressing themselves how they want. It may not be everyone's cup of tea but I can appreciate these women and enjoy some too. :-)
Rosa,
If you watched the video you will hear that the women identify themselves as studs. It's a label or language for them like butch or femme that they have taken on or taken back-if that helps. Also, I do not believe these are women from the US either.
skrailly and anon - Totally sincere appreciation of y'all bringing that point up. I couldn't bring myself to watch the vid (as much as I really, really wanted to!) because of the term's history, but it is so empowering and revolutionary that women have embraced their identity and own it.
Doesn't change the fact that the terminology makes me shiver hardcore, but that's how it will always be with terms that are re-taken. Kinda like how many old-school members of the LGBT movement find it so hard to understand how anyone can positively self-identify as queers.
Just to point out that not all the people on the shoot are women - Naechane Valentino is a well-known and respected trans man - musician and activist.
Love your blog x
Where is he these days??
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