Kate Upton’s Sports Illustrated cover shoot has created quite the stir. In addition to controversy over Upton risking her life to shoot nearly naked photos in Antarctica, some are calling the issue racist, according to a Feb. 19 ABC News report.
Photo shoots were held on all seven continents. Additional photos were posted online that didn’t make it into the famous swimsuit issue. Photos taken in China and Africa are especially under fire and being called racist.
Critics say the photos use local people as backdrops and show no sensitivity to the country’s culture. The photos from China have a model posed on a raft steered by a Chinese man with a white beard and traditional cone hat. The African photos have a bikini-clad model standing with a tribesman with a hunting spear.
Many feel the photos are offensive and insensitive to other cultures. The African scenes have particularly caused a stir. A professor at Columbia University has accused the magazine of playing into old stereotypes that Africans are primitive and uncivilized.
Do you think the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue photos are racist? Or were you too captivated with Kate Upton on the cover to notice what was inside?
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