06/16/11 11:29 PM Filed in:
Video Vixens
Today someone on a message board asked why Sabrina
Hunter won’t do any straight-on back shots. My
answer: we’re lucky women like Sabrina are even
willing to do this at all anymore, let alone give up
back shots. What we are witnessing now is literally
the manifestation of the saying, “you reap what you
sow.” The industry, a shadow of what it was 10 years
ago, is downright disreputable. So it’s no wonder it
no longer attracts quality women, or that the ones
who remain aren't willing to stake as much on it.
People are quick to forget, so I’ll just give a quick
reminder. Ten years ago – let’s call it “the Melyssa
Ford era” – we had quality celebrities like Gabrielle
Union, Regina Hall, Jennifer Freeman and Tyra on the
cover of KING magazine, in swimsuits no less! Melyssa
Ford hosted an entertainment news show similar to
Access Hollywood on BET. It was the golden
era of urban modeling, when it still had a specter of
respectability and was not so far removed in public
perception from its white counterpart of glamour
modeling (e.g., Maxim, Sport’s Illustrated, etc.).
During that period up-and-coming actresses, college
students, and women with proper jobs were all willing
to don a bikini (maybe even a thong) because to tell
someone you were an urban model was not so bad.
Cut to 10 years later. Virtually no notable actresses
do this anymore. Instead, what we have are mainly
strippers with lots of tattoos and bad Photoshop
repeatedly featured in the same rags. There are no
more female grad students (see
Candace Smith) willing to try this on a lark, or
even college students. At best, the business has been
reduced to
street-smart
hustlers* willing to parlay magazine spreads
into hosting opportunities.
So given this change in climate, is it any wonder
that the few respectable women still willing to dip
their toe in this cesspool won’t give it their all
and do thong shots? Context and stakes are what women
gauge these things by. Who else is doing this? Is
anyone I respect doing it? What can I gain by doing
this? Both context and stakes are in the toilet for
urban modeling. The context is strippers and the
stakes are nothing. You reap what you sow. We the
consumers didn’t demand more. We let this thing come
off the rails and rode the Buffie trend into the
ground. So now a woman with a college degree who
looks like Melyssa Ford won’t come anywhere near
this, and you can’t blame her.
*See V. Veasley's quote: "So yeah, the spoils then go
to the hustlers..."
Tags: Sabrina Hunter, Tyra Banks, Gabrielle Union