I'm sorry, but I was expecting to see more of Jill, considering how they promoted it. Where is the celebration of the big-girl-curveness of it all?? Other than that, Jill looks beautiful. She has such photogenic facial features.

Gabirelle's photo is gorgeous too, and yes, they all are airbrush-award worthy.

I don't think Jill looks good at all. The hair and makeup are so soft that they are plain. And she looks old here.

Yeah, they didn't do Jill's face justice with this. They softened the lens so much, it looks like some kinda 70's photo and amateur. But I don't blame her for covering up as much as she did, I would've did the same. And she must've lost much weight, because I don't see any fat, so good for her.

good god. horrible photos of both, imo. if i were them i'd be more worried about the shitty soft-core styling and photography than any actual nudity.

They're supposed to be kinda natural though what with the nudity and all.

Gabi looks good neck down. I don't think her face position works with her body pose. There is a certain amount of innocence (think "cute") that it takes to do a nude shot and have it look just sweet and not remotely sexual or vulgar. Gabi doesn't have that. Jill possibly could have had it because she has a baby face. She must have lost weight recently because her chest looks deflated.

MRB–co-sign.

Oh, and Jill is gorgeous but I don't think this is her thing at all. Someone like Queen Latifah would probably drop the robe and get to it. Put a crown of leaves on her head, throw in a snake to cover the bits. Borrow from Garden of Eden, substituting wild berries for apples.

For I've noticed that some black women have issues with nudity from both my gym and roommate situations. It seems to be seemed as purely sexual by a lot of women and it's not.

I'm with blackmistressdiva on Jill Scott. Why did they do that to her? It's not hard to make her look better.

I think Gabrielle Union always looks good body-wise. She's been fit and toned with like, perfect skin, since she came out.

@daria–I remember Scott saying in an interview that she's trimming down nowadays for health reasons, so perhaps what we're seeing are the results so far, along with MRB's airbrush awards:-D

As for the nudity, I agree. IMO, part of it is the hang-up of Black women+nudity=hypersexuality ("they'll get nekkid anywhere! they just can't control themselves!") and some homophobia ("If I disrobe, she'll think I'm gay or I'll think she's gay for looking at me!")…along with any other hang-ups possibly resulting from sexual violence and the mania/paranoia around having the perfect body.

Despite major body issues, the women in my family who went to boarding school spend a lot of time half naked at home. This is why I have no issue going into the sauna or showering at the gym with it's very high pressure shower.

Putting restrictions on your life because of an issue other people have is sad. I'm not willing to do it. These stereotypes are often dated. Lots of young white urbanites go by the 3 date rule. Women of color, especially black women, often don't.

If it's sexual abuse, I empathize.

The gay thing is absurd. The fact that any positive statement on another woman's attractiveness is followed with "no homo" saddens me. If a woman looks at you when you're naked, it's because they are likely comparing themselves to you.

I love both Jill & Gabby respectively. Gabby's shoot looks pretty but I think they could have done with the cat-like eyeliner. I hate how Jill's hair looks, where is her stylist?

In college, I had a group of white friends who wanted to go skinny dipping at our gym's public pool/jacuzzi, I was never the eager girl ready to drop the clothes & still am not.

Daria, I agree with you especially about the 3-date rule. For me, it's always been "no ring no thing" call me an "old-fashioned church girl" but it is what it is.

Ok, this convo has taken a turn, so, its a rule to have sex after 3 dates? I can believe that because men act like they know this rule. I consider that to be a young college-aged notion because the older I get, the longer I want to wait.

they look gorgeous.

Does the 3rd date come w/ recent test results beforehand?

You can have sex whenever you want. There are no rules except the ones you put on yourself. If you're one of those latchy chicks that has to has to be in love before hand or starts catching feelings after sex…then yeah, wait a long time (and come anywhere near me!). If you are mature and can deal with adult sexual relationships then you should be able to do it whenever you want.

(and DON'T come anywhere near me!)

I just don't get Jill's pose. Daria why are saying don't come anywhre neat me?

Like I wrote on another blog, the picture of Jill is tacky! Lookin' like a bad 70s magazine ad for tampons. It looks like they stuck her head on another woman's body. Jill needs to pose for a REAL big woman's magazine, NOT ALLURE. I CALL B.S.!

All I can say is that as a designer/photographer — I'm personally offended…

The composition of Jill Scotts picture is horrible (too many hot spots for artificial sunlight) like WTF said — it does look like a badly shot 70s ad for tampons.

Gabby's picture is OK. Not great, but ok. Jill's picture is a disgrace! Between the back lighting, the over-abundance of forsythia (the branches and flowers) in the foreground, over-exposure, and retouching to blur the lines of her body, why did they even bother to make the poor woman pose naked? They could have put her in flesh toned clothes for this shot. Or really the way this picture looks they could have just taken a picture of a forsythia bush and just superimposed Jill's head on top of it.

How is it a celebration of all body types if you completely hide certain bodies?

daria of gorgeous black women,

Most of the black women who are members at my gym are very comfortable being nude in the ladies locker room. Our gym does have a good mix of nationalities and races. Most of the black women, Latin women and Asian women don't seem to have any problem with being nude in the ladies locker room. Nor do the white women either.