7 Reasons Straight Stuntin Magazine Is Intriguing

Straight Stuntin is a hip-hop/pin-up magazine I stumbled on, and I probably should be completely offended by it, but I’m absolutely fascinated instead. Here’s why:

1. First there’s the rampant Photoshoppery. Not just on the ladies — take a look at the diamonds under the word “dimepiece” on the cover.

2. The models. Though the publication delivers a mix of interviews with rappers and half-clothed ladies, the models are actually the stars, and there’s an interview with each one. After spending so much time looking at the lean, curveless cookie-cutter jumping mannequins that women’s magazines offer, it’s oddly refreshing to see a completely different body type on display. Not just on display — fetishized, sexualized, celebrated. These women — who would never be seen in Vogue — are superstars on these pages. And as sexy as these poses are — as butt-focused as the magazine is — there’s actually very little nudity. Nipples are covered; thongs and underwear are worn.

Although: To be clear: This is a magazine featuring women with big butts. That is why it exists. It’s not high-brow, it’s not intended to be social commentary. It’s what you call spank bank material. It reduces women to parts. Still: It’s fascinating to see these women posing with confidence, since most of the world tells them that they are not the right height, size or shape to model.

3. Ethnic diversity. More than you might think.

4. “My Girlfriend Got A Girlfriend.” While crudely illustrated with one woman holding a fork while between the other woman’s legs, this interview deals with lesbian misconceptions and stereotypes. In addition, this magazine also has a story called “Why Gay Hip-Hop/Rap?” which argues that rappers have stolen style cues from Liberace and Elton John and a gay rapper would be “hip-hop’s chance to live out its true meaning — that is; a voice to the voiceless, an all-inclusive genre which transcends…”

5. The cupcake diet, recommended by a model named “Seven.”

6. A model with what seems to be a visible Cesarean scar.

7. “The 10 Model Commandments,” which reads like a Crap Magazine Essay From A Dude. While some of these assertions – “nobody likes a liar,” “nobody likes a thief” — are valid; the author loses me on number 6, with its Biblical “unsanitary female” whining.