The Sexy, Sexy World Of Stock Images

Welcome to the slick, saccharine, sexed-up, and occasionally inexplicable stock photo universe. If you’re looking for the “women’s bathroom,” you can always go with the ladies taking baths together; to illustrate a “body image” related post, don’t miss the two pageant contestants wrestling in bikinis. (The above appeared high up in Jessica’s search for “French woman.”) Here, a retrospective of our favorites.

Dodai had searched “cupid.” Listed keywords included “caucasian” “cow,” and “milk.”

“I searched brain,” reports Anna. “This is apparently to illustrate that common mental illness where you can’t stop thinking of naked ladies high-fiving.”

Found while trying to illustrate a post on police work. The racialized imagery was just a bonus.

This one isn’t sexy per se, unless you fall somewhere obscure on the kink spectrum. Says Margaret, “I don’t remember what I’d searched for this one, but really nothing should bring up “woman with snail on face and mismatched eyes.”

Search string: Young women and money.

Question: If your womb is withered, do you still need birth control?

The post was about gay rights and the Violence Against Women Act. In fairness, the caption to this image indicated that the gay gummy bears were “loving.”

I regret to tell you this photo came up in a search for “abortion.” (The supply of anti-abortion protest photos is limited.) Women: Cruelly crushing their babies, and looking sexy while they’re doing it.

Unless those headphones are top-of-the-line, using this to illustrate a women in tech post would really just be insulting.