Starting life and starting a new life, and dressed the same for both

So there you are browsing news headlines, and you see one about nude wedding photos being all the rage in China. If you’re someone else, you might think, “Hey, that’s a fascinating cultural item.” If you’re me, you think, “Hey, can I see one of those photos?” Either way, you click. Then you see a larger version of what I’ve screencap’d above.

If you’re me, you glance at the photo and think it’s funny that the AFP mimicked the strategically placed gimmick from the end of “Austin Powers.” But then you look closer and realize that, in fact, this woman isn’t topless at all. She’s wearing a full dress. What the hell’s up with that?

You read the cutline:

A model poses for photographs at a wedding fair in Shanghai in 2004. But this is not the typical wedding shot these days -- Naked wedding photos are the hot new trend among young couples in once deeply conservative China.

...you know, just in case you were reading this story about nude wedding photos and were unclear about the “wedding photo” part. Except it’s not even a wedding photo; it’s a model at a wedding fair. So: It’s wedding related, and it’s a photo. But it’s no wedding photo. And more importantly, there’s a distinct, gaping absence of dangling flesh. What a rip off.

So here’s what I’m saying: If Yahoo! is too afraid to show us a nude wedding photo, it shouldn’t show us anything. What’s the point? When running a story about porn, it doesn’t show a picture of little children in a sandbox with the cutline, “Children enjoy a day at the park. But this is not porn -- that’s with naked adults having sex.”

Hell, the least Yahoo! could have done is found some semi-nude wedding photos. Like, say, this. (Hey, maybe she just couldn't afford a top to the dress. But you want more of her? Sure you do: here and here.)

Posted by Jason Feifer at March 14, 2006 12:45 AM