I normally don’t care about Allure’s annual “celebrities get naked” issue. I’m not a prude about naked photos or anything, it’s just that Allure usually chooses people that I don’t really care about, naked or not. But in this year’s issue, they got Laverne Cox to pose. And suddenly, I was interested. Laverne is beautiful, of course, and she’s also the first transgender woman to pose for Allure’s Nude Issue. I was curious to see how they posed her and yes, I was simply curious to see her body. She looks gorgeous. I think it would have been a stronger photo if her eyes were open, but this is fine. Laverne spoke to Allure about WHY she posed:
“Going through life, you try to cover and hide, but it doesn’t really work,” says the Orange Is the New Black star, 30, who at first turned down Allure’s request to pose nude.
“I said no initially, thought about it, and said no again,” she says. “But I’m a black transgender woman. I felt this could be really powerful for the communities that I represent. Black women are not often told that we’re beautiful unless we align with certain standards. Trans women certainly are not told we’re beautiful. Seeing a black transgender woman embracing and loving everything about herself might be inspiring to some other folks. There’s beauty in the things we think are imperfect. That sounds very cliché, but it’s true.”
Cox wanted these pictures for herself, too: “I honestly just want to make myself happy most, and if other people like it, then that’s great. If they don’t, then I’m still happy.”
It is a powerful thing for her to represent African-American beauty and trans beauty all at once. Intersectionality beauty! Laverne is also one of this year’s Time 100, listed in the Pioneer section. Go here to see her Time profile. She’s such a powerful advocate and a cool lady.
Photos courtesy of Norman Jean Roy/Allure, Instagram, WENN.
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