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The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition is chock full of beautiful woman. This cannot be debated. (See Kate Upton, Katherine Webb.)

But Jezebel is now raising questions over the taste of many photographs in the magazine, such as the pair below.

In the first, Emily DiDonato poses against the backdrop of Namibia, standing alongside a half-naked tribesman that the site says is being used as a “prop” because that nation is perfectly modernized in many areas.

In the second, Anne V. is in Guilin, Guangxi and depicted as a “white person relaxing” while “a person of color [is] working,” according to Jezebel.

 

Adds the critique:

“China has tons of skyscrapers and modern cities that make New York look rickety, but this image recreates an age-old narrative in which anything non-Western is quaint, backward and impoverished.”

Who are these men, one might ask. Did they get paid? Are they aware their image is on newsstands across the country?

If you can stop staring at Kate Upton nude for a moment, sound off below: Are these SI photos racist?