Dazed & Confused September 2012 : Azealia Banks by Sharif Hamza

[GERGIN]

Everything was nice up until she starting inflating a condom, I would have rather her eat a hamburger or something...Or I guess that would follow too closely to Beyonce's cover from last year?

Dazed & Confused is officially a rapper/gangster/pop magazine, there is nothing interesting about the fashion editorials they produce in these trashy magazines. And I have nothing against the cover stars it's just there are more ways to make a person look interesting without them blowing into a condom.

 

[JessicaKarina]

I can't believe this got banned in 7 countries. Please, Britney Spears magazine covers have been more controversial than this.

 

[ChrissyM]

i don't think the fact that she's blowing up the condom is what's so bad...
if it was overinflated that would be one thing, but the size of the condom and the way she's holding it up to her mouth (while simultaneously essentially throwing up her middle finger) is so incredibly phallic, the intention was clearly to simulate oral sex.

Once I saw the image I immediately thought, ok, I see why they banned it.

That doesn't mean that we, who see so many provocative fashion images, should be or will be shocked by it, but I can see why it wouldn't be prominently displayed on a newsstand. I know I personally would do a double take if I saw it in stores.

 

[Srdjan]

That don't impress me much..

 

[stereo]

This is the banned cover? This? It's not even as though she's feigning fellatio or being overtly vulgar. She's blowing up/smoking a condom. Considering her music, I expected something a lot more racy. I'm almost disappointed. Heaven forbid poor, impressionable, defenceless children know what a prophylactic looks like.

Hands down, my thoughts exactly.
It's quite funny to me to read about impressionable kids being imperilled with such images. Seriously? Nowadays? With all that's going on all over tv and internet? It's just a condom, people. They are available everywhere (maybe not in Vatican, although they're surely much needed there ).

 

[tentalicious]

a bit much, but then again, they will do anything to sell more.

 

[Marc10]

I don't get the tacky comments at all. Azealia's music and personality have always been racy and provocative, the cover is nothing utterly shocking. She looks smokin' hot.

 

[Bertrando3]

"Young impressionable girls/boys" probably don't even know what a condom is, and it's really not like newsstands are everywhere and it's not like this photo will be plastered everywhere so chances are no one will even notice it if you're not trying to look for it.

The sl*t shaming on this thread is just horrible too but I won't go into that. I really don't understand how it's tacky for a woman to blow up a condom honestly.

Are you kidding me?. Young boys and girls know what condoms look like if their parents educated them rightfully at a normal age, at 6-7 when they go to school they know how to identify a girl and a boy genital parts come on... The magazines are everywhere so the photo will be there too and perhaps printed in a larger version in some newstands.

 

[Razzer]

I like her hair......and thats it! But i am excited for the interview&content

 

[DariaDeva]

I love Azealia, she is amazing singer and person, but this cover.. It's something strange..

 

[Beca]

Are you kidding me?. Young boys and girls know what condoms look like if their parents educated them rightfully at a normal age, at 6-7 when they go to school they know how to identify a girl and a boy genital parts come on... The magazines are everywhere so the photo will be there too and perhaps printed in a larger version in some newstands.

I highly doubt they will even see the cover, usually these mags are high up on the shelves and usually put behind other magazines, kids won't be tall enough to see them.
It's a condom, big deal.

 

[Srdjan]

I wonder which are the countries where the issue is banned!

And about the condom, putting all the children aside (I dislike it when people use curious children as their argument, I couldn't care less what will children think about anything), there is something called culture and something called vulgarity. This is vulgar, no matter that we live in a society (at least here in Europe) where sex is no longer a taboo. IMO, condoms are something intimate.
What's next - i-D magazine with a cover girl holding a menstrual pad over her left eye?

Still, this isn't Vogue or Elle, so I guess they don't care much about keeping it classy.

 

[MulletProof]

^ but a pad's not the same as a condom. It doesn't scream sex, more the opposite.

I don't know, I guess this is vulgar.. but I feel old, I remember the Tom Ford days and how he popularized disguising any kind of sexual fantasy as 'fashion'. When he left, things aspired for discretion, discretion and ethereality have been valued like nothing else in the past 8-9 years. I don't find this too bad from a 'variety' standpoint, and yeah it makes sense with Azealia, who looks pretty good here..

 

[ALAUU]

The is one of the most disgusting covers I've ever seen. Pushing boundaries and being avant garde is not the same thing as being downright tacky and offensive.

 

[ad041715]

There is nothing shocking about it (no matter how tacky/tasteless/imho pathetic it is), surely a cover with a woman blowing up a condom isn't something you want young impressionable girls/boys to see on the newsstands of their local newsagents or shopping centres. There are standards some people would like to maintain in terms of what is exposed to the public in the name of fashion/publicity, I understand the ban.

Heaven forbid that children know what a condom (a contraceptive) looks like am I right people? The image is only shocking because it resonates with our image of fellatio. We see this and think "Oh sex! How unnatural and vulgar!" Children see this and think "oh she's blowing up a pink balloon!" Gimme a break.

I can't believe we still live in such a sexually repressed society. When did history go from Caligula to purity rings?

 

[tigerrouge]

if it was overinflated that would be one thing, but the size of the condom and the way she's holding it up to her mouth (while simultaneously essentially throwing up her middle finger) is so incredibly phallic, the intention was clearly to simulate oral sex.

Not to mention the giant wording underneath about how she BLOWS, as if the addition of the word "up" means the magazine can pretend that they're actually talking about party balloons and popularity.

 

[Greenway]

She's got a condom in her mouth, big deal! This isn't a magazine made for children who might find it confusing/offensive or anything like that so why are people even bringing children up??

 

[mikel]

^Indeed, even without the notion that some kids might see this, it's a tacky mess.

 

[LagerfeldBoy]

People are really worried about the children?
First and foremost, when was the last time some 7 year old read D&C? Hmm?
Exactly.

Anyways, I initially pictured the image to be even more provocative than what I'm viewing here. I do prefer this to her current Vibe cover with Diplo, though. I do love the editorial. I'm also loving the numerous images plastered around the bedroom that include hip hop and rap artists. I spy some Missy Elliot and Tupac

oh, and I just have to mention I love the pairing of the Balmain jacket with a simple hoodie.

 

[stereo]

I do prefer this to her current Vibe cover with Diplo, though.

really? I think this VIBE cover is gorgeous, love both of them and they look stunning there, very sexy.