Orientalism refers to the relationship held between the ever-progressive West and its depictions of the undeveloped, barbaric and exotic East. The most blatant examples of Orientalism come from the mass media, where images of eastern societies are always seemingly portrayed in stark contrast to the ways of the west.

In many of these images, the eastern world lacks the civilized standards of the developed west. We are offered a window into a stagnant way of life, which is vastly exoticized and is depicted as something that is other-worldly. The west watches and studies this alien world, and through constant depictions of this sensationalized perception of the Orient, perpetuates these very perceptions.

At any rate, the cosmopolitans of today love to traverse the planet far and wide, laying claim to experiencing foreign cultures and insisting that there is a lot to take away from these other ways of life.

Sports Illustrated has long followed this line of reasoning, bringing their supermodels to other parts of the world and having them interact with the local culture. The end result, however, isn’t a progressive jump into a world where there is no more line drawn between the east and the west. Rather, what we get are photos like this:

Here, a model sits on the raft of a Chinese fisherman. The image that is portrayed is an exoticized account rural China, defined by the old way of life where bamboo rafts seem to be a prevalent form of transportation. The image poses other problems, namely that the strikingly beautiful white super model is literally sitting in a position of privilege.

Sports Illustrated swimsuit magazines are littered with pictures like this, each informing the ‘reader’ that an exotic east awaits, and if you’re young, white, and beautiful, you can afford all of the local luxuries.