Playboy Controversy

Posted By: Kelly

I'm not a huge hater of Playboy. I do think it degrades women, but I personally am not about to go burn a copy of it ceremonially in the name of feminism. However, I do admire the feminists out there who speak out against it.I came across this article and a criticism of it on http://www.feministing.com. The faulty logic used in that article was begging to be called out on, so I can’t help but add my two cents. Below are excerpts from the article, some really amusing commentary other people had to say, and a bit of my own thoughts. You should probably read the article before the rest though, to grasp the big picture.

www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2009/11/03/exclusive-joanna-krupa-posing-naked-playboy-new-form-feminism/

The magazine's December cover girl, bikini model and "DWTS" star Joanna Krupa says, “I think they suffer from lack of knowledge and tunnel vision. How many of those self-important, so-called ‘feminists’ have been on the set when a celebrity shot a Playboy spread? There you go. What is feminist about discriminating a photo shoot just because it involves female (partial) nudity that happens to give men pleasure? Pathetic”

Perfect responses from commenters on feministing.com:

“Let me unbunch my panties so I can effectively debunk this idea that feminists are too uptight to see how empowering posing for magazines like, Playboy and Maxim are for women.” –Samhita

“Oh it HAPPENS to give men pleasure. i get it. so like...the nudity isn't the POINT of why it's in playboy, DUH! It just is this accident that men happen to be pleasured by it. I get it. -djkb

“There are several great reasons why female celebs line up to shoot Playboy: finally a woman gets paid more than a man for comparable work, she gets to set the rules, gets to be in a real team work with other women, as many key positions at Playboy are in fact held by women!" Krupa adds.

“Yes, as long as you're naked and objectified, you are equal and can 'set the rules'! Pardon me if I don't break out the 'Feminism: Mission Accomplished' banner and the noisemakers.” –ak33yu

“Women hold some of the key positions in Playboy? THAT IS SO COOL AND FUTURISTIC. I bet Playboy thought of hiring women in senior positions all by themselves, too. No thanks to those mean feminists bitching about their job equality and workplace dynamics.” -jumpcannon

“Women make the rules when they pose, do they? So if I wanted to pose in my plaid, flannel jammy bottoms in my unmade bed with my cat, that would fly? Right-o. Sign me up.” -FrumiousB

The women in the photo shoots might feel empowered by their work but the women who are married to men who read Playboy sure as hell don't. While men have the right to complain about the idealistic standards set for men in Twilight, women also have the right to complain about the unrealistic, idealistic standards set for women in Playboy. And sorry, but at least Twilight has about a hundred more words in it than Playboy does. Plus, like, a plot.

So is it hypocritical that actresses like Kate Winslet and Halle Berry can win Oscars after having performed intense sex scenes, and yet nobody seems to attack them with the anti-feminist tag?

Oh no you didn’t just touch Kate Winslet *snaps in z formation*

“Kate Winslet and Halle Berry are incredible actresses who have a great ability at doing a variety of roles. Yes, they've done sex scenes, they've done nudity, but that alone is not the reason they won Oscars. They are extraordinarily talented.” -dame_elphaba

“Our society is used to judging content by its package and label. The word 'Playboy' alone doesn't exactly give most women a warm, fuzzy feeling, yet many of the Playboy photos end up in the most praised photo and art magazines and in critically acclaimed photo exhibitions,” Krupa said.

Right, and that’s great. But Playboy doesn’t exist to be artistic. That’s not why it sells and that isn’t its purpose. Its purpose is to sell sex appeal in its most narrow form with cookie cutter models with absolutely no variety. Beauty is diverse and comes in all kinds of packages but Playboy only recognizes one package. This is a horrible mindset and eating disorders, plastic surgery, and low self-esteem all result from it. Is this Playboy’s purpose? Probably not intentionally, but it is supporting the mindset nonetheless. Put a big girl on the cover of Playboy. Just once. Prove me wrong.

“It simply comes down to ‘sex sells.’ Same goes for fashion magazines. You see A-list celebs and models already going topless in European fashion mags like Vogue.”

So is America behind the times?

“Every country has its own culture and sensitivities. It is obvious the Europeans are less sensitive to nudity in the media but more sensitive to violence instead, and in America it appears to be the other way around,” she added. “I’ve never heard of children being psychologically scarred by looking at a naked body, but we all know that watching violence has a desensitizing impact on children. Nudity is natural, after all.”

I agree that America is behind the times and that nudity is natural. For some reason, America never got past the “Victorian era” of its own that Europe was able to move on from. Sexuality is one of the most hypocritical topics in America. We have scantily clad women in every single movie and television show, yet we support abstinence in all of our health classes without even teaching about contraception. Women of every age, size, and shape in Europe are comfortable with themselves enough to go to the beach practically naked but this isn’t the case in America. I think this is partly because of the mindset that Playboy fuels. Women are ashamed of their bodies because everywhere they go, they only see the one “ideal” type being promoted. In Europe, nudity doesn’t discriminate- it’s everywhere and in every form so it's dealt with maturely and tastefully. It's the same scenario as the differences in drinking in Europe and America.

I’ll end this post with a comment by Nicole that really sums up my thoughts on the topic eloquently:

“Please tell me when the rest of the population will FINALLY understand that this is what is incompatible with feminism - the beauty standard, NOT the beauty? I love the female form (and the male). I think erotic art can be beautiful. I watch porn. I'm a member of a feminist burlesque troupe - I think burlesque is hot and love to participate in it. I'm very sex-positive, I'm for all things sexy and think our media is f***ing starved of real sexuality.
What isn't hot is when pornography caters to the straight white male fatphobic ageist gaze, and THAT's what sucks about Playboy. Not the models. We have no problem with them. We support their right to get naked and yes, we understand why they do it and think they should be allowed.”