Okay, so you caught me watching this advertisement for Playboy and its waning empire. Would you believe me if I told you I watched in the interest of journalistic free enterprise and self-expression? Oh, and I read the articles, too.
The first thing I have to say about this show is that in my entire life, I’ve never had a girl living next door to me that looked like any of those girls. Not even close. Where are all these girls hiding anyway? I don’t see them in the supermarket, I don’t see them at the dry cleaners, and I certainly never see them at The Home Depot. Maybe they all live on some remote, exotic island where they are photographed for magazine covers and filmed for television. The fact that they never get to leave the island would explain why I never actually see them in the flesh.
Let me say from the outset that I have no problem with nudity so long as it is done in good taste and doesn’t involve children. I try my best to keep politics out of my writings, but I will tell you that I am one of the biggest defenders of the Bill of Rights that you could find anywhere on this planet. It is those Rights that separate our form of government from every other form of government ever conceived by mankind. The question arises, however, as to whether I would I feel the same way about nudity if I were engaged and my fiancée asked me about posing in Playboy. Well, based on what I just said, the answer should be easy; otherwise I would be a total hypocrite. Why is it, then, that I would have such a difficult time saying she should actually do it?
One of the fathers interviewed on the show said that he fully supported his daughter’s decision and wished her great success with her adventure. That father is a real trouper and if I were a father I would have said the same thing. But supporting your daughter is not the same thing as actually liking what she is about to do. He never said he liked the idea of her posing nude, only that he supported her decision to do so. To me, there’s a huge difference, but I think that that difference often goes unnoticed in the emotion of the moment, or perhaps in hearing what you want to hear instead of what was actually said.
Once your child reaches an age where they can make decisions in a mature and thoughtful manner, you have to let them go and do it on their own, for better or for worse. That said, I wouldn’t blame any father for not wanting his grown-up baby to take all her clothes off in front of millions of people. After all, as soon as his daughter was old enough to know the difference, she was always wearing clothes when she was around him. Her father probably hadn’t seen her naked since she became a young woman. Now all of a sudden that same father can stop by any magazine rack and see something that’s been off limits for over ten years. Is it different because it’s a photograph and not the real flesh and blood? Is it different because a photograph somehow detaches you from reality while at the same time hitting you over the head with it? Is it different because anyone can see the pictures, anyone in the world?
When I think about these kinds of issues, it becomes apparent to me that opinions can easily shift depending on how close to home the issues are. I know many people who are in favor of nuclear power to generate electricity, but would not want to live within a thousand miles of a power plant. I know people who are opposed to using animals for drug testing, but when they become critically ill, they are the first to accept a prescription for life-saving drugs that were once tested on animals. There are people who are opposed to the death penalty, but then ask them how they would feel if they witnessed the torture and execution of their own children.
Those are all serious issues which obviously aren’t even in the same league with posing nude, but I raise them only to bring home my main point. It’s easy to form opinions on things that don’t envelop our personal world and dismiss others that may not fit within the realm of our immediate consciousness. Once that boundary is crossed and it directly affects our own lives or families, our perceptions can change dramatically and the resulting decisions can be influenced in ways that we never considered initially.
The girls on this show were there for a variety of reasons. Some viewed it as an opportunity for fame and opportunity. Others viewed it as a liberating experience, perhaps stemming from a restrictive upbringing or moral compass that never pointed in that direction before. The fact that shedding ones’ clothes can accomplish any of these objectives is a testament to our society and its values and aspirations. Whether that’s a positive commentary or not lies in the eye of the beholder.
Like it or not, our society has created a vision of what the perfect woman should look like and there’s no doubt in my mind that Hugh Hefner was one of the very first to successfully exploit it at every level. I know one of the Playmates from my home town who previously appeared in the magazine. We have talked at some length about why and how she happened to appear in the magazine. She viewed it as a great opportunity for a small-town girl and had nothing but positive things to say about the entire experience. Once you become a Playmate, you become a life member of their extended family and they don’t forget about you. If this didn’t come from someone who I know and trust, I might wonder if she was just telling me what I would otherwise have expected to hear.
More than anything, what really bothered me about this show were the reactions of some of the girls that weren’t chosen. If you didn’t know better, you would think they were facing the end of the world. Here you have a group of beautiful, healthy women who should be very thankful for the gifts that have been bestowed upon them. When I think of all the women who would love to trade places with them, I don’t have a lot of sympathy for their disappointment in not being chosen to be a Playmate. To me, this is a very minor speed bump on life’s road to personal fulfillment and happiness. If this is the worst thing that ever happens to any of them, they should be more than grateful that their lives have been forever blessed.
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