I know, as a feminist, I'm supposed to be SUPER FREAKIN'
EXCITED about Playboy's announcement that they will no longer line the
pages of their magazines with nude images of women. I know I should be
celebrating this “victory for womanhood,” viewing this as a major porn giant
conceding to the reality that women aren't products or property to be exploited
for profit. But, I can't. I can't celebrate that a major pornography giant has
come crumbling down under the pressure of seeing women for who they are, and I
can't celebrate Hugh Hefner's long-awaited admission that women are actually
people. Because none of that actually happened.
I have long held a determined resentment toward Playboy magazine. Maybe
I'm old-timey in my more traditional view on sexual ethics, but I loathe
pornography. I really do. I hate, especially, multi billion dollar industries
which profit off of the sale of women's body parts masquerading as consumer
goods for the entertainment of men.
So imagine my disgust when I read that Playboy's reasoning for
abandoning its long-time sale of porn-lined pages, according to their chief
executive, was simply: “You’re now one click away from every sex act imaginable
for free. And so it’s just passé at this
juncture.”
“Passé.” Going out of style. Boring.
Normal. Expected. Playboy isn't giving up nudes for any valiant reason
(and isn't even trying to claim to); they're jumping the porn ship because
society is so drunk on porn it isn't even fazed by it anymore. Pornography is passé.
Naked women aren't edgy. Naked women are everywhere, their forms easily
accessible and therefore, no longer prime for turning a profit.
Not only are women merely parts for sale, we're no longer profitable enough for
Playboy to think we're worth selling. The porn giant wasn't forced to
admit that women are more than what they've said we are for over half a
century; rather, they've been forced out of the business of porn because
women's bodies are more accessible for viewing pleasure, with zero commitment
and zero sense of responsibility and zero hangups and strings attached,
elsewhere, for cheaper, and without all that “really great articles” shit to
stifle through. What Playboy once offered for sale down the street is
now not only free but mere clicks away.
What Playboy helped set into motion, it's now reaping
the consequences of – and I can't even enjoy watching them burn for it. I
really wish I could. I wish we could think of this as women finally being
viewed as people and not products. I wish it weren't the case that women are
just another thing getting popular and therefore going cheap. But,
unfortunately, in a world where women aren't viewed as people, we can expect to
not be regarded as people. Maybe someday that will change, but not today, and
definitely not as a result of anything Playboy does.
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