Playboy Brings Back Nude Photos, Sparks Controversy And Outrage
A teenage boy’s dream has finally come true. After a year-long hiatus, Playboy brings back nude photos! Unfortunately, this sound business decision has come at a cost as it has sparked some major controversy and outrage.
FetCon great event, my class I taught was great hit!!
Below is pic taken by PlayBoy photographer Scott Church pic.twitter.com/dgUabWTz52— Goddess Phoenix (@GoddessPhoenix1) August 14, 2014
USA Today was the first to report that Playboy is bringing back nude photos. The outlet spoke to Cooper Hefner, the son of the Playboy founder, Hugh Hefner, who said that the company came to the decision to bring nudity back to its pages after one “buttoned up,” and rather unsuccessful year.
Hefner told the outlet that removing the nudity from its pages was a poor choice on the company’s part.
“I’ll be the first to admit that the way in which the magazine portrayed nudity was dated, but removing it entirely was a mistake.”
Playboy published its first non-nude issue last March. However, their latest issue — the March/April 2017 issue — will feature a return to full nudity and will feature nude picture sets with Elizabeth Elam (the March Playmate) and Nina Daniele (the April Playmate). The magazine will be on newsstands beginning February 28th, and it will be available for paid download at Playboy.com.
— Cooper Hefner (@cooperhefner) February 13, 2017
The decision that Playboy brings back nude photos was one that’s been a long time in the making. According to L.A. Weekly, Cooper Hefner, who ran his own media firm before dissolving it into Playboy Enterprises and leading the ship, has wanted to bring nudity back to the magazine since July of 2016.
However, back then, Cooper didn’t have much of a say in how the company was run.
“Right before this story went to press, I got a text from Hefner with big news: “HOP is moving under Playboy,” which essentially means mission accomplished. “I’m stepping in as chief creative officer at Playboy.” HOP’s offices soon will close, and all its operations will be moved to Playboy headquarters in Beverly Hills. Initially, though, Hefner was unable to integrate his ideas into Playboy because of pushback from the board. He and a partner invested $600,000 of their own money and started HOP in August 2015 (the website launched in January of this year) with six staffers who are all former Chapman University students or childhood friends of Hefner’s, which gives HOP the feel of a tech startup.”
Playboy Brings Nudity Back — Removing It Was A Mistake, Admits Hugh Hefner’s Son https://t.co/L53kBW4ONs via @Hollywoodlife
— Patty Farmer (@PattyatthePlaza) February 14, 2017
Of course, when Playboy brings back nude photos, controversy follows in its wake. Dawn Hawkins, the Executive Director of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, felt that this move by the publication was proof positive that they were trying to run a “scam” on the American people.
In a statement released to the press about the move when Playboy brings back nude photos, Hawkins said that this was a move that the outlet decided to make in order to get into “family friendly” retailers like Barnes & Noble, only to reintroduce the exploitation of women once their status was entrenched.
“Even when Playboy did not feature full nudity, it continued to produce material that promoted pornography and the objectification of women. Playboy paved the way for the commodification of the female body in soft-core pornographic magazines, and it laid the groundwork for the public health crisis of Internet pornography that America is experiencing today. We encourage newsstands and business owners to reject Playboy, and to send the message that women are equals to be respected, and not mere body parts to be objectified for profit.”
Now that Playboy is bringing back nude photos to its publication, will you be buying it?
[Featured Image by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images]
