Playboy and the Death of the Sexual Revolution

By NICHOLAS NEGRON
Opinion Editor

In October, Playboy announced that as of March 2016, the magazine will no longer showcase fully nude women. For 62 years, the publication responsible for sexual acceptance and (what Hugh Hefner likes to think is) women’s empowerment, has decided to reroute the product that made it a viable investment on the stock exchange. What has caused this change of direction?
Society is now desensitized to sexuality. Sex is on all mediums. This includes film, television, print and even radio. If you simply turn on the television and scroll through primetime listings, odds are there will be anything from a hot make out scene to an intense love making moment, on multiple shows. Nudity has become prominent in premium cable. HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and especially Showtime’s “Masters of Sex” are just a few shows to regularly showcase nude actors.
Magazines, sold at grocery stores, even feature women in compromising positions, behind sexual captions. Cosmopolitan magazine publishes young starlets on their cover, with captions such as “His Best Sex Ever” or “Um, Vagina, Are You Okay Down There?” This is taken from the February 2012 cover, featuring Dakota Fanning. It garnered controversy as Fanning was only 17 at the time. Amy Schumer’s new sexually-charged cover of GQ features her in provocative positions with Star Wars characters. Disney must have just loved that.
Aside from sex being so tangible on screen and in print, internet pornography is the sole reason for Playboy’s change in direction. Why would somebody pay money for a physical magazine, when they can access any fantasy imaginable for free? It is not viable for Playboy to be competitive in the market which they helped create.
The first centerfold of Playboy featured a nude Marilyn Monroe. Her breasts were exposed against a velvet red background. This was in December of 1953. Since then, Playboy has gotten raunchier. “Tastefully” exposed breasts have turned into spread legs and grabbing genitals. The magazine used to be controversial.
How dare Playboy feature interviews with public figures and respected politicians, next to Jenny McCarthy’s backside! People turned their nose up at the publication, deeming it trashy. It certainly was groundbreaking to have such blatant sexuality. The magazine was not immune to censorship, especially internationally. It was banned in mainland China, but not Hong Kong. An edited edition is sold in Japan, where models cannot show their genitals. An Indonesian editorial office was stoned by the Islamic Defenders Front for publishing the magazine. Playboy was banned in Ireland for 36 years. Even the American chain 7-Eleven banned the magazine from 1986 to 2003.
Despite opposition from the masses, Hugh Hefner, the Playboy visionary, still managed to amass a $43 million net worth. Playboy Magazine, Playboy TV and Playboy Online are all umbrella products. The premium pornography channel has various programs, including “Foursome,” “Money Talks,” “Naughty Amateur Home Videos” and “School of Sex.” The channel has over 60 programs of content, most of which are reruns. “The Playboy Radio Show” ran for only a few months on Sirius Playboy Radio. Sirius dropped Playboy Radio in 2013. However, since then the station has added new content, broadcasting on their website.
“The Girls Next Door” was the most successful product out of the company, aside from the magazine itself. The show ran on the E network for six seasons and 91 episodes. Stars Holly Madison and Kendra Wilkinson received their own spinoff shows on the channel. Bridget Marquardt then hosted her own travel show with the Travel Channel. Playboy was an empire. Can it still be that?
Playboy’s future will become certain after 2016’s magazine cycle. It certainly will be interesting to see the publication without nudity. It may spark enough interest that the publication will see a growth in sales. There is also always the possibility of a backfire; and the magazine may go broke in a year.
There are certain ways that the magazine can stay relevant. High profile celebrities in risqué and high fashion outfits will garner social media attention. Other magazine spreads from Interview, Cosmopolitan, GQ and most recently, the Pirelli Calendar have all trended within the past few months. Star power has to push Playboy forward if they want to stay relevant in 2016.
It is almost surreal to think that Playboy would lose its spot as top dog in the porn industry. It is almost sad. As degrading as some people find it, Playboy has a rightful spot in history. How have we as society allowed sex to become so blasé? The shock factor of sexualization in 2015 is completely gone. Kylie Jenner in a barely-there bikini and Justin Bieber’s backside garner press for an hour or so. Then people move on. It has been done before. There is nothing new or special about it.
When pop stars Tiffany and Debbie Gibson posed for the magazine in 2002 and 2005, respectively, they were in the media for weeks. People were surprised these supposedly wholesome women would appear in such a blatantly sexual manner.
Sexuality has been tainted. It is not intimate anymore, but rather a display of emotion and actions that have been commercialized for profit. It is important to instill values in coming generations as they become exposed to this world of naked selfies, “empowering” nude spreads, internet pornography and sex in virtually every medium. Playboy is the first sinking ship in the sex world for being unmarketable. Will rebranding help? Only time will tell.