|
Women
have the right to pose for Playboy The football powerhouse known as the Big 12 Conference soon will be seen in a much softer, perhaps more revealing, light. In its 25th Anniversary Edition pictorial featuring college age women, Playboy magazine will feature “Women of the Big 12.” This is exciting for the Big 12 Conference and its women who are ready to bear all. For women on this campus who might aspire to pose for Playboy, this is an interesting opportunity and a possible entry into the entertainment industry. Posing for Playboy is every woman’s right, and what has been seen as an exploitation of women, still remains a right of those who choose to be exposed. The Big 12 issue is billed as a step toward becoming a Playboy Playmate, and serves the dual purpose of allowing women to show their bodies and represent their respective universities. Make no mistake, this is by no means an encouragement for women on this campus to pose for Playboy. It is simply an example of a woman’s right to choose to express herself, even if that involves posing nude. Playboy and its readers have a fascination with college coeds, and while these students’ willingness to pose may seem strange to some naïve members of the female sex, the college Playmate is not at all a new concept. The magazine features a coed of the month and regularly searches out the best college bars in the country. Aggieland’s own Dixie Chicken was a featured ‘College Bar of the Month.’ There are often contests and polls to determine which college campuses have the hottest female populations. Many NCAA conferences have been featured in Playboy over the last 25 years. The trouble lies with the censorship and protest involved with posing nude as a representative of a university population. Playboy has met a lot of controversy in its search for coeds. In 1996, Baylor University officials threatened disciplinary action or expulsion for any female student who interviewed with Playboy when the magazine visited Waco. Administrators were outraged when two students posed for an issue, but the women graduated before any action was taken against them. The Playboy campus quest has faced organized protest on a visit to the University of Nebraska and opposition from many women’s organizations on other campuses across the nation. At A&M, thankfully, there has been no pronounced opposition thus far from the university or campus organizations and hopefully the attitude will continue this week. The notion that women are free to make their own choice to pose nude should prevail. Playboy is more reputable than most adult magazines, and this issue is an opportunity for those hoping to pursue a career in this line of entertainment to win the favor of Big 12 fans. For those wary of this idea, resist the temptation to scoff at the thought of an Aggie on the pages of Playboy; to each her own, and the choices an individual makes are one’s own. Women who choose to pose, though, should be aware of the damage that can be done to reputations and lives through this kind of action. Playboy can ruin a life as easily as it can make it, and there are no guarantees the Playboy Mansion or stardom will be the final destination. So, be aware of the risks involved with this venture, but know that the decision lies with the individual. For anyone chosen to be featured on the pages of Playboy, do it in a tasteful manner, as it is a representation of self, school and conference, and besides being known as “the girl who posed for Playboy,” the issue will be available to for all to see in the stacks at Sterling C. Evans Library. Kellen Zimmer is a columnist for The Battalion at Texas A&M University. This column was distributed by U-Wire. |
|
|
TCU Daily Skiff © 2002 |
||