The average naked woman

[andrewducker]

Here are averaged pictures of each decade of Playboy centerfold. Amongst other things, it becomes obvious that the backgrounds have become darker, the skin lighter and the hair blonder as time goes by.

Comments

[agasfer.livejournal.com]

There was an article on that not long ago in some medical journal, with an annotation in Atlantic Monthly. The conclusion was that the hips are getting more narrow.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

The implication of this wrt racism are rather disturbing.

[green-amber.livejournal.com]

But isn't it just as attributable to the fact that it's now less fashionable for Caucasians to have deep suntans (melanoma fear etc)? You need figures as to how many centrfolds were non caucasian in each decade to decide if this really reprsents an increase in racism. And even then it could still just as much imply more blax-ploitation in the 60s (say) than increasing racism to date.

Not that I'm defending centrefolds as a site of equality!!

[heron61.livejournal.com]

That explains the lighter skin, but not the blonder hair. It's not just about black/white issues. The US is far more ethnically diverse now than it was in the 60s and proportionally far more people have darker skin and hard hair and yet blonds are significantly more popular. I'm seeing nothing good about that.

[themongkey.livejournal.com]

I think since being a centrefold by all accounts often hinges on a willingness to sleep with Hugh Hefner, these pictures cannot be taken as indicative of anything more than his choice of bed partner.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

Very true, I'd forgotten to consider that angle. Other porn is far more attuned to the tastes of the general market, rather than to one person's tastes. At this point, all we can say is as he's gotten older, Hefner has decided he likes blondes more.

[nickys.livejournal.com]

Well, they do say that if you look at too many centrefolds your vision gets blurry.... :o)

Thanks

[markpasc.livejournal.com]

This is why mp3 was invented.