From the article :
” Across the country, vintage, antique and used-book dealers say back issues of Playboy are flying off the shelves. The magazine came to life in December, 1953, and pre-1980s issues are hilarious retro romps. The mid-century-modern aesthetic they showcase is all the rage – “These magazines are showing up on a lot of coffee tables,” Huizenga says. The pictorials, interviews, cartoons and kitschy advertisements are being embraced by interior and fashion designers, and celebrated in museum exhibits and on the female-dominated Pinterest digital bulletin board…..
The appeal of vintage Playboys is all about context, says Jennifer DePoe, director of Toronto’s annual Feminist Porn Awards and manager of the city’s Good For Her sex shop.
“In the sixties and seventies it was taboo to be empowered by your sexuality. Your role was to be an object for men,” she says. “These Playboy models went out and said, ‘I own my sexuality, I’m going to put myself in this magazine and I’m going to get paid for it.’ This was pretty feminist for the times.”
DePoe agrees that the trend is also fuelled by a widespread backlash against modern depictions of women.
“Back then, people weren’t expected to have this very specific body type that’s impossible to achieve. Looking at old Playboys nowadays, it feels like you could almost be that person.” DePoe calls old Playboys the “comfort food of porn,” and adds that the ubiquitous pornography of today “doesn’t appeal to a lot of people when it’s unrealistic or degrading.””
Read more:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/relationships
Interestingly, after it was pointed out to me by a male friend, I have for a long time considered the cover of the April 1972 Playboy to be a great example of a truly erotic photograph.
Amanda x
