Byrdie posted at 2:33AM Sat, 17 October 2015 - #4233936

Yeah, I think it was the classiness that made Playboy more than just another "under the counter" men's book. You had A-list stars on the cover and getting naked for the cameras at a time when even a whiff of scandal, especially if it involved anything remotely sexual, could and did ruin many a career. Be seen snogging somebody else's husband when it wasn't part of the script? Can't have that, fire the trollop. Be seen in Playboy as Miss September? No big deal, great career move. All part of the Hollywood Sex Symbol mystique. :sigh: Those days are long gone. We now have the likes of the Kardashians and Miley Cyrus or whomever baring it all while swinging on a ball. Class is out, sleaze is in.

Damn, I'm getting old!

I associate sleaze with exploitation. It's easy to look back at the Golden Age starlets and think they were inherently more classy than the divas and bad-girl celebs of today. But if Miley really wants to perform in the nude, if she's not being put up to it or coerced into it, I don't think that makes her a bad person. I wouldn't want my daughter, if I had one, to necessarily emulate that particular choice... But I wouldn't want my daughter to think that her body was something to be ashamed of, or that showing it off automatically makes her some kind of lowbrow trash, either. Women have an undeniable power in their sexuality, and words like slut and sleaze are too often code words used by those who fear or would prefer to control that power.

Reminds me of that picture (it goes around Facebook from time to time) of the modestly dressed stars at the adult video awards beside the barely covered mainstream celebrities at a music awards event.