Actually, I thought it was rather charmingly done.  Modern Ferret has
always been good at poking fun at itself, and what's wrong with featuring a
model who loves ferrets?  And the ferret picture on the inside front cover
was a lot racier than anything in any of the articles about the human. :-)
 
I didn't think there was anything in any of the articles or pictures that
wasn't suitable for a three-year-old to see or hear, other than the fact
that the woman pictured worked for Playboy--and even that's hardly going to
warp a small child's perceptions of women.  Playboy exists, and pays its
models well--and, to my mind, generally exploits them somewhat less than
the regular advertising industry does.  In any case, the actual pictures
in Modern Ferret were of a nice-looking young woman holding some very
attractive fuzzies, nothing more.  I guess I don't really understand the
fuss.
 
Folks?  If you feel your children would be harmed by hearing an explanation
of what Playboy is, then by all means try to keep that knowledge from them.
But *I* had heard of Playboy by the time I was 8 years old, and they will
have too--end of story.  No matter how sheltered they are.  Some good,
solid information would probably be a better idea than trying to avoid the
whole issue.  I would rather my children learned that a Playboy Playmate is
a good person, and a ferret lover, than that a Playboy Playmate is someone
you don't talk about, ever.  I felt that Modern Ferret handled the issue
very well, and very responsibly, warning people ahead of time, and not
going into any details one way or another about Tiffany's work.
 
Which, well, is it so awful?  Posing nude for photographs.  Geez.  I've
done that, only in the name of art, not magazine sales... anyone want to
flame me for it?
 
Last point: I understand that opinions on the subject are varied, and some
people feel very strongly one way or the other--including myself.  But
don't hide behind an anonymous posting.  If you can't put your name and
email address to your statement of opinion, perhaps you need to rethink
your opinion, or at least your way of stating it.
 
Jen and the Crazy Business
[Posted in FML issue 2681]