I am a subscriber to the magazine WIRED. This will be hypocritical to a point I will make in a few moments, but I'm OK with this. A little background to my following blog...On the April cover of the magazine, Jenna Fischer was posing. [She's the secretary in the sitcom, The Office (That's what she said.")]. At first glance, Jenna is dressed in a suit holding a sign that states, "Get Naked and..." However, the cover is a transparency that, when lifted, shows a naked Jenna holding a sign stating, "Rule the world... etc." Here's a link to better illustrate what I am describing: http://geeksugar.com/187018 .
Controversy stirred over the cover. Let me first say that I think it was a clever idea. I often love the people that Wired puts on its cover such as Steven Colbert, the PC guy from the Mac commercials, that old dude that bought out Myspace, and now, Jenna Fischer. Nicely done. And, since the feature article was about radical transparencies in the business world, hey, why not a transparent cover of The Office star.
Some people enjoyed the cover. One person wrote, "Thank you for using the plastic overlay on the cover photograph of Jenna Fischer. It made it easier to wipe off the drool. Yet others were none too pleased. One reader writes, "For a magazine that likes to view itself as mapping the future, your old-school sexism is deeply disappointing. Another writes (a woman, of course), After 20 years in high tech trying to be taken seriously as a female with a brain, I don't find the images of a 'professional' woman being stripped naked with a peekaboo cover amusing. I'm done pretending that I'm such a good sport and one of the guys and that it's jut fine having images of women's bodies being used to sell whatever crap needs selling--like, say, a story about high-level managers and CEOs (almost all of them men) and their latest gimmick to get an edge on the competition." Well, Karen McWilliams of Livermore, California, let me be petty for one moment. If you were a woman with a brain, to begin, you'd know that your grammar skills are very very poor. Secondly, Jenna Fischer is an actress, not a CEO. The way actresses sell their careers is through sex. Jenna Fischer, bring it on!
C'mon people, it was tastefully done. It wasn't an FHM or Maxim-esq cover shoot. The idea was creative and original. Not once did I find the cover to be sexual in nature. The thought didn't even cross my mind until I read the letters to the editor in the June issue. (Note: I have just opened the June issue because I just found it. I was away at college and didn't receive all of my mail.) And what if it was sexual to some? Fine, sex does sell, and as WIRED readers, one should realize that it's all about making money. Most WIRED subscribers, I think I am safely assuming, are males. So go ahead and put a naked woman on the cover. Maybe you'd even get some lesbiens to pick up the magazine. WHO CARES!? I'm sure the people at WIRED aren't there just for shits and giggles, nor are they there for the sole purpose of informing the readers of the private space age. No, these people are making a career. Career=money. Sex sells.
You know what I'm sick of?? I'm sick of women complaining about the sex selling campaigns and movie stars that are too thin. If you think men are stupid enough to believe that every woman looks like that, or should look like that, then you need to open your eyes. Yes, some men are that stupid, but some women believe all men should have 6-pack abs and no body hair. Get over it! If you don't want to strive to be less than 100 pounds because you enjoy food, nor do you need to go get your roots dyed ever 4 weeks, good for you. That's the way to get people to like you for whom you are. I'm sure the Wired staff hoped that the transparent cover would help sell more copies, but I'm sure they thought the same thing with the bright orange lettering over Rupert Murdoch's head. Now there's a sex symbol....kidding.
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