For decades, the swimsuit issue was aimed specifically at straight guys. It’s just a fact.
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| Exhibit A |
I know other audiences paid attention to it, even enjoyed it. Women with an eye on beach fashion, perhaps. Photographers looking at style and technique. Amateur models dreaming of gracing its pages one day.
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I wonder what ever happened to Jennifer Sundquist?
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Plus, I think there’s just something universal about a beautiful woman. Seems like everyone — straight, gay, male, female — just kinda gets enthralled by bikini ladies to some extent, in a way that just doesn’t happen with the male physique.
“The female body is a work of art. The male body is utilitarian. It’s for gettin’ around, like a jeep.”
—Elaine Benes
Jeannine Amber wrote an
article to accompany Tyra’s magnificent 2019 return to SI. It relates a story from an early downturn in Tyra’s career, when she was getting too curvy for high fashion, and her mom told her to write down the names of companies who like “ass.”
Soon, Tyra was on the cover of SI, described in the piece as “one of the most prominent arbiters of male heterosexual desirability in America.”
So yeah, it was for straight dudes. That’s canon.
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Exhibit Ass
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But lately SI has tried to expand, or even redefine, its audience. There’s the
kinda-maybe-misguided “In Her Own Words” spread from a couple years ago, and the recent focus on varying the ages and body types that appear. The message seems to be less “Here’s what men find attractive” and more “Here’s an uplifting look at what attractive can be!”
But beyond that, there’s something that’s been sneaking into Swim Daily lately. Fashion tips aimed squarely at women.
No titillation at all, just a “Hey ladies, check out these tips for a swell lady lifestyle.”
It’s like they really think women will look to SI Swim like they’d look to Allure or Glamour. I honestly have no idea how likely that is, but maybe they’re snagging the aforementioned young fashion buffs and model hopefuls who happen to be there.
Compare that to the downright porny titles they gave their YouTube videos a couple years ago. “
Barbara Palvin Feels Herself” and “
Gigi Hadid Takes You To Her Wet, Tahitian Paradise” and “
Kate Bock Takes You To Her ‘Magical Place’” and “
Kate Upton Invites You To Explore Her Aruba Paradise” and “
Brooklyn Decker Shows Off Her Dirty, Naughty Secret In Virgin Islands.”
They sound like they were pieced together by SEO sexbots. Clearly not aimed at women in need of skin lotion. (Maybe at MEN in need of skin lotion…)
It seems like the swimsuit issue is trying hard to find its angle. They veered raunchy, decided that wasn’t quite right, then they veered soft/inviting/celebratory and are seeing how that goes.
Never thought pretty ladies in bikinis would end up being a tough sell, but here we are. It’s an age of custom-tailored titillation at your fingertips, the death of print, and the rise of inclusivity, so maybe the age of Babette has ended.
