Marge Simpson poses for Playboy cover

[snopes]

Marge Simpson has done something that Homer might not like but will make Bart the proudest kid in his school: She's posed for Playboy magazine.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...XQ5qQD9B7QME80

[Bettie Page Turner]

Is anyone else slightly disturbed by this?

...the cover will bring to mind another first for the magazine that occurred in 1971 when a black woman appeared on the cover in exactly the same pose and, like Marge, smiling under an impressive head of hair.

[BatmanBeatles]

I dunno. I think Bart would get freaked out.

[Nappy Solo]

But will the blue carpet question be answered?

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Bettie Page Turner

Is anyone else slightly disturbed by this?

Why is that disturbing?

[Pudding Crawl]

Originally Posted by Nappy Solo

But will the blue carpet question be answered?

Well, she's been 'grey as a mule since she was 17'. I doubt Blue Dye #56 is approved for non-head use.

[BatmanBeatles]

Originally Posted by Nappy Solo

But will the blue carpet question be answered?

Duh. I just figured out what that means.

[BatmanBeatles]

Originally Posted by Pudding Crawl

Well, she's been 'grey as a mule since she was 17'. I doubt Blue Dye #56 is approved for non-head use.

Air brushing can do wonders these days.

[Simply Madeline]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Why is that disturbing?

Because a actual woman is being positioned as some sort of novelty, like a cartoon character. She isn't even named. She's just a "black woman".

I think I would have worded the sentence something like "In an homage to Woman's Name, the first African American to grace the cover, Marge will appear smiling under an impressive head of hair."

[Bettie Page Turner]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Why is that disturbing?

Originally Posted by Simply Madeline

Because a actual woman is being positioned as some sort of novelty, like a cartoon character. She isn't even named. She's just a "black woman".

I think I would have worded the sentence something like "In an homage to Woman's Name, the first African American to grace the cover, Marge will appear smiling under an impressive head of hair."

Exactly, Simply Madeline. Thanks. The pairing of "first black woman" and "first cartoon character" was what was disturbing.

[Artemis]

I don't know. I mean, they're both firsts. I guess I'm just not easily disturbed.

[Aimee Evilpixie]

Originally Posted by Artemis

I don't know. I mean, they're both firsts. I guess I'm just not easily disturbed.

You don't see anything problematic in a woman who broke a major racial barrier not being named in this article, when a fictional character is?

[diddy]

Originally Posted by Nappy Solo

But will the blue carpet question be answered?

Not in Playboy. My understanding is that any nudity will be implied and not visible.

[Troodon]

Originally Posted by Aimee Evilpixie

You don't see anything problematic in a woman who broke a major racial barrier not being named in this article, when a fictional character is?

Appearing in Playboy was breaking a major racial barrier?

[Silas Sparkhammer]

Originally Posted by Bettie Page Turner

Exactly, Simply Madeline. Thanks. The pairing of "first black woman" and "first cartoon character" was what was disturbing.

Will this be the first cartoon character on the cover of Playboy? I may be wrong, but I thought Jessica Rabbit had appeared on the cover.

Silas (and how about Barbara Streisand? She's a cartoon character, isn't she?)

[BamaRainbow]

For the record, the black woman's name was Darine Stern.

Image at http://nikabrightlightwarrior.wordpr...merican-woman/

While it wasn't hard to find the image or the name, I'm not really sure it makes much difference since the woman wasn't exactly a household name.

A bit more info about Ms Stern: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4213699.html According to the article, she died in 1994 at the age of 46 from breast cancer.

(Just for the record, the cover appearance came 6 years after Playboy's first black centerfold. The Wiki list of "African-American firsts" doesn't even mention the Playboy cover.)

[BamaRainbow]

To Silas: I can't find anything (yet) that confirms or denies an actual appearance by Jessica Rabbit on the cover, but there was a Playboy cover (dated 11/88) with a Jessica Rabbit INSPIRED cover (it was a model, Laura Richmond, dressed as Jessica)
http://www.pbcovers.com/pbcovers.php?c=us&y=1988


I checked the site's thumbnails of the covers but couldn't find anything that looked like the animated Jessica. And, upon further consideration, I don't think that the Disney Corporation would allow an image of the animated Jessica Rabbit to appear on the cover of Playboy (and I'm pretty sure that Amblin Studios would have been incredibly reluctant to allow Jessica's image on the magazine; Disney and Amblin were co-owners of Jessica, along with novelist Gary Wolf who created the character in "Who Censored Roger Rabbit?").

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Aimee Evilpixie

You don't see anything problematic in a woman who broke a major racial barrier not being named in this article, when a fictional character is?

Because this is an article about the fictional character, not about the first black woman. It doesn't seem "disturbing" to me, just like lazy writing.

[IlGreven]

The only problem I have with it is:

Of all the cartoon characters out there, Playboy picks the one that would be the least likely to pose?

[snopes]

Originally Posted by IlGreven

The only problem I have with it is: Of all the cartoon characters out there, Playboy picks the one that would be the least likely to pose?

I think Sweet Polly Purebred would probably be less likely to pose for Playboy than Marge Simpson.