Nudity in America

Nudity in movies and cable television programming no longer raises eyebrows the way it used to. The sight of a woman's breast or a man's backside has lost the ability to raise collective eyebrows for most. Having nudity on magazine covers that are not classified "adult" magazines however can still draw a lot of attention.

The upcoming cover of Rolling Stone magazine is getting a lot of attention. The front page shows some of the cast members of the cable TV show True Blood in all their natural glory. The HBO show is based on vampirism and frequently offers scenes full of blood, sexuality and nudity. Having a photo shoot of the cast au natural and smeared with blood would not be a surprise. The surprise comes when a nationally known and distributed magazine like Rolling Stone offers it to the public on the front page.

This is not a ground breaking marketing tactic by promoters and magazine publishers. Nor is it the first time Rolling Stone magazine has featured nudity on its cover. The entertainment industry has done this for decades. Some may remember John Lennon and Yoko Ono lying nude on a bed as a record album cover. Madonna has built her entertainment persona around nudity. Demi Moore celebrated motherhood by posing nude during her pregnancy on the cover of Vanity Fair. Celebrities and entertainers are known for using nudity to acquire attention.

The question for the American public comes down to this: is it permissible for the general public to see images of semi-naked people in advertising? Should magazines who display nudity on their covers like Rolling Stone be made to cover these images while on the sales racks?

What say you?