Brains and beauty in a sex symbol may seem counterintuitive. On the contrary, this is exactly what Playboy casting producers are seeking for their “Girls of the Pac-10″ feature.
“We really want to find the girl next door,” said Playboy casting producer and publicist Eden Orfanos.
Casting calls for the last Pac-10-themed pictorial in 2005 led to the discovery of Miss June 2008, Juliette Fretté.
Photographers and casting producers will be spending two days at each Pac-10 school to find fresh new faces to pose for the feature which will run in Playboy’s October issue. Playboy college pictorials, which have featured various college sports conferences for the past 33 years, showcase the educated, independent women that “Hef,” also known as Playboy’s publisher Hugh Hefner, likes.
“(Hefner) always liked girls that had things going in their lives towards an education, towards having their own career, towards controlling their own destinies so that’s why he started the college girls pictorials. They didn’t want to just be models or housewives but have a career and be independent,” Orfanos said.
The typical self-consciousness most college girls struggle with throughout their youth is not present in all college girls. Rachel Swimmer, third-year women’s studies student showed her stuff at the casting call.
“I’m confident with my body and I like being naked and I have no issues with it … I feel like everyone should be confident in their own skin,” Swimmer said.
The criticism of Playboy that has endured since its founding in 1953 continues to bring up issues of body image, objectification of women and overall morality. Issues of women’s empowerment in regards to Playboy and other related publications have left Fretté ambivalent.
“I can see why some might be concerned about Playboy vis-à -vis women’s empowerment. However, I define empowerment mainly in terms of freedom of choice and I have always believed that a woman has a right to choose whether or not to pose nude,” Fretté said.
“Depending on the experience and the person, Playboy and other publications that celebrate ““ or objectify, depending on who you talk to ““ women can have almost any effect on our collective progress. In other words, you cannot look at this in black or white.”
The issues with Playboy and other related publications have set America apart from its European counterparts across the Atlantic where topless and nude beaches are aplenty and nudity on television and other media is commonplace.
“I always get upset when people have something negative to say about Playboy because women are making these choices. They’re being independent, they’re choosing what to do with their body, and they’re expressing themselves how they want to express themselves,” said Orfanos. “It’s slightly different (in the United States), we don’t have as many topless beaches here as they do (in Europe) … I think that it’s also because our background, a puritanical state. It’s just a sort of different vibe and energy here,” Orfanos said.
Regardless of moral implications, posing for Playboy is sure to garner one thing for aspiring models: attention.
“Know that working with Playboy will alter your life and should not be taken lightly,” Fretté said, “For one thing, your naked body will be immortalized on the internet for any potential employer to see forevermore. Which may or may not be a good thing.”