Playboy's "Nudists"?

When Godiva was growing up, there were two magazines that impressed the most when it came to their cartoons, The New Yorker http://www.newyorker.com/ and Playboy www.playboy.com. Both were extremely clever, albeit the subject matter was a tad different between the two publications.

Certainly it is no surprise that Playboy's cartoons have a sexual undercurrent (understatement) with a particular emphasis on the female of the species. After all, Playboy is "Entertainment for (heterophilic) Men."

What was surprising about the July issue (pages 72 and 73) is Playboy's two-page cartoon spread entitled "Nudists" by drawer John Dempsey. The fact that Playboy focuses on the nude is certainly not a shock, but nudism, nudists or naturists (whatever tag you prefer) is unexpected.

The eight cartoons (four on each page) poke fun at nudists and border on the sophomoric, including a suggestion to the group of nudists about getting dressed so they can play strip poker, naughty "Mr. Gray" being a little to eager to apply sun screen on a pair of bodacious mammary glands and a poor man almost having his eye put out by a well-endowed woman coming quickly around a corner.

As the Germans would say: "Sie hat Holz vor der Hutte" or she has wood in front of the house.

And to top it off there is "Miss Cavendish" who obviously strayed away from the nudist resort because one can easily see her farmer's tan in the form of the outline of a once-worn, one-piece bathing suit.

Thankfully, there are no references to "Nudist colonies," which most of us equate to finger-nails being dragged down a chalk board.

So what is Godiva's take on these eight cartoons? They are satire. They are humorous. They draw attention to those of us who have the courage to recreate among like-minded people without our clothes. Nudists need to demonstrate a sense of humor, not militancy, in order to survive and thrive.

Can hardly wait for the next installment of "Nudists." Maybe Playboy should make this a monthly cartoon and by doing so, give more and more people further impetus to shed their clothes and join the party.