Saturday, January 05, 2008
Stacy Collins and Breann McGregor, "Playboy Special Editions" editor and model: Mr. Media Interview, Part 3
(Return to Part 2)
(Return to Part 1)
BOB ANDELMAN/Mr. MEDIA: How far into the future are you obligated to Playboy at this point?
BREANN McGREGOR: For Cyber Girl, it’s a year contract.
ANDELMAN: Okay.
McGREGOR: But as far as working with them in the future, I’ll always be there. They’re like family to me. They’ve been there through some of the hardest times, and so whatever they need, I’m there for them. It’s not something that’s ever gonna end.
ANDELMAN: I want to ask you both. Strictly by coincidence, I got the new issue of Playboy yesterday, and there’s an interview with Tina Fey. Have either of you read it?
STACY COLLINS: I have not had a chance to read that yet, and I’d actually like to. I took the issue home, and some guy in my house swiped it so I have to find another issue around the office.
ANDELMAN: Some “guy” in your house, huh?
COLLINS: Yeah, I can’t really disclose, but yeah. Some guy.
ANDELMAN: Well, it’s a very funny interview with Tina, but there’s this one part and I can just read it to you. I have it in front of me. There’s this one part that I’m kind of curious to get your response to. She was talking about women who feel that they have to get super skinny and get a fake tan and fake boobs, and the interviewer was very surprised that she wanted to talk about this in Playboy of all places, and she says, “I don’t want to seem like a bad guest, but I have a few general theories. If you look back at old Playboys from the ‘60s and ‘70s, the Playmates represented the girl-next-door and some of them had maybe different size boobies, perhaps with brown nipples or large areolas. There are even ladies with their actual hair, with hair that wasn’t blond.” What she’s saying is that a lot of women feel they have to change themselves physically to be part of this universe. And I was kind of curious what each of you thought of that.
McGREGOR: Stacy?
COLLINS: Well, I was gonna let you talk first, but I’d be more than happy to address that. Again, part of what I believe Playboy Special Editions brings to the table is an avenue for all types of different girls. We showcase exotic beauties and natural beauties and the voluptuous vixen. We know that there’s a different taste out there for every customer so we try to accomplish that through some of our themes. But there is, definitely, an overriding social expectation about what the ideal girl is for Playboy: blond hair, blue eyes, big boobs, tiny waist. And there have been any number of those types of girls in the magazines throughout the years, but people tend to forget that there’s always a nice balance of different types of women in the magazine. So I feel like Playboy does get pigeon-holed in that, and I think because Hef’s personal taste has sort of trended that way in terms of his girlfriends and the women that he surrounds himself with, but that doesn’t mean that all of the Playboy universe. There is a spot in the Playboy universe for all different types of women. Different shapes, colors, sizes, ethnic backgrounds, the whole nine yards. So I would like to dispel that myth. If someone asked me do I have to have a boob job, I say absolutely not, but I still have to see how you look naked. I still have to see are your breasts perfectly proportionate? Are they nice? How do you look with…I would never automatically say you have to have a boob job, you have to have blond hair and blue contacts. That is not the criteria that we use to select the young ladies that are featured in Playboy.
McGREGOR: I’ve never felt being in Playboy I had to lose weight. I’m a curvier model. I’m not bone-thin. I’ve got curves. And I feel that Playboy likes that about me and so do my fans, and that’s why I’ve been able to have a career with them for as long as I have. But I’ve never felt that I’ve had to look a certain way or, of course, you have to, like Stacy said, you have to keep up with yourself. I work out, and I diet because I want to because it makes me feel good about myself, but it’s not anything that I felt like I had to do it. I do it for my health and again, because it makes me feel good. But, again, I’m a curvy model. I’m not like a zero or a one. I never will be. And it makes me feel good that I, being a I don’t want to say bigger model, a more curvaceous model, I guess, I don’t know, a curvier model that other women can see that you don’t have to be a size zero to feel beautiful or to be in Playboy cause I’m not. I hope I can help other women feel comfortable in their skin as well.
ANDELMAN: Before we come off of that topic, I have to ask about tattoos. Stacy, I guess this is particularly to you. You see so many women. Are we seeing any lessening of the tattoos on these women? And if you see a woman who is particularly beautiful, but she’s got a tattoo in the wrong place, can you airbrush that? Do you cover it up? How do you handle that?
COLLINS: I will tell you it actually is very regional in terms of ink. We seem to find New York is pretty ink-heavy. Miami can be a little bit ink-heavy. But we were just in Denver two months ago and Memphis last month, and it was not very prevalent. It really is somewhat regional. And sometimes tattoos are a nice enhancement and a beautiful addition to a woman’s body, and then other girls who see their bodies as a canvas, and tattoos are a work of art on their bodies, they sometimes take it a little too far. If, for any reason, myself or Jeff Cohen, the executive editor, find that it’s a little overwhelming or a little too intrusive, doesn’t really complement the photograph and the pictorial, we will remove it. But it’s an expression of a young lady’s personality and how she feels about herself, but sometimes, they are a little too much. I can’t lie to you. We try to leave as much of the natural beauty and inner beauty of the girls shine through in the photographs, but if something detracts from that, whether that be an unsightly scar or a tattoo that’s just a dragon spitting fire, we might use our best judgment and remove it.
ANDELMAN: Breann, I don’t want to look too closely. I looked generally over a couple pages. I don’t see any tattoos there.
McGREGOR: I don’t have any.
ANDELMAN: Okay. Good. Good! My faith in these things is restored.
COLLINS: I do have young ladies email or say, “Will you reject me if I have a tattoo?” and that’s not the case. It would never be something that we would automatically say, “If you’ve got a tattoo, you can’t be in Playboy.” It’s part of the culture. It’s part of the pop culture phenomenon, to be tattooed and pierced, and I hope I don’t offend anyone here but bare down there. We’re in an age where there’s not a lot of body hair, and that’s up for debate with a lot of our customers as to whether they like that or they don’t like that. But it’s just a way that young ladies are expressing themselves these days, and so we let them express their beauty.
ANDELMAN: I’m not gonna touch the body hair issue. I’ve got to draw the line somewhere. When the cup issue came up at the start of the conversation, I didn’t ask what size, and I’m not gonna ask about body hair at this point. So let me change gears slightly before we wind up. Stacy, you were a book editor for, I guess, about seven years before joining Playboy. Now you’re dealing everyday with models, a professional category not renowned for intellectualism. And no disrespect, but what’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard out of a model’s mouth?
COLLINS: I don’t know that it’s necessarily out of a model’s mouth, but we have a bio form that we have our young ladies fill out when they’re coming through a casting and ask all kinds of different questions so that we can really kind of get a sense of their personality. And the one thing that never fails to crack me up is they’ll say, on the bio form it says “birthplace,” and sometimes they put “hospital” rather than Indianapolis, Indiana. They put hospital! That is one that really never ceases to get a giggle out of me. But that’s maybe a little unfair because a lot of young ladies that we see are pursuing higher education, are entrepreneurial, are business owners who just happen to be beautiful and say, “Hey, you know what, I’ve always wanted to try to be in Playboy. I’m gonna give it a try. If it doesn’t work out, at least I gave it a shot. I submitted my pictures, or I came to a casting call,” and they can walk away and say, “You know what, I did something for me, and it made me feel good” and be happy with their decision. And sure, there are girls who might be challenged with spelling or identifying capitals of the states, but that’s not really what we’re interested in. We’re trying to create a fantasy and fulfill a need that still exists in the marketplace whether that’s via print or online or other mediums. And that’s just finding the most beautiful, exotic, sultry young women and giving them a platform to be adored and worshipped.
ANDELMAN: Breann, as a former molecular biology student, I want to give you a chance at the last word here. Do you want to defend the intelligence of models, or do you want to add a story of your own to the legend?
McGREGOR: As far as the women, I just think it’s stereotyped. I guess they think blond Playboys, all blonds, and you know how the blonds have the dumb blond stereotype, but I have a lot of friends that model in Playboy, and they’re in nursing school. A friend of mine has her own body shop where she sells her own lotions and stuff. And they’re very smart, and I think they’re very smart to take advantage of what Playboy has done for them to have given them exposure, and they use that to their advantage. And I think that’s very smart, but I have to say, I think it’s all stereotyped. Yeah, there are some girls that are a little ditzy, but that’s what makes them cute or makes them different. I don’t know. Sometimes I say things that are really dorky or just like did you just say that? Sometimes I find myself saying the dumbest things, but I think we’re all like that. But I think it’s all stereotyped, the dumb blond model. I think there are a lot of very smart, intelligent women in Playboy.
© 2008 by Bob Andelman. All rights reserved.
(Return to Part 1)
BOB ANDELMAN/Mr. MEDIA: How far into the future are you obligated to Playboy at this point?
BREANN McGREGOR: For Cyber Girl, it’s a year contract.
ANDELMAN: Okay.
McGREGOR: But as far as working with them in the future, I’ll always be there. They’re like family to me. They’ve been there through some of the hardest times, and so whatever they need, I’m there for them. It’s not something that’s ever gonna end.
ANDELMAN: I want to ask you both. Strictly by coincidence, I got the new issue of Playboy yesterday, and there’s an interview with Tina Fey. Have either of you read it?
STACY COLLINS: I have not had a chance to read that yet, and I’d actually like to. I took the issue home, and some guy in my house swiped it so I have to find another issue around the office.
ANDELMAN: Some “guy” in your house, huh?
COLLINS: Yeah, I can’t really disclose, but yeah. Some guy.
ANDELMAN: Well, it’s a very funny interview with Tina, but there’s this one part and I can just read it to you. I have it in front of me. There’s this one part that I’m kind of curious to get your response to. She was talking about women who feel that they have to get super skinny and get a fake tan and fake boobs, and the interviewer was very surprised that she wanted to talk about this in Playboy of all places, and she says, “I don’t want to seem like a bad guest, but I have a few general theories. If you look back at old Playboys from the ‘60s and ‘70s, the Playmates represented the girl-next-door and some of them had maybe different size boobies, perhaps with brown nipples or large areolas. There are even ladies with their actual hair, with hair that wasn’t blond.” What she’s saying is that a lot of women feel they have to change themselves physically to be part of this universe. And I was kind of curious what each of you thought of that.
McGREGOR: Stacy?
COLLINS: Well, I was gonna let you talk first, but I’d be more than happy to address that. Again, part of what I believe Playboy Special Editions brings to the table is an avenue for all types of different girls. We showcase exotic beauties and natural beauties and the voluptuous vixen. We know that there’s a different taste out there for every customer so we try to accomplish that through some of our themes. But there is, definitely, an overriding social expectation about what the ideal girl is for Playboy: blond hair, blue eyes, big boobs, tiny waist. And there have been any number of those types of girls in the magazines throughout the years, but people tend to forget that there’s always a nice balance of different types of women in the magazine. So I feel like Playboy does get pigeon-holed in that, and I think because Hef’s personal taste has sort of trended that way in terms of his girlfriends and the women that he surrounds himself with, but that doesn’t mean that all of the Playboy universe. There is a spot in the Playboy universe for all different types of women. Different shapes, colors, sizes, ethnic backgrounds, the whole nine yards. So I would like to dispel that myth. If someone asked me do I have to have a boob job, I say absolutely not, but I still have to see how you look naked. I still have to see are your breasts perfectly proportionate? Are they nice? How do you look with…I would never automatically say you have to have a boob job, you have to have blond hair and blue contacts. That is not the criteria that we use to select the young ladies that are featured in Playboy.
McGREGOR: I’ve never felt being in Playboy I had to lose weight. I’m a curvier model. I’m not bone-thin. I’ve got curves. And I feel that Playboy likes that about me and so do my fans, and that’s why I’ve been able to have a career with them for as long as I have. But I’ve never felt that I’ve had to look a certain way or, of course, you have to, like Stacy said, you have to keep up with yourself. I work out, and I diet because I want to because it makes me feel good about myself, but it’s not anything that I felt like I had to do it. I do it for my health and again, because it makes me feel good. But, again, I’m a curvy model. I’m not like a zero or a one. I never will be. And it makes me feel good that I, being a I don’t want to say bigger model, a more curvaceous model, I guess, I don’t know, a curvier model that other women can see that you don’t have to be a size zero to feel beautiful or to be in Playboy cause I’m not. I hope I can help other women feel comfortable in their skin as well.
ANDELMAN: Before we come off of that topic, I have to ask about tattoos. Stacy, I guess this is particularly to you. You see so many women. Are we seeing any lessening of the tattoos on these women? And if you see a woman who is particularly beautiful, but she’s got a tattoo in the wrong place, can you airbrush that? Do you cover it up? How do you handle that?
COLLINS: I will tell you it actually is very regional in terms of ink. We seem to find New York is pretty ink-heavy. Miami can be a little bit ink-heavy. But we were just in Denver two months ago and Memphis last month, and it was not very prevalent. It really is somewhat regional. And sometimes tattoos are a nice enhancement and a beautiful addition to a woman’s body, and then other girls who see their bodies as a canvas, and tattoos are a work of art on their bodies, they sometimes take it a little too far. If, for any reason, myself or Jeff Cohen, the executive editor, find that it’s a little overwhelming or a little too intrusive, doesn’t really complement the photograph and the pictorial, we will remove it. But it’s an expression of a young lady’s personality and how she feels about herself, but sometimes, they are a little too much. I can’t lie to you. We try to leave as much of the natural beauty and inner beauty of the girls shine through in the photographs, but if something detracts from that, whether that be an unsightly scar or a tattoo that’s just a dragon spitting fire, we might use our best judgment and remove it.
ANDELMAN: Breann, I don’t want to look too closely. I looked generally over a couple pages. I don’t see any tattoos there.
McGREGOR: I don’t have any.
ANDELMAN: Okay. Good. Good! My faith in these things is restored.
COLLINS: I do have young ladies email or say, “Will you reject me if I have a tattoo?” and that’s not the case. It would never be something that we would automatically say, “If you’ve got a tattoo, you can’t be in Playboy.” It’s part of the culture. It’s part of the pop culture phenomenon, to be tattooed and pierced, and I hope I don’t offend anyone here but bare down there. We’re in an age where there’s not a lot of body hair, and that’s up for debate with a lot of our customers as to whether they like that or they don’t like that. But it’s just a way that young ladies are expressing themselves these days, and so we let them express their beauty.
ANDELMAN: I’m not gonna touch the body hair issue. I’ve got to draw the line somewhere. When the cup issue came up at the start of the conversation, I didn’t ask what size, and I’m not gonna ask about body hair at this point. So let me change gears slightly before we wind up. Stacy, you were a book editor for, I guess, about seven years before joining Playboy. Now you’re dealing everyday with models, a professional category not renowned for intellectualism. And no disrespect, but what’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard out of a model’s mouth?
COLLINS: I don’t know that it’s necessarily out of a model’s mouth, but we have a bio form that we have our young ladies fill out when they’re coming through a casting and ask all kinds of different questions so that we can really kind of get a sense of their personality. And the one thing that never fails to crack me up is they’ll say, on the bio form it says “birthplace,” and sometimes they put “hospital” rather than Indianapolis, Indiana. They put hospital! That is one that really never ceases to get a giggle out of me. But that’s maybe a little unfair because a lot of young ladies that we see are pursuing higher education, are entrepreneurial, are business owners who just happen to be beautiful and say, “Hey, you know what, I’ve always wanted to try to be in Playboy. I’m gonna give it a try. If it doesn’t work out, at least I gave it a shot. I submitted my pictures, or I came to a casting call,” and they can walk away and say, “You know what, I did something for me, and it made me feel good” and be happy with their decision. And sure, there are girls who might be challenged with spelling or identifying capitals of the states, but that’s not really what we’re interested in. We’re trying to create a fantasy and fulfill a need that still exists in the marketplace whether that’s via print or online or other mediums. And that’s just finding the most beautiful, exotic, sultry young women and giving them a platform to be adored and worshipped.
ANDELMAN: Breann, as a former molecular biology student, I want to give you a chance at the last word here. Do you want to defend the intelligence of models, or do you want to add a story of your own to the legend?
McGREGOR: As far as the women, I just think it’s stereotyped. I guess they think blond Playboys, all blonds, and you know how the blonds have the dumb blond stereotype, but I have a lot of friends that model in Playboy, and they’re in nursing school. A friend of mine has her own body shop where she sells her own lotions and stuff. And they’re very smart, and I think they’re very smart to take advantage of what Playboy has done for them to have given them exposure, and they use that to their advantage. And I think that’s very smart, but I have to say, I think it’s all stereotyped. Yeah, there are some girls that are a little ditzy, but that’s what makes them cute or makes them different. I don’t know. Sometimes I say things that are really dorky or just like did you just say that? Sometimes I find myself saying the dumbest things, but I think we’re all like that. But I think it’s all stereotyped, the dumb blond model. I think there are a lot of very smart, intelligent women in Playboy.
© 2008 by Bob Andelman. All rights reserved.
Labels: Breann McGregor, Cyber Girl of the Year, Hugh Hefner, Jeff Cohen, naked beauties, nude, Playboy Lingerie, Playboy Special Editions, sexy, Stacy Collins, Tina Fey, topless women, Vixens
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