To: pml1@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [PML1] Classic Centerfold: Sondra Greenberg
From: Mark Tomlonson
Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2003 20:22:48 -0400

Over the years Playboy centerfolds have, to one degree or another, 
portrayed a wide rage of the moods found in the War Of The Sexes. The 
Playmates are not treated as if sex was the only thing ever on their 
mind, but as people with a full range of emotions. More notably, they 
are shown to have a wide range of emotions regarding their relationships 
with us, the viewers. Unlike some of the competition, a Playboy Playmate 
is not always hot to trot, or if she is, she may not be hot to trot with 
us - at least not yet. The excellent portrayal of this latter attitude, 
along with outstanding artistic construction, is why I'm calling the 
June, 1987 centerfold of Sondra Greenberg by Stephen Wayda one of 
Playboy's Classics.

First, look at the artistic side:

There are only two significant colors in this centerfold: the white of 
the cloth and the tan of Sondra. A silver and gold watch and a killer 
shade of red lipstick provide masterful accents. Both are extremely well 
placed in terms of their fit in the color scheme as well as their fit in 
the artistic composition.

The underlying framework is a bold diagonal stroke of Sondra's body 
against the field of white, moving from upper left to lower right and 
dividing the picture into two large triangles. Her right leg is a 
contrasting diagonal, combining with he dark pubic hair to give a sense 
of weight and stability to the composition. The watch and the lips 
provide points of interest that keep the upper part of the frame in balance.

Stephen Wayda's use of lighting is nothing short of amazing to this 
amateur photographer. It is contrasty enough to bring out the 
differences in texture between the terrycloth robe, the smooth bed 
sheets and the ribbed panties, while at the same time flat enough to 
eliminate any strong shadows.

The choices of color, lighting and costume remind me of how wonderful it 
feels to slip between fresh-from-the-dryer sheets when I'm 
fresh-from-the-shower. The dominance of white wasn't chosen to represent 
virginity or innocence so much as it was to give a feeling of freshness 
and newness. If it impacts what we are to make of the situation in any 
respect, I'd say it's to bring that sense of freshness and newness to 
our (fantasy) relationship with Sondra. There's nothing like new love, 
and the mood of this centerfold has me all primed and ready to go.

But whoa, there Mark! Take a look at Sondra's face.

This relationship is so new that a sexual encounter can by no means be 
taken for granted (as if it ever can be). Sondra clearly doesn't mind 
that we're in her bed, but whether we're going to get any more than a 
pleasant good night is still very much up in the air.

Stephen Wayda has posed Sondra so that her robe and arm frame her 
breasts, and has her pulling aside her panties to remind us just what 
the stakes are in this battle. But the real communication is going on in 
her face.

The expression captured there is one of surety. This is a woman who is 
sure of her place and sure of what she wants. And she is sure that we, 
the viewers, have more work to do before this hinted at sexual encounter 
is going to take place. The ball is in our court. The new relationship 
is ours to lose. But we aren't going to ruin it by being less than 
perfect as we bring to life some obscure passage of the Kama Sutra. We 
will win or lose the heart of the fair Sondra by our courtship skills. 
Sondra is making it clear by her look that the time for talk will soon 
be over, but there still is a bit more talk to go before that time arrives.

If a Playmate were just a sex object there is no way that this attitude 
would be allowed in the centerfold, the center, the hallmark of the 
magazine. A sex object by definition exists solely for sexual 
gratification, and there are literally thousands upon thousands of 
images that fit this bill. I'm glad to say few of them have ever 
appeared in the pages of Our Favorite Magazine. The Playmates are 
presented as real people. The have real emotions, real dreams. They come 
from real towns. They have family: brothers, sisters, husbands, parents, 
and children. They have last names. And sometimes, as in Sondra 
Greenberg's centerfold, they demand from us, even in our fantasies, the 
simple courtesy of being treated as people first, and objects of sexual 
desire second.

Playboy has played out this theme in several of its centerfolds. They 
have done it often enough that when I hear critics of erotica saying 
that Playboy objectifies women my first assumption is that they haven't 
seen the magazine. Of course a Playmate is a beautiful woman, but in 
here the emphasis is placed on "woman" as much as the beauty, on "mate" 
as much as "play".

But as noble as this is, Playboy is not a feminist polemic. We are all 
fortunate that they do highlight the beauty and the play, and do it as 
well as Stephen Wayda did in the June, 1987 Classic Centerfold.

Mark Tomlonson
Kalamazoo MI