Cheryl Tiegs appeared in this week’s episode of Family Guy and it reminded me of my earlier years.
I was seventeen when The Picture was published. It was a picture of Tiegs in a mesh swimsuit that appeared in the 1978 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. It was considered a big deal because you could see her nipples. There were actually news reports and editorials on it.
Being reminded of this by the Family Guy episode, I googled the picture (which of course was easily found online). And looking at it now, I’m amazed at how innocent it seems.
Yes, you can sort of see her nipples. And I suppose it would be commented on if somebody wore this swimsuit at a presidential inauguration or something.
But nowadays, we’re used to seeing videos of celebrities having sex (and Sports Illustrated routinely puts nude models wearing bodypaint on its cover). It’s amazing to think that thirty-three years ago it was a major scandal because a model wore a somewhat see-through swimsuit.
Considering that presidential inaugurations happen outdoors in January in D.C., I would venture a guess that you could really see her nipples if that’s all she wore…
Well, I think our expectations of Sports Illustrated have changed more than anything else. If Playboy published that photo in 1978, nobody would have said anything. If I saw a woman wearing that swimsuit at a real life non-topless beach or pool in 2011, I’d still consider it exceptionally and surprisingly revealing.
Nowadays they’d photoshop the eff out of her thighs in that. And her upper arm. And some of her hair. Fact, I don’t know why they bother using live models any more.
I don’t remember people being ‘scandalized’, but maybe I’ve forgotten. But it seems to me that we’re more prudish today about nipples and such than we were in the '70’s. I remember TV in the 70’s being filled with actresses who went braless and wore polyester shirts that caused everything to poke out. That included comedy shows - Lauren Tewes on “The Loveboat” was constantly showing off her nipples. Farrah’s poster was quite racy by even today’s standards, but teenaged boys were certainly allowed to have them by and large. Three’s Company was non-stop T&A from start to finish.
Everyone talks about the Swimsuit Issue, and of course I loved that one (the Cheryl Tiegs one especially), but I also loved the one after, which had the letters complaining about the Swimsuit Issue.
Most letters, and I mean from the less-prudish 70s, read along the lines of, “I didn’t know SI published profanity! I’m canceling my subscription!” and “You should have your magazine delivered in a plain brown wrapper!”
For all that, non-porn US magazines still almost never show a full frontal view as can be seen on page 3 of almost any respected British periodical (per my understanding). (I eagerly await arrival of my first subscription copy of The Economist . . .)
Please note that you don’t have to resort to these tactics to disable a link; just use the “noparse” tag. Then whoever wants to follow the link can just copy and paste the URL without having to fiddle around with fixing it.
Editor’s note: Eleanor Clift could quite possibly be the most asexual female EVER. Add to that the lack of an upper lip, and she has a vulture-like appearance.
I don’t really remember people being scandalized either, but then I was one of the many young women of the time who wore sheer gauzy shirts without a bra. Nipples were part of the look.
I well remember that coming out and how much of a buzz it created. However, I remember it less as being scandalous and more that we were saying “Hey, cool, we finally get to see Cheryl Tiegs’ nipples” which, for some inexplicable reason, were never showcased in her Cover Girl commercials.
