Splicetoday

Digital
Jul 20, 2009, 08:03AM

Workin' for the traffic

Lessons from Esquire's recent Mary Louise Parker ass-shot.

Esquire has always taken a gentlemanly approach to the pin-up photo. Let Maxim grease up spray-tanned starlets. Esquire's game is to dub some top-drawer actress a "Woman We Love" (not, say, a "Woman We Ogle"), pen a purplish essay on the woman's charms, often making reference to her wits, brains, and less obvious body parts (some "cayenne hair," an exposed "right clavicle," "long, ribbony limbs," etc.), and then convince her to cavort in swimwear or lingerie.Or, in the case of Mary Louise Parker this month: In an apron. And nothing else. Our colleagues at Double X have already discussed the tush-baring photos. But I'm interested in something else: How the imperatives of "search engine optimization" have forced Esquire to drop its genteel mask and confess that—yes—it's luring horny readers by snapping women naked, just like the laddie mags. Consider the disparity between the text of the Parker article, which refers to her "long, platinum neck" and "deep, Guinness eyes," and the text in the title tag, that headline in the bar at the top of your browser window, which is what search engines like Google pay particular attention to: It reads "Mary Louise Parker Naked Photos - Mary Louise Parker Ass - Esquire." You can find similar disparities in recent pieces on Katy Perry ("gigantic" eyes vs. "Katy Perry Hot - Sexy Pictures of Katy Perry") and Anna Friel ("rainbow leggings" vs. "Anna Friel Naked - Tribe Anna Friel Breasts").

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