Sunday night was a big night for television. There was the SNL 40th Anniversary special, the NBA All-Star game, and for those on totally opposite side of the entertainment spectrum, The Bachelor. Since there was lots to watch last night, chances are you may have missed the latest episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, who asked a very important question about the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
In the segment "How Is This Still a Thing," Oliver highlighted the history of Sports Illustrated and why we shouldn't be shocked by the racy covers for the swimsuit issue.
Men have been reading Sports Illustrated, "the preferred magazine of dad's in the crapper since 1954." The magazine highlights the greatest moments in sports, but every year men look forward to the swimsuit issue and the hot, half-naked models who grace the covers.
Oliver informs us on how the swimsuit edition came to be, taking a comedic approach to some serious sexism. "The swimsuit edition was created by editor Andre Lagree to boost sales between sports seasons," the segment narrator says. "And it was a perfect expression of the '60s, a time of such rampant casual sexism, that it eventually gave birth to the sexual harassment in the work place film."
While the issue turned heads in the 1960s, it seems like today, half naked models on covers should not be so shocking. "Sure, at one point it was tantalizing to receive a once-annual printed magazine of scantily clad women. But people do not understand that they can just type 'naked ladies' into the Internet and see what Google throws at them?"
This February's cover girl Hannah Davis has received criticism for her racy photo, which includes her tugging on her bathing suit bottoms. Many say the photo is too suggestive' however Davis responded saying that a girl in a bikini is "empowering."
Oliver then asks what is really left when it comes to shocking the world to sell magazines. It seems like SI will have to feature a completely naked model to continue to get that shock factor in the future.
The segment takes a comedic spin on the norm our society has regarding women as sexual objects. Of course this is normalized because sex sells. Oliver makes a good point that people don't have to go far to find lude images of women in media.
[PHOTO CREDIT: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver/YouTube]
