Amanda Beard in Playboy

No...she's not concerned. She is obviously cashing in on her celebrity status while she can. But, as the mother of 2 girls...I am very concerned. The funny thing is that both my daughters...without me saying anything... don't think real highly of Amanda. They have both called her a "skank" because of some of the choices she has made in the past. Maybe I'm old fashioned...but I think our Olympic athletes should be held to a higher standard. I think most all of us who follow our Olympic champions' lives come to view them as the girl/boys next door and we realize the strict lifestyle and overwhelming commitment they chose for years on end. And when they become an ex-Olympian and we find out they are going another route entirely thereby tarnishing "our" image, we can be shocked and disappointed. But we are only shocked because they really were these people even during their Olympic climb, we just didn't know it. And to pick a sexually-oriented magazine to get more celebrity status but in not as positive a manner, leads me to think "what was she thinking?" Why not pick something more health conscious since we all on this train now. What I hate the most is this: I hate it when athletes are on the Front Page and not the Sports Page. We do watch them fall from grace every so often. It always saddens me a bit to see this happen because they have shown us so much more in the past. Maturity is another word that comes to mind here. There's nothing wrong with posing for Playboy, but for many, it comes back to haunt them later when they try to break in to more serious work. It's just the way it is here right now. I wouldn't have posed for Playboy for three reasons: my moral fiber, privacy, and I wasn't pretty enough.

The decision to go topless on a topless beach with dozens of other topless people is totally different than a decision to STRIP for a magazine for money that will be seen by potentially millions. In your view...maybe not to Amanda. Your continued insistence this is about parenting and those of us who think Amanda's decision was not the best one are no less good parents than you are. This harping on the money angle is also irrelevant. I can't think of a single parenting situation where I'll tell my kids, "as long as the money is good, ok to bend your values." What are you talking about? I never said anything about being a better parent--nobody is a better parent than you...it's your kid. I just view it as part of parenting to override media ideals and imagery. I'm more worried about drugs in schools than my kids finding out some athlete chose to pose naked. I just don't see it as damaging and morally wrong--it's her body. It's not exatcly "Learn to Swim the Jenna Jameson Way" now is it? I totally feel the pain of Beth, and Leslie especially because they lived and fought through sexist BS in their college days and careers, I am sure. Geek, European attitudes are a little more relaxed than US when it comes to the body. I think you're confusing my opinion of how I see it and view it with your opinion of how you think we ought to see it. Regardless, I don't think Amanda needs quite the villification she's getting...and the beat goes on... :dedhorse: :dedhorse: :dedhorse:

I'm as monogamous as they come. But I don't have any problem being naked in mixed company. I lived in Germany for quite a while and used the spa complexes there on a regular basis. It was non-sexual for me and for the people around me. (You forget about being naked amazingly quickly when everyone else is as well.) I think there is a big difference between being naked and being intimate.

You've now just proven my point, she will now be lumped with porn stars as opposed to swimming stars. I suspect Jenna does it for the money also, so that's ok, it's just a personal choice. C'mon dude, I 've been informed that Jenna and Playboy are at opposite ends of adult entertainment. I don't see this as being the same thing. Some people may view it that way...it doesn't make it true. I'm not saying Amanda is wrong or right, I'm just saying "skank" is not really nice or justified, and is playing into the double standard IMHO. I'm also not of the belief that you get to try to say my values are wrong, they are different to yours. I guarantee there's things you let your kids do I won't let mine do and vice versa. Thanks all.

There is. That's why Geek was distinguishing the European nude beach scenario. And I was distinguishing between being naked in mixed company and being unfaithful to one's spouse.

And there is a difference between being naked at a spa or a beach and being naked in a sexually explicit magazine with a "come hither" look on your face. Beth. I don't expect Playboy to be much beyond nudity. I guess "explicit" to me is way more than naked. In terms of explicit vs naked bathers I agree it's different. I just don't think it's explicit--if it is I will admit to it after viewsing. Has anyone confirmed she posing naked?

There was a huge backlash when the former president of Harvard, Lawrence Summers, questioned (off the record, he thought) whether there might be differences between the sexes with respect to inate scientific ability. Why such a strong reaction? In part because of the recognition that we need to be opening doors, not closing them, for our young women. They need to be getting a message that they have more to contribute than their bodies. Of course as a parent I preach this to my daughter. But how about a little help from society at large? What happened to "it takes a village"?

Geek said: "You continue to prove the point. First, you use a porn star to justify Amanda's decision. Now, you admit she's in the adult entertainment industry. Wait, she's a swimmer, right? I can't keep it all straight - swimmer, stripper, skank - so many terms for her now, I'm sure that was her intention when she cashed the check. After all, it's only about the money." And you contnue to :dedhorse: while I begin to :yawn: and will ultimately :snore: Prove what point. That you're right? I'll admit playboy is adult entertainment. It's certainly not porn in my opinion. I don't think skank is nice or fair. I'm just not into labels and epithets on anyone just because they don't match everything I do. You're entitled to think of it what you will just don't try and say I put myself above the rest of you in the parenting stakes because of my views on role models. Keep up with the prodding though Geek, I'm sure I'll eventually snap and call you a name so you can PM the mods to get me banned. :drink: (...waits for reply mocking my username)

There was a huge backlash when the former president of Harvard, Lawrence Summers, questioned (off the record, he thought) whether there might be differences between the sexes with respect to inate scientific ability. Why such a strong reaction? In part because of the recognition that we need to be opening doors, not closing them, for our young women. They need to be getting a message that they have more to contribute than their bodies. Of course as a parent I preach this to my daughter. But how about a little help from society at large? What happened to "it takes a village"? Gull I agree with you--I just thnk there are worse evils than nudity, and damn there is a lot of sex that needs to be removed from everyday life in order to clean up village for our daughters. I would also add that in my view, without trying to appear as a smart ass that "ho, ***, ***, whore, skank" etc are not much of a benefit in this pursuit, respectfully.

:dedhorse: :dedhorse: :dedhorse: