OPINION:
Back in the late 1970s, conservative commentator George Will wryly observed that the radical feminist National Organization for Women was made up of “mannish women and effeminate men.”
That phrase sprang to mind with the release May 18 of the 2023 edition of Sports Illustrated’s once-iconic annual swimsuit issue, whose gradual, nine-year makeover by a “woke” feminist editor is now regrettably all but complete.
The 2023 edition bears scant resemblance to the eagerly awaited SI swimsuit issues of old, which until less than a decade ago was a compendium of female swimwear modeled by lissome ladies lovingly photographed, usually in exotic foreign seaside locales.
Red-blooded American teenage boys and men looked forward to the swimsuit issue, which for most of its 59-year history arrived in mailboxes and on newsstands two weeks after the Super Bowl, intended to help take the chill out of winter, at least figuratively.
Now released before Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of beach season, the 2023 edition will leave enthusiasts cold and longing for the good old days — specifically, before 2014, when M.J. Day took over as editor-in-chief.
Ms. Day is a far cry from Jule Campbell, who helmed the annual swimsuit extravaganza from its inception in 1964 until 1996. (Campbell died Nov. 19 at age 96.)
Since Ms. Day’s takeover, the swimsuit issue has slowly but steadily transformed into another platform for the left’s self-righteous and humorless “diversity, equity and inclusion” agenda.
It’s the swimsuit issue you might expect if NOW were to produce one.
The first clue that last year’s issue had been hijacked for “woke” political purposes was hiding in plain sight. Above the masthead on the cover was the slogan “Be the Change You Want to See.”
That’s missing from the 2023 edition, but it’s still most assuredly not the change longtime aficionados of the swimsuit issue wanted to see this year.
All but gone are the days when page after page was graced by images of lithe beauties such as Cheryl Tiegs, Christie Brinkley, Kathy Ireland, Elle MacPherson, Heidi Klum and — and more recently Kate Bock, Hannah Davis and Olivia Culpo — frolicking in the sand and surf.
Radically redefining “beauty,” Ms. Day, over the years, largely has replaced traditional swimsuit models with ones who are nontraditional (to say the least), among them the euphemistically “plus-sized” (Yumi Nu), and the grandmotherly (Maye Musk, the 74-year-old mother of Elon Musk, in 2022, and lifestyle maven Martha Stewart, 81, this year). This isn’t your father’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. Apparently, it’s now your grandfather’s.
This year, there’s also a model who was seven months pregnant at the time of the photo shoot and a bald Black woman who sheared off her locks as a form of protest because “Black women are often judged by their hair.”
But thank heaven for small blessings: At least this year, unlike in 2019, there were no Muslim models draped in full-body “burkinis,” nor any tattoos or #MeToo leftist political sloganeering.
Still, it couldn’t very well be totally bereft of female pulchritude, so a few attractive swimsuit models remain in the mix, most notably returnees Brooks Nader and Camille Kostek and “rookies” Olivia Dunne and Melissa Wood-Tepperberg.
As for Mr. Will’s “mannish women and effeminate men,” the 2023 edition features not one, but two transgender “women”: German pop star Kim Petras, featured on one of four different covers, and the returning Leyna Bloom, arguably the homeliest model in the issue’s 59-year history.
The publisher of Rebel News, Ezra Levant, tweeted: “Sports Illustrated goes trans for their swimsuit issue. I guess the Bud Light ad wizards had to land somewhere.”
Petras and Bloom are nothing if not a poke in the eye of the issue’s predominantly straight male readers, who are fleeing the magazine in droves.
So are advertisers, who apparently no longer view the SI swimsuit issue as a way to reach those readers. Gone are the traditional ads for tobacco products, beer and liquor, men’s cologne, and cars and trucks.
In their place is something called “Pay for Change,” a campaign under which ad space “will go only to brands that are working to create equity, donating time and money to women’s causes, and continuing to support diversity and inclusion.”
As a direct consequence of the paucity of advertising, the cover price is $3 more than it was just two years ago. At $15.99, it has more than doubled from the $6.99 price of the 2012 edition a decade ago — before the hostile takeover and makeover.
“The 2023 Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition cover model is a biological man with fake boobs,” tweeted Wisconsin conservative activist Scarlett Johnson, referring to Petras. “I really hope men are #Done with Sports Illustrated.”
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