WASHINGTON: Playboy will stop publishing the photographs of the fully nude women so closely associated with it, declaring such pictures have become “passe” in the Internet age where free pornography is readily available.

The decision came after a top editor of the adult magazine met its founder Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion last month, according to chief executive Scott Flanders.

Starting in March, Playboy’s revamped print edition will still include photographs of women in provocative poses.

They just won’t be nude anymore, Flanders told The New York Times in an interview published on Tuesday.

“You’re now one click away from every sex act imaginable for free. And so it’s just passe at this juncture,” he said.

It’s a remarkable move for a magazine launched in 1953 with a sultry Marilyn Monroe on its cover, breaking the taboo of showing women au naturel.

But with pornographic images now so readily available online, and accessible via a variety of connected devices, Playboy is selling less and less copies.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2015

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