BATON ROUGE, La. — Playboy’s scouts came to Baton Rouge in March 2007 looking for LSU students to pose for its “Girls of the SEC” issue.
Whitney Leigh, history and secondary education senior, and Terri Lynn Farrow, general studies senior, were both selected for the issue that hit newsstands last week.
The decision to pose for Playboy was not difficult for Leigh.
“Playboy’s something that I’ve always wanted to do, but I never really knew how to get into it,” Leigh said. “I saw an ad in The [Daily] Reveille that said they were here, and I went and interviewed. I had such a great experience interviewing that when they picked me, it was something that I immediately embraced.”
For Farrow, posing nude was an expression of gratitude.
“I look at [posing nude] as an expression of my freedom,” Farrow said. “I live in this amazing country … and I’m free to do whatever I want. There are people right now fighting for my freedom so I wanted to take advantage of that. Almost kind of to show them homage.”
Both Leigh and Farrow said they have gotten the most support from those closest to them.”My fiance … was a little hesitant at first, but that’s a normal response,” Leigh said. “He’s been wonderful throughout.”
Farrow said the attitudes of friends toward nude modeling have changed since she did the shoot.
“Prior to the shoot, [one of my friends] was a little apprehensive about it,” Farrow said. “Now that she’s seen a Playboy and realized just how tasteful it is and that we weren’t taken advantage of … we’ll be in McDonald’s, and she’ll tell the girl behind the counter.”
While some people might stereotype women who pose nude as relaxed or party animals, Farrow argues she couldn’t be further from that stereotype.
“If I would have heard about this being younger, I might have had a misconception too,” Farrow said. “But the fact is, I’m in an extremely long-term relationship … you might see me at a bar twice a month. I’m actually more of a hermit than anything.”
Leigh compares posing nude to the progression of art through the ages.
“If you look back at art from the Renaissance … they painted nudes,” Leigh said. “If you look way back at when people worshiped multi-gods, they had fertility statues. It was an embraced art form. I look at it today as an expression of my female body and the female form and how beautiful and classy, yet sexual, it can look.”
Both Leigh and Farrow said their plans for the future have not changed.
“I’m an entrepreneur, and I already own my own business,” Farrow said. “It’s not going to be affected at all.”
Leigh, who plans to teach after graduation, said her dedication should overshadow any negative images the Playboy shoot might have given.
Both women modeled before Playboy. Leigh has modeled since she was five years old, modeling clothing for magazines and catalogs. Farrow was Louisiana’s Miss Hawaiian Tropic, and she also has done work for Maxim. Both said they saved nudity for Playboy.
“I had never done anything nude, and I would actually reserve doing nude work only for Playboy,” Leigh said.
Dean of Students K.C. White said there will be many opinions about the women who chose to pose for the SEC edition and how their involvement reflects on the University, based on the LSU Commitment to Community.
“As a member of this community, I ask, do these actions help to hold myself and others to the highest standards of academic, personal and social integrity?” White said in an e-mail. “As stated in the Commitment to Community, the continued success of LSU depends on the faithful commitment by each community member to these, our basic principles.”
University students had mixed reactions to the issue’s release.
“It’s just two people’s decisions,” said Zachary Keller, English and philosophy junior. “I don’t think it reflects that much on the University.”
Other students felt more strongly about the University being affiliated with a Playboy spread.
“It doesn’t put the best taste in my mouth when I flip to a page and realize that everybody’s going to look at this picture and say, ‘That naked girl goes to LSU,’” said Chelsea Pierce, psychology junior.
Leigh, who met Farrow for the first time at the Playboy shoot, said posing in the “Girls of the SEC” issue should not reflect badly upon the University.
“If people think this is a negative reflection on LSU or that LSU has all these women running around naked … it’s not true,” Leigh said. “I’m a very good student. I don’t think it necessarily reflects on anything to do with LSU. That’s me personally, that’s who I am, and that’s how I would like to express myself.”
Farrow said there are other things than posing nude that could reflect worse upon the University.
“I’m not at Fred’s on the bar doing body shots on somebody,” Farrow said. “I’m not in the clinic getting treated for something that might be negative. I am such a good girl. Yes, I took off my clothing for Playboy, but I’m at home and I study. I feed feral cats. Just look at the person before you judge the cover.”