Tame Playboy Sparks Excitement in Muslim Indonesia JAKARTA (Reuters) - Playboy magazine may no longer rate on the sexual cutting edge in some places, but the first edition in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, caused a stir Friday. Although the pictures inside showed less skin than U.S. issues 50 years ago, copies were being passed from desk to desk in Jakarta offices, high demand was reported, and newspapers and broadcasters dwelt at length on the Indonesian issue. A leader of one militant Islamic group threatened to use force, if necessary, to get the magazine withdrawn. Like the iconic original, the Indonesian Playboy included a serious interview, in-depth articles and color pictures of women, including a fold-out. But no nipples were exposed in the photos, let alone anything approaching full nudity. "I didn't see any surprising thing in this magazine. It depends on how people interpret it. For me, no problem," Alex, a white-collar worker who did not want to give his full name, told Reuters Television. A 40-year-old housewife, Maya, disapproved. "Surely it is against the new anti-p*rnography law," she said. Condemnation also came from Chamammah Soeratno, head of the women's wing of major Muslim moderate group Muhammadiyah. "Everyone knows it's a pornographic magazine. The first edition may not have any nudity. That's a very clever move by the publishers," she told Reuters. Indonesia's parliament is debating a law to significantly tighten control of media as well as public behavior in an effort to reduce what its proponents see as p*rnography. THREAT TO EDITORS Indonesia has many magazines on news stands that go further than the new Playboy in the sexual content of their articles and at least as far in their pictures. In fact, magazine and newspaper agent Azis, 41, told Reuters Playboy was not different enough from an existing upscale Indonesian men's magazine, Matra. But even months ago the Playboy image and its Western origin had sparked protests at the mere news of plans for the Indonesian edition, despite promises of a tame version. Around 85 percent of Indonesia's 220 million people follow Islam. Although most are moderates, there is a growing tendency toward showing Islamic identity and conservative attitudes. The government is officially secular and tolerant of other religions, and pressure to make laws more in line with orthodox beliefs has been a regular source of controversy in recent years. Some militant groups have taken things into their own hands on occasion by, for example, attacking unlicensed churches and bars selling alcohol during the Muslim fasting period. "I am afraid to sell the first edition because it has been reported that the Islamic organizations would be on alert," said newsstand owner Ronni, 30, who operates near the headquarters of a hardline Muslim group, the Islamic Defenders' Front (FPI). Tubagus Sidiq, a senior leader of FPI, told Reuters: "FPI opposes (Playboy) in whatever form." "According to our commitment, if they don't withdraw it then we will act in our own way, the forceful way. Our crew will clearly hound the editors ... We even oppose the name Playboy." The government took a different view. "The laws that we can use in this case (are) whether there is a publication that violates decency. So, we need to check the content first. Just using the name is insufficient to ban it," Information Minister Sofyan Djalil told reporters. Bambang Kuncoko, a national police spokesman, said at a news conference that "the public should follow the law and must not take arbitrary actions. If that happens, the police will absolutely take legal actions." Late Friday afternoon about 20 FPI protesters, outnumbered by journalists covering them, showed up at the Playboy publishers offices, and local news radio said a representative team met with the magazine's editors. Despite regular campaigns against p*rnography, many sidewalk vendors in Indonesia stock sexually explicit movies and the country has a flourishing sex industry. Founded in 1953, Playboy has about 20 editions around the world that cater to local tastes.
I am curious what edition you can get in Bali. When I was there in the early 90's I saw more bare breasts than in Mardi Gras and Spring Break in Cancun combined.
Oddly enough, when we went there for a month in 91, we saw none. I'd recommend any resort in Playa Del Carmen if you want to see European women.
If there is anything that embodies to Islam the imperialist decadence of the West, it's Playboy. Not sure why they want to put themselves out there like that. At the next anti-American demonstration, they'll be smashing bottles of Pepsi, vandalizing McDonalds and burning copies of Playboy.
Yeah that was before the bombings. The last time I was there was in 1994 and even by then there were less women going around topless than in 1992.
Were you at Kuta Beach? That's the Aussie equivalent of Mazatlan and the first time I went there it was wall to wall topless women. When I was body surfing I got run other by a topless Dane surfing so it was litterally too the point where you couldn't avoid topless women at the beach even if you wanted to.
See we Muslims see women for the type of person they are, what they have to offer, we dont judge them by how they look or what they are wearing. We like to hear what they have to offer, what they have to say, not sneak looks down their bosoms. In short we dont treat them like pieces of meat. Why are people so distressed and restless in this country? Is it because of the "look" they must attain? Man, and you guys say we oppress women. And dont give me that baloney about women forced to wear that stuff, every Muslim women I have met has done this on their own and does it with dignity, gratification and their own pleasure. NOTE- By the above post I do not want to come across of thinking of myself as superior to you guys, since apparently that is how I post. Also I am not generalizing any of you into this group.