Ed Board isn’t sure why a woman taking her clothes off seems to get everyone so riled up.

Playboy’s trip to Dallas isn’t the beginning of some great moral decline. It isn’t even the beginning of a small one. It’s Playboy trying to stay in (the smut) business. Though the publication may seem a little unsavory to most, Ed Board thinks it ranks behind crime, the war in Iraq and possibly taxes on the list of things to worry about.

If 18-year-olds want to pose nude for a magazine, what right does anyone have to stop them?

No one is forcing persuadable young minds to buy the magazine in bulk. But like it or not, there is a sizeable market (ironically enough, especially in conservative states like Texas) for adult entertainment. If you disagree, just try driving along any Texas highway for more than an hour.

Playboy is not child pornography. Women of age should be reasonable enough to think out the consequences of their actions and accept them. And women should consider what posing in Playboy means – would you be willing to explain the situation if it came up in a future job interview? Or if your future kids or spouse asked you about it?

All that aside, the problem here isn’t Playboy. It’s a societal one. Women are forced to walk a very fine line between being considered sexy, thin, attractive and feminine and being considered slutty.

It’s all well and good to stand on a pedestal and rant about the decay of the American moral fiber. But why are we blaming the women and the magazines? Someone is buying the product – and Playboy’s been in business for the better part of a century, so it’s no passing fad. Are men afforded some sort of protection from judgment because their part in the smut process is an anonymous one?

Moreover, our society’s irrational fear of nudity speaks volumes. Nudity – airbrushed or not – is hardly something that everyone should be ashamed of. Why is it so hard for people to accept the reality that, underneath our clothes, we’re all naked? Attaching a dirty connotation to the natural human form seems outlandish.

This problem also seems to be unique to America. In a world where topless sunbathing is the norm, many cultures laugh at our prudishness. In Europe, pornographic magazines are sold on newsstands everywhere – without a paper bag hiding the cover.

And somehow, life continues.

Given all of the problems in the world, getting naked for a little money hardly seems like an issue to get in an uproar about. Especially when SMU isn’t sanctioning or condoning Playboy in any way. SMU is an independent university, one that encourages moral actions but doesn’t go into a Nazi-esque hissy fit à la Baylor if (gasp!) someone makes what they think is a mistake.

Let’s just stop judging each other and get on with our lives. Because – in the long run – Playboy should be a non-issue.