The journalists over at Esquire aren’t afraid of speaking the truth, no matter how blunt or horrifying that truth might be. It’s not every editor of a major magazine that would have what it takes to say, “The women that we feature in the magazine are ornamental. That is how we see them,” but Alex Bilmes, the editor of Esquire UK is not every editor. “I could lie to you and say they’re interested in their brains as well,” Bilmes says. “But on the whole, we’re not. They’re there to be beautiful objects. They’re objectified.”
Never mind whether or not Bilmes maybe should consider lying about this or, perhaps, change the nature his magazine’s depictions women so that the truth isn’t an ugly, unbelievable, eye-popping statement about his tragic dehumanization and exploitation of thinking people. That’s not the point. The point is, as Bilmes says, “One of the things men like is pictures of pretty girls. So we provide them with pictures of pretty girls. And those pretty girls, for that purpose, they are ornamental. We also provide them with pictures of cool cars, or whatever. It’s a thing that you might want to look at” …