Dear Editor,

In a day and age where we as a nation are concerned about the image that we convey regarding our young women; the Point Pleasant Register places on the front page of its newspaper a story concerning a graduate of Point Pleasant High School becoming a Playboy “Playmate of the Month.” From the tone of the story, this is something to be desired as it is quoted, ”Being a Playmate has always been a dream of mine.”

In order for a young lady to become a “Playmate”, she must appear nude and usually in very provocative poses. The story goes on and comments about her academic achievements, suggesting that because of her nude appearances she has been able to reach admirable goals. Does this indicate that the end justifies the means? By placing such emphasis on said story, I believe we are saying to our young girls, “go ahead, sex sells, and do what is necessary to get ahead.” Are we suggesting that it is okay to become a celebrity by any means?

The Point Pleasant Register is saying to all the young girls, ‘look at this playmate, she is your role model; start taking your clothes off and getting your picture taken, you could be the next “Playboy” playmate of the month’.

That is not the message that I want my granddaughters receiving. And from the discussions that I have had with some very prominent people of this community, it is not the message that they want our local young girls receiving. I feel that it would be appropriate for the Point Pleasant Register to run some type of retraction and apology.

In deepest concern,

Wendell Smith

Grandfather of three granddaughters (eight total)

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Editor’s note: As editor of the Point Pleasant Register, I considered your stance prior to publishing the story about the Playboy Playmate. However, upon careful consideration, I decided that anything that might be considered questionable about the story and its place in our publication is misguided. The Register reported on the facts of a young woman’s appearance in a national publication. Regardless of which publication — Time, Playboy, Newsweek, Red Book, Cosmopolitan or The National Enquirer — a local person featured in such a widely read magazine certainly constitutes news. It is not the intention of the Point Pleasant Register to postively promote or negatively judge the woman featured. It was solely our goal to relay the news. It is the job of parents, grandparents and other mentors to utilize such news as an opportunity to have open conversations with our youth about these topics. Perhaps other readers do agree with you that the article should not have been published, but others might view the story in an entirely different and positive way. The bottom line is that The Point Pleasant Register simply relayed the news. We neither condone nor disapprove of the subject matter. That is the job of our readers.