The Internet is changing the way people are perceived, and even how companies run. Bella Thorne is the latest Playboy cover girl and she talks about how she gets scrutinized and judged on social media. Last year Playboy decided that it would no longer feature nudity, still racy pictures, but no nudity.
The magazine launched in 1953 with Marilyn Monroe and has grown into one of the world’s most recognizable brands thanks to their sexy content, except no one really buys paper magazines anymore. Most of traffic for newspapers and magazines comes from social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram—which block your content if there is nudity. After Playboy stopping featuring nudity, their web traffic increased from 4 million to 16 million.
Bella Thorne is featured on the October issue wearing a red Bowie jacket in honor of the late singer. She also talks about how she’s had problems with social media and how people think she’s too edgy. “People often don’t want to get to know the real you; they only want to get to know the person they think you are,” she says. “For me, that means people are constantly trying to change me, every second of the day, especially on social media.”
It’s very difficult for celebrities to live a normal life, and it seems like everyone has an opinion on them. “I’m not fed up with social media—I understand it—but people like to comment on how my image is too edgy, that I’m too edgy, and on how they wish I looked,” says the 19 year old Cuban and former Disney star.
“To them I say, fuck off. There’s this effort to try to shame a woman’s sexiness by pulling a cover over it, but I’m a woman who loves skin. I love skin on me, I love skin on girls, I love skin on guys. If you’re confident enough to show off your body, you should. Be confident,” she says. Thorne looks very confident and sexy in her Playboy shoot.
“It can be difficult to get yourself to focus on you all the time, especially when you’re trying to transition into who you really are, but I’m not going to change for anybody else. I love staying true to me.”