The Pin-Up Girl and the Purple Fan

I'm not religious or a male feminist or even a prude in some aspects of the word but I find pin-up girls and other such risque playing cards quite vulgar from an aesthetic standpoint. I understand that the world didn't always have instant access to porn on demand and that dudes and bros need a thrill on occasion but these cards are gauche. I hate them. The swimsuit and scantily clad ones worse than the fully nude because if you're going to be a pervert then go all the way.

This "The Purple Fan" card at least has some artistic merit to it despite the burlesque taint of the protruding breast and nipple. The gold arm bracelet gives off a Clara Ward vibe and the rest is classic flapper regalia so you know what you're getting with it. Even so, the colors are spectacular, the depiction well done and it is at least not raunchy. But it's still a spectacle nonetheless and since the entire point of playing cards is to play, and to openly do so in a public setting, they become detestable instruments of folly. Smut is one thing but nudity in art should at least be exquisite. Unless it's a dude and in that case just give him a fig leaf. All right, so I am a prude (and the chorus echoes: and a misogynist, too!). At least I'm not a complete troglodyte.