In a first for the German version of the worldwide magazine, Playboy has selected Giuliana Farfalla as the cover model for this month's issue. Farfalla is known to fans of reality TV and casting shows.
Image: Playboy/Christopher von Steinbach
Advertisement
Transgender models on magazine covers
Transgender models on magazine covers are no new phenomenon in an increasingly diverse world. These athletes and actresses have already hit the newsstands with a splash.
Giuliana Farfalla, German Playboy
A first for the German edition of Playboy: Reality television star and model Giuliana Farfalla made it to the cover of the magazine, published a week ahead of her appearance in the show "I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!" The 21-year-old also appeared on "Germany's Next Top Model" in hopes to "encourage other transgender and transsexual people," she said.
Image: Playboy/Christopher von Steinbach
Caroline 'Tula' Cossey, Playboy
Playboy's first-ever transgender model, Caroline "Tula" Cossey, starred in a pictorial feature in 1981 (the above picture shows her on a later cover, from the 1990s). She, too, was fighting for recognition transgender rights. Hugh Hefner's son Cooper, now the creative director of Playboy Enterprises, said featuring transgender models was "the right thing to do."
Laverne Cox, Time Magazine
A trailblazer for the transgender community, Laverne Cox became the first openly transgender person to appear on the cover of Time magazine in 2014. Cox is known to a wider audience for her role as a trans woman prisoner, the hairdresser Sophia Burset, on the popular Netflix series "Orange is the New Black."
National Geographic special issue on gender
Featuring a nine-year-old transgender person on its cover, the January 2017 special issue looked at how young people from around the world, "old enough to have sage views on gender," are affected by gender issues. The issue also examined challenges for girls today — including anonymous bullying and body-shaming — and how "society makes a man."
Caitlyn Jenner, Vanity Fair
Former Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner publicly announced the name change to Caitlyn and her identity as a trans woman in a July 2015 Vanity Fair cover story. She also starred in the docu-series "I Am Cait," which documented her gender transition and subsequent new life as a woman.
Amelia Gapin, Women's Running
In July 2016, marathon runner Amelia Gapin was featured on the cover of Women's Running. "Being a transgender woman on the cover of a magazine dedicated to women says people like me are not just being seen, but being seen for who we are," she told the magazine in an interview. "It's a feeling of acceptance, inclusivity and being welcomed."
Hari Nef, Elle UK
Featured on the cover of Elle UK in September 2016, US actor and model Hari Nef would rather not be defined by gender. "'In an ideal world, I wouldn't have to change my body," she told the magazine. "I wouldn't have to do all this stuff, I wouldn't have to be pretty, or 'feminine' and people would respect that."
Valentina Sampaio, Vogue Paris
Vogue Paris put a transgender model on its cover for the first time in March 2017: Brazil's Valentina Sampaio. "The day when a transsexual poses for a magazine cover and it will be no longer necessary to write an editorial on the subject, we will know that the fight has been won," said the fashion magazine's editor-in-chief Emmanuelle Alt.
Ben Melzer, Men's Health Germany
Muscle-packed arms, a six-pack and a beard: Ben Melzer, the first openly male transgender model to star on the cover of Men's Health, also hopes he can change attitudes. He underwent the change from woman to man at age 23. He's now, he says, "the person I always wanted to be." He wants to be an example for others who feel they were "born in the wrong body," adding, "it is 100 percent worth it."
9 images1 | 9
The latest German edition of Playboy magazine will be the first to feature a transgender model on its cover. It comes on the heels of the US edition showcasing its first transgender centerfold, French model Ines Rau, in November. The model, Giuliana Farfalla, is known to viewers of Heidi Klum's "Germany's Next Top Model" and will star in the upcoming season of the German reality TV show "Jungle Camp."
Farfalla, who was born as Pascal Radermacher in Breisgau in southwestern Germany, says she wants to be successful as a woman rather than as a transgender model. Feeling as if she had been born into "the wrong body" as a child, Farfalla decided to change her gender at the age of 16. She says she wants to encourage other transgender people with her success.
'Opposed to all forms of exclusion and intolerance'
Playboy's editor-in-chief for Germany, Florian Boitin, says that 21-year-old Farfalla is a "wonderful example of how important the fight for self-determination is." He also says that the decision was made in the spirit of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, who was "resolutely opposed to all forms of exclusion and intolerance."
Hefner, who died on September 27, was indeed a staunch advocate for sexual freedom, civil liberties and LGBT rights. He himself made the decision to feature British transgender model Caroline "Tula" Cossey back in 1981 and again in 1991. Cossey, whose long battle for the right to be legally recognized as a woman led her all the way to the European Court of Human Rights, has said that she was deeply thankful to Hefner for helping her cause.
'The right thing to do'
Hefner's son Cooper, who is now the creative director of Playboy Enterprises, said that featuring transgender models was "the right thing to do," adding: "We are at a moment where gender roles are evolving."
