On their wildly popular Myspace page, the Suicide Girls have what seems to be a mission statement under their ‘About Me’ section: “We’re the daughters of Bettie Page. We’re a collection of over 1,000 pin up girls who are devoted to changing your idea about what makes a woman beautiful and we’re naked …”

Such cheeky interplay between the relative innocence of Bettie Page’s time and the very modern, overt focus on nudity is a theme central to the Suicide Girls philosophy.

Those easily offended by images of the naked female body might argue that it is pornography, however the photo shoots depict no sexual acts. Certainly, most of the sets are suggestive. A repeated theme shows two women with their limbs entangled in an apparent state of Sapphic ecstacy, but sexual acts themselves are only implied.

It is easier to argue in favor of the Suicide Girls as being a modern feminist phenomenon - with a naughty twist. For the sake of this argument, it must be taken into account that the models who pose for the Suicide Girls website are encouraged to take complete ownership of their shoot. They decide upon the theme, the setting, the props, the wardrobe, and the degree of nudity that they will allow. Some opt to remain completely clothed while others are comfortable bearing it all.

The models apply their own make-up and, most importantly, are not airbrushed. What fans seem to love most about the Suicide Girls is that the models are real women with real flaws. Any woman over the age of eighteen can submit an application with no prior modeling experience necessary.

The images that the models promote deviate greatly from the “Barbie Doll” appearance of mainstream models. Most are decorated with some form of body art. Some have very obvious scars. Others have unshaven armpits, and many are what might be considered TRUE plus size models. (Those in mainstream fashion magazines, while having fuller hips and larger breasts, are often not actually overweight).

The Suicide Girls concept was created by a woman. Just over half of the site’s visitors are women - many of them heterosexual. If one visits the Myspace page and scrolls through the comments listed below the daily photographs posted in the blog, one will note that a lot of those comments are from women complementing and encouraging the models. Those models who are imperfect by mainstream standards are, for the most part, celebrated by men and women alike. This certainly is in accordance with the feminist belief that a woman should love herself regardless of her perceived flaws.

While it is most certain that there are those who visit the Suicide Girls website to derive from it sexual pleasures, this does not necessarily make it pornography. Those same individuals, to fulfill those same sexual needs, might very well be staring at women’s feet on websites that are innocently selling shoes.

Nudity cannot in itself be equated with pornography. Though some might take offense at the prevalence of body art displayed throughout the site, the photos themselves are innocent in comparison even to soft-core pornography. If in spite of this, it must be labeled pornography, one must admit that it is somehow endearing and if such a word could ever feasibly be applied to pornography, only the Suicide Girls can make it fit.