REGULARS

Reader Feedback on "Surface Tension"

Interesting insight! Thanks for an inside look at what must routinely be a very difficult decision.
--
04/12

I like the covers especially the blow job shot. And so what about Maxim. Geat mag. but why compare
--sbd
04/11

To be quite honest, I hated this cover and it really cinched my decision not to subscribe to your magazine. Why oh why does it have to (for the most part) involve the same imagery seen on every other cover? Quite frankly, it's the same hetero-sexist BS I see on Maxim, Loaded and every other male-gaze oriented magazine. Yes it's a beautiful image; yes she's a beautiful girl, but gee, I have seen this before. (YAWN!) I can see this in American Photo, Sports Illustrated...or the cover of Cosmo. Is success just looking like everyone else? I know this is may be a bit harsh, but really, the art part of articulating Nerve’s image is finding talented artists able to explore that territory between the alternative image and the easily consumable, pretty photograph instead of selecting technically proficient photographers who have access to beautiful slim babes, traipsing out worn-out tropes in trendy clothing. It is indeed unfortunate that your vision of the magazine is tempered by the desires of advertisers. I think it is ultimately a grim irony to your enterprise: professing to offer alternative viewpoints of sexuality and sensuality but catering to that privileged coterie of individuals who shape that discourse to which you offer Nerve as a counterpoint. Unfortunately your images are no more relevant than the rest of these male-oriented magazines. If that is your idea of success, then I guess that's what matters.
--MB
04/09

I think you made the right choice, seeing as how you are obviously now going for the Maxim audience, both in your photography and writing. It's OK guys, just begin to accept yourselves for who you truly are becoming.
--
04/07

being a so-called militant feminist bi female, i was a bit discouraged by your cover shot. i am not arguing that the picture isn't undeniably hot and eye-catching, just that nerve use a little more thought in what you market as hot and eye-catching. i was getting a bit tired of your mag being so obviously driven by heterosexuality, with not much for gays or bis, and when i saw the the pic of an anonymous, faceless, very thin woman being watched by a man sitting in the distance, i was incensed. i considered writing some terribly cutting and caustic letter to the editor, but did not, for fear of being called another frigid feminist, therefore discounting any validity in my wariness of your cover pic. i am glad that you wrote the article explaining your choice, as i was planning on cancelling my subscription. i just suggest to you to help in the redefinition of what is deemed as hot in our society, because there are already plenty of anonymous, faceless, very thin women having their sexuality marketed all over our media. to follow along in this tradition is not particularly cutting-edge or novel, and certainly not very helpful for women.
--cat
03/30

Dear Genevieve: I am a both a cyber-nervite and a subscriber to the magazine. This latter one depresses me. Although every morning just before I start my Dilbert-type existence I go over each section and position/photo comment on the site. The zine is another story. The photos are neither eros nor thanatos. And let's not get into content. Of the two full page photos on your covers, I like the Finlandia gal more than your official cover, she is really what Nerve is about. I am scare of Nerve ("My Nerve") becoming something less than Esquire for example (see the February 2001 cover with babelicious Monica Belluci reaffirming female sexuality). When reading your dilemmas and tribulations, some times I feel like been back in Grad School and browsing through the wanna be artsy/transgressor periodicals that the art students put out from time to time. Obviously Nerve is geared towards heterosexual men, and some bisexual women, but I dont think it comes across as strong on paper as it does online. I dont know, maybe it is that in the Age of Obsession, the icons of Literate Smut need not be flesh and lace, but really literate, maybe if you put your photographers preparing for a session, or your celebrity on the cover you will get there...meanwhile, I will still rally the troops in favor of the online ("original," "pure," "classic" Nerve). Love will nerve die!!! P.S. Say Hi to Emma Jane on my behalf, I still feel she is incredibly courageous for vivisecting herself in public with her op-eds. (if you want to get my two bits for free my Nerve email is: Bramstoker@nerve.com)
--RN
03/27

Let's face it: the stripper cover has a nice composition to it. That's about all its got going for it. There's no context. No character..and last time i checked, there ain't a whole lot of personality accurately conveyed in the top 2 inches of a model-grade ass. the only thing that sets this cover art apart from that of the Maxim genre is that the woman's head has been purposely cropped out, and the visage of the onlooker-jukker-dude is a haze. Now, be this an expression of annonymity or a blatent case of objectification...well, it really doesn't matter...the effect is the same for me. detachment. Just one more thing: i think making that collect call yourself would be an act of a feminist nature...
--bb
03/14

Whenever I hear "the feminist in me is offended..." I want to reach for my gun. This thread has become a great opportunity for third-rate literary masturbators to avoid the delicious possibility of actually having to meet someone from this great, good place and fumble towards a little ecstasy. Me, I'm on my knees waiting for 'bellablunted' to collect call me so I can enslave myself between her sweet thighs. I must be a feminist, right? ;)
--cj
03/14

With all due respect, and there is an amount due for persons who in an homogenous NYC mag publishing world, produce something a bit different, Field's confessional on the cover shot selection process just seems squeamish. Make a decision and go with it. Once you put it on the cover, it doesn't matter what Ross, Rufus, or Tiberius thought.
--sh
03/13

In the photo the office titled "Blow Job" I thought the band was the belt of her strap-on. Not a blow job at all. Nevermind. Thaien
--TB
03/13

You did the right thing. The cover is killer.
--ky
03/12

Re: Cover artical; Iconic and elegant always wins. You all made the right choice.
--
03/11

Zack's point may well have been to deflate Nerve's self-image, which I suppose is all very sporting. (Golf claps from everyone, now. We've got senses of humor, don't we?) But if his point is that it's silly to "think about sex," doing it here (where they call themselves the community of thoughtful hedonists) is a bit like walking into Yankee stadium to shout about how stupid baseball fans are, isn't it? Just kind of rude and self-aggrandizing. (Ouch. Sentence fragment). But no, he really had neither the wit nor the insight to achieve something so lofty. Instead, he played amateur proofreader, quibbling over semi-colons and independent clauses; and as he was beat at each step of his own, petty game his arguements became pitiable. It was amusing to watch, really.
--dtn
03/11

I think Zack's point was to deflate the affectedness of the editorial (and Nerve's self image writ large). In any case, I thought he was dead on funny. But what had me in titters was Rufus's plan for "half a million circ." Makes me giggle even now.
--Vbs
03/10

What engaging discourse. Thanks, zack, for thoroughly undermining a lively and useful discussion with your niggling pedantics. (Uh-oh, pendantics isn't a real word! I wonder if you'll be able to intuit its meaning.)
--dtn
03/10

réellement, non, mon petit chou. adieu!
--esn
03/09

Good old Bartlett's...
--zc
03/09

"Who can refute a sneer?" -- William Paley. Oh, and also: it's spelled ROHMER.
--esn
03/09

They looked no better with the semi-colons. In fact, what you just proved is that you were backed into punctuation errors by the shabbiness of the prose. Aspirational is not in the American Heritage (which I trust over Websters). I'll have to take your word on the OED. Too bad you only remember the fruit salad. You must miss out on all the "engaged, articulate" discussion: of Rhomer and blue lights; of whether the "gaze" belongs to him or to her; of whose sexuality is being expressed; of semiotics. So much THOUGHT to be had!
--zc
03/09

Without semi-colons or serial commas, those sentences would have looked like so: "One frozen image simultaneously serves as an icon representing everything we value, everything we want readers to know about what to expect inside and our press kit. For Nerve, that means it's got to look unusual but not self-consciously alternative, beautiful but not fake and capable of surviving on the newsstand without getting lumped among the porn magazines." The first sentence could work reasonably well with only commas, but was a wee bit confusing, so I erred on the side of semi-colonial caution. As for aspirational, it appears in Webster's 3rd International Dictionary, defined as "of or relating to aspiration." However, just to be double-sure, I just asked Jesse Sheidlower, editor of the OED, your question. He said: "No, it's not a neologism. OED has it from 1887, and it's probably earlier but we haven't re-edited that batch." [In other news, my only memories of France are of vomiting fruit salad in a cafe and being terrified of the Hovercraft.]
--esn
03/09

And I take it you concede "aspirational." Zack
--zc
03/09

Too bad neither of those sentences were particularly complex or had much in the way of internal punctuation. (I'll excuse the sentence fragment at the end of the paragraph.) In the graduation to "semiotics," Nerve's house style seems to have forgotten about "syntax." All that thinking about sex, all those memories of Paris...
--
03/09

From the Chicago Manual of Style: 5.94 When items in a series are long and complex or involve internal punctuation, they should be separated by semicolons for the sake of clarity. Example: "The defendant, in an attempt to mitigate his sentence, pleaded that he had been despondent over the death of his wife; that he had lost his job under particularly humiliating cricumstances; that his landlady—whom, incidentally, he had once saved from attack—had threatened to have him evicted; that he had not eaten for several days; and that he had, in this weakened condition, been unduly affected by an alcoholic beverage." [Standard Nerve online style dictates that we not use serial commas; semi-colons were indicated for both the sentences in question. So, nyah. Love, Grad School Dropout.]
--esn
03/09

You Nerve people sure do think about sex, and what smart thoughts you have. The photos arrive from Paris (where else?) and bring memories of Eric Rhomer and the French Aesthetic. Lots of "engaged, articulate" banter follows, liberally peppered with grad school dropout words like "semiotic" and the "male gaze." Who would mistake you guys for déclassé merchants of Porn. Would pornographers, or the frat boys who read Maxim, invent words like "aspirational"? Would they be familiar with the blue light of Paris? I doubt it. Of course, they might know how to use semi-colons. Hint, they separate independent clauses. Yours, Zack
--zc
03/09

i just received the magazine last night... and after tearing open the shrinkwrap my first thought was, "damn! now that's what i call a cover!" i was, of course, first drawn to her gravity-defying breast (and the "e" imitating the shape of my growing erection), her teasing ass, and her glorious back that could only look better with a single bead of sweat running down the spine... but as i stared i found myself more involved in the situation, able to perceive its thick eroticism... the distance between them filled with desire. and the feeling became familiar, as i thought back to monday night and the woman at my feet unlacing my knee-high boots. power, when granted freely, is the ultimate aphrodesiac
--fred
03/09

Both shots are beautiful, reshoot the other one so it CAN be used for a future cover, making sure the 'halo' effect is still there. Thanks Nerve, for providing a thoughtful, inspiring place for those of us who appreciate our sexuality, in all of it's facets!
--SJT
03/08

your cover picture *works*.... i was struck by how her body lines drew the reader's eye to the page.. a full figure model in this context would mot have worked... the guy was almost incidental the way it was cropped. save the full figure model for another cover... another context... keep your creative eyes a roamin' folks mike199
--m199
03/08

p.s. as predicted by many savvy readers, the sell-through rate on this issue is *rocking* !
--rkg
03/07

as ceo / co-publisher of Nerve, i (along with the rest of the editorial staff) find the selection of a cover to be surprisingly challenging ... the cover is invariably "sheep's clothing" ... we can't cross certain lines and remain on the newsstand ... that said, this cover did crossed anatomical rubicons that its predecessors didn't and apparently landed us in the porn section of certain barnes and nobles ... meanwhile selecting a cover based on utopian hopes for a world in which people have a less contrained perception of beauty can be suicide in this extremely challenging business ... in order to change people's minds, you have to appeal the ones they already have ... the cover, one learns as a publisher, performs a very specific and critical task: it compells people to pick up the magazine on the newsstand (or not ... and permits it to be placed there in the first place ... or not) ... this imperitive supercedes the desire to accurately reflect the magazine's content ... in my opinion the insides of our issues tend to be less conventional than their covers, but we are pleased with the way both are evolving ... please keep the feedback coming ! ... rufus
--rkg
03/07

I cannot imagine a better way to kill a magazine about sex than censuring for fear of offending feminists. If that is your litmus, why not hire Andrea Dworkin as a consultant, change the name to "Ms. Nerve," and get it over with. The picture you chose was far sexier, and its mystery of motivations and relationships are far more interesting than whether the woman is heading up or down in the "blowjob" shot.
--TAS
03/07

Your cover shot sparked the same kind of debate hen I brought it to my office one night. I work with a group of artists, who are all very interseted in layout and the artistic quality of things. Most loved the cover, as I did. The slope of her back is very erotic, and I thought the guy looked more tormented than arrogant. We all loved the well-placed e. But some people, were not so receptie. One guy, for example, thought it downright pornographic, with all that butt cleavage and all. One thing though: Not a single person could pass my desk without looking, commenting, examining. Even if they didn't like it, they were drawn to it. That's what a magazine cover should do above all else, so you made a great choice. Mary Damiano
--
03/07

i think the photo looks like the backside of Cosmo. the woman appears to be performing for the man, not for herself. (how are we to know she's asserting herself when we don't see her eyes?) it's a very standard fantasy of beauty, and no more innovative than lancome. its funny, it's as if nerve ignores the fact that women become anorexic, bullemic, etc.. for the sake of that ideal. or that a passive relationship to sex, leads to victimization within the bedroom (ie. victims of rape.) don't you see that we live in a world of rohypnol, date rape, and eating disorders and the very integrity of all sexual is at stake for women? let's face it, sex today, exist in conjunction with that darkness and i thought nerve was actively involved with pushing a radical dialogue. it's not about affirming only niche tastes. it's about pushing a noble enterprise forward. where are your ideals? and why have you stopped fighting for them?
--cbg
03/07

I like the cover. As a woman,I am not offended with the way the man is looking at her. To me that comes across as a look of desire for a woman in control. I understand that Nerve wants to try to please everyone with the initial image, but the reality is that you can't please everyone all the time! I'm sure there will be covers that will not be to my personal taste. But I assure you the content inside the magazine is far more interesting than the image on the cover will (hopefully)ever be. I don't buy the magazine for the pretty cover just like I don't buy a car just because it's red. Honestly, I thought both were pretty cool photographs. I don't think you could have gone wrong either way.
--DH
03/07

A girlfriend and I used to occasionally say to each other, "Do you mind if I objectify you for a moment?" The answer was always, "Not at all." It was our playful way of prefacing some random compliment like, "You have the most fabulous ass," in an era during which such observations have been ridiculously classified as offensive. To hell with what the current sociology tells us is appropriate! It's at the very soul of romance to fall into that simplified state of desire, and to simply admire each other's physicality. And if what we're really discussing here is what Nerve is "about," I vote for soul over sociology. I love the "stripper shot" because it captures that moment between two people, one of whom wants to objectify and the other who wants to be the object. Excellent choice!
--dtn
03/06

I have to say, the cover image you went with was killer, and the alternative "blowjob shot" was, indeed, confusing and, I felt, almost a bit degrading. This was the first issue of Nerve I bought off the newsstand, and the cover cinched it right away. I've worked in magazine publishing, and I know how hard it can be to choose a cover image. But Maxim covers resemble Hustler covers a lot more than this one resembles either. Never mind that the model is completely, insanely beautiful: The image is arresting precisely because there seems to be a story here. Is she seducing him? Is he evaluating her? What's the power dynamic? No, I wouldn't want to see an image like this on every cover of Nerve, because that's not what the magazine's about. But, I also think you have to play to the market a little. This picture has accomplished the dual goal of being both intriguing and sexy, and I wouldn't be surprised if your sales figures spike. (P.S.: If they do spike and you expand operations, need an extra editor? : )
--TT
03/06

In retrospect I guess I understand the tension. Butt, for however many days I have seen that cover on the website, I have been stuck by it. I never even noticed the guy. The photo captures the act of shrugging off a skirt, which is uniquely erotic. This holds for when she is "stripping" or just changing into sweats by herself. Every woman I have know has slight variation on how they do this but there is a common shimmy that is a function of hips that all women have and it is quintessentially feminine and sublime in nature. The top cleft of a women’s buttocks is one of the nature’s finest curves and is unique in that it is beautiful across the range of body types from fat to thin.
--H
03/06

JLW, i agree with you fully. Thank you for finding the perfect words to describe the "statue", the beautiful form in itself. As i said, it's art! My english fails me once more...
--zee_
03/06

Boy did I see this cover in a different way than other people. My first sight of the cover was on the web page (I just got the hard copy yesterday) and what stuck me first was the green text. I think the color choices on the cover are fantastic, especially when put in context with the time of the year. Most of the country is emerging from a long winter and looking forward to a fresh rejuvinating spring, and those colors fit the coming of spring perfectly. The other thing that caugh my eye was not reading into the image to see a woman stripping for a man. What I saw was the amazing shape and form of the figure. The fact that her head was cropped from the image seems to force the viewer into look at the form (almost like a statue). All I have to say is that this was your best cover yet, and I thought that even before reading this article. Keep up the great work!
--JLW
03/06

If you're shallow enough to say, "relax, it's just about beauty" you don't get Nerve at all!
--fuk
03/06

This model isn't skinny...she's got a booty on her!
--dirt
03/06

Geez, come to Europe i'd say. No idea you could have so much discussion about two brilliant pictures. But then again, it's highly entertaining. When it comes to art, to hell with correctness, issues, empowerment and god knows what else. The only thing that counts is beauty alone. When i was to choose between the two for a magazine cover, i'd go for the stripper too, no doubt about it. Why? Simple. A mag cover should work instantly, like a flash (don't think this implies superficiality!). When you'd resize the pics to thumbnail poststamp size and make them B/W, you'd see the difference: The "stripper" shot still has a clear strong image, telling all: beautiful feminine curves, strong pose, arched back, strong arms. And, on top of all, a breathtaking diagonal: buttock cheeks valley opposed to a similar round breast, en profil. Forget about the guy, he is décor, nothing else. He's a bit of a loser even, for he's not lucky to see her stunning back side reveiled. The "blowjob" shot would still have the halo effect, but things are less clear here: what's she doing sitting like that, what is behind her, is that a waistband, what's that dirty white in the forefront, a man's belly?! Too many questions for a magazine cover, clearly. Still, i like both photos a lot. Transatlantic greetings,
--zee_
03/06

This is the epitome of the male gaze: clothed onlooking judging male, headless naked skinny impossibly-perky-boobed female. You couldn't get more anti-feminist if you tried. (At least Maxim and Playboy include the women's faces in their cover shots.) And, sadly, this issue of Nerve will probably sell more copies than any of your previous issues.
--BDS
03/06

A ha! I knew it looked like she was stripping for money! I don't think you can imply a woman's intentions or fantasy in a single photograph. It comes off just as any other cover does with a naked woman and a fully-clothed male onlooker. The power is with him. This is a male fantasy. She is a headless object of desire. It is, in fact, dangerous to imply the stripper's intention in a photo like this. You could do the same for any Playboy or Maxim cover and then there is no feminist ground to stand on. Bottom line: your cover is no different from Maxim and it does damage to the empowerment of women.
--xoxo
03/06

i appreciated hearing the considerations behind a what a cover looks like. when i saw the stripper cover, the feminist in me said, 'oh no, not another skinny female model! i thought Nerve would be beyond that!' i'm glad to know it IS beyond that. not that it matters much, but the blowjob is better. if for no other reason than the underwear band that doubles as a halo.
--wm
03/06

send feedback on "Surface Tension"

back to "Surface Tension"