Actress/model/DJ Pathy DeJesus becomes Playboy magazine’s Brazil edition’s tenth black woman to cover the magazine in 41 years

Note from BW of Brazil:Well, there’s a few ways to interpret this news. Seeing that Playboy magazine’s Brazil edition has only featured nine black women on its covers since its inception over 40 years (and nearly 500 issues) ago, one could say that featuring a black women on a cover each of the last three years represents progress. With Ivi Pizzott featured on the cover back in May of last year and Aline Prado on the cover back in February of 2014, the arrival of actress/model/DJ on this month’s cover in some ways sets a record for Playboy Brasil. But even with three black women in three years, representation remains miniscule. 

On the other hand, we must ask, given that Afro-Brazilian women have long complained of being represented as only sexually available bodies or domestic servants, should a Playboy cover even be considered as advance? If the objective is influencing an already overtly sexualized society to think of black women beyond the sexual/sensual, what does it say when a black woman IS featured in the cover? As we’ve seen in following the image of black women and women in general in Brazil’s media, it seems that black women must be willing to have cosmetic surgey to diminish their blackness in some way, adapt themselves to certain Eurocentric aesthetics (hair straighteing, wigs/weaves, blond hair bleaching) or present sexual/sensual images of themselves to attain mainstream success. Thus, in the end, the question is, do black women undermine their own demands when they do such things? However you see this issue, below we present Pathy Dejesus as the latest Afro-Brazilian woman to cover Playboy Brasil. 

By Raquel Souza with information courtesy of O Dia, O Fuxico, O TV Foco and Portal do Zacarias

Pathy Dejesus sensualizes in the making of nude shoot for ‘Playboy’

DJ illustrates the anniversary edition of men’s magazine

Playboy magazine reported, on Tuesday, the making of the nude shoot of the actress and DJ Pathy Dejesus, illustrating the publication’s anniversary edition. Pathy is the first black woman to grace the cover of the magazine in an anniversary edition.

Pathy De Jesus covers the anniversary edition of Playboy

“I have a curious history of breaking barriers: first black woman on a shampoo label, to star in a sunscreen campaign, beer campaign ad, and if you do the research maybe there are more things,” Pathy said in an interview with the magazine..

At 39, Pathy has on her resume, novelas (soap operas) like Avenida Brasil and I Love Paraisópolis in addition to having worked as a reporter for Vídeo Show. In the pictures posted on Playboy’s Facebook page, Pathy shows all her sensuality and gives a taste of how the photo shoot was, which has a theme linked to parties. The layout was snapped by photographer Jacques Dequeker and her name was announced by the magazine’s representatives on Monday (August 8th).

Playboy shows three cover options with Pathy Dejesus
Publication give the opportunity for the reader to choose

The actress, who will be the first black woman to stamp a commemorative edition of the magazine, posed for three covers and the reader can choose which one will be on newsstands celebrating 41 years of the brand.

In two of the pictures, Pathy was at ease and did a daring topless pose for the lenses, one of them smiling. The third option is a cleaner version in white lingerie. To vote, just go on the Playboy website and choose your favorite.

“Over the years, fewer than 10 black women have appeared on the cover. We want to improve the society in which we live. Playboy has a beautiful history and, in its beginnings, Hugh Hefner insisted on uniting blacks and whites in the American states where it was considered a crime. For us it’s a motive of happiness to take this step and have Pathy Dejesus as the top star of this issue that is so important to us,” says the publisher André Sanseverino.

The change in editorial policy was another factor that won over the actress. “It’s a good thing there was this makeover of the magazine, I feel represented. It was not just my pretty face and my little body that brought me here. It is the ‘body of work’ and that’s what makes all the difference for me,” said Pathy Dejesus, talking about the publication.

“I’m even scaring myself,” says Pathy Dejesus about the repercussions of the Playboy cover

Pathy, 39, didn’t imagine the level of the impact that her photo shoot would have.

“It’s even scaring me. We forget the power that the name Playboy has, right? The magazine ended, came back (1), and the impression it gives is that nothing happened. It’s still a success,” she said.

Pathy revealed that she made some changes in her routine because of her fans. “They’ve seen me naked, right? So it’s so good that the commotion has increased. Some people didn’t know me, and I am a person who likes to ride the subway, going to the fair, bicycling … But I reduced this because the harassment increased a lot. It’s difficult to go out on the street. And the black public, especially women, are praising me. That’s great,” she said.

Playboy (Brazil) and I are almost the same age. And that road traveled for me here, I look back and I’m proud, I look forward and see a lot to conquer yet! Follow the ball,” reinforced Dejesus who has also starred in editorials in major fashion and beauty magazines in Brazil.

Pathy said that to do a nude shoot, she needed the approval of her parents. She says they’ve seen the magazine and loved the result. “I asked my father and mother to do the magazine, I’m one of those (types). And my biggest fear was if they had seen and approved the shoot. They loved it. I was very scared when my father saw it. I wasn’t even with him at the time (laughs). I told him to send me a Whatsapp only afterward,” said the presenter, enjoying herself.

Source: O Dia, O Fuxico, O TV Foco, Portal do Zacarias

Note 

1. Reference to the fact that in November of 2015 it was announced that Playboy Brasil would end its publication with its last issue in December. Less than a few weeks later, it was annouced that the magazine would re-emerge under a different publisher. Previously the magazine was published by Editora Abril. It has since been taken over by PBB Entertainment.