NC: Yeah. I think I, like many ladies, have been reading Playboy since we were kids. You know there's always those coming-of-age movies where they show boys looking at Playboys.... All the girls looked at Playboys, too, totally.
PB: What was your impression of the magazine at the time?
NC: I just remember thinking the Playboy angle on feminism seemed a lot more human than the feminist angle. The feminist angle seemed like the most hard-line, limiting angle, I thought. It didn't sound like there was room for sexuality in it, and that's not a criticism on feminism in general, but as a result of that, I would be really hesitant to label myself a feminist. I would probably consider myself more of an individualist.
PB: Don't you think feminism has changed in the Nineties, with Camille Paglia and Madonna bringing sexuality back into feminine power?
NC: I guess I feel like when addressing sexuality, it should never be directed at just men or just women; it should always be both at the same time -- like everybody should get the same address at the same time so there's never that separation of the sexes. We're all these sexual beings, and we're all animals; please don't get rid of your instincts, because that's one of the only great things you have and that's your link to your subconscious and all the things that are pleasurable. It's just not necessary to turn yourself into a sterile saltine cracker of a human being.
PB: Did you have any favorite pictorials from Playboy?
NC: The Sherilyn Fenn one -- the black and white one back in 1990. That was great, 'cause it looked classic and old, but they didn't use stupid props to make it look like she was in a Bette Davis movie or something. She just looked natural, she had classic makeup on and she just looked good. And all the guys I talk to, that's the one everybody remembers.
PB: If you posed for the magazine, what kind of pictorial would you like to do?
