Flirty or Filthy?

Well, we’re rarely at a loss for words, but we just can’t put our finger on the correct adjective for this woman’s expression. Maybe you readers can help.

The photo was taken by Rick Meyerhoff of the Sausalito-based LaFitte 44 Maya, who recently completed a trip from Panama to the Eastern Caribbean, which meant he was battling trades for about 1,500 miles across the Caribbean Sea. He went via Jamaica, where he stopped at Port Antonio’s Errol Flynn Marina. That’s where he met Tanya. He describes her as "awesome," but didn’t explain exactly what he meant. We assume that he meant she was just a really friendly, funny and playful person in a way that only some laughter-loving Jamaicans can be.

We know a few readers might have a fit about the woman’s expression, but down in the Caribbean, where people aren’t as uptight as they are in the States, sex is joked about a lot. That is, almost constantly.

To our mind, what’s really filthy is the cover of this year’s Sports Illustrated ‘Swimsuit Issue’. While it’s obvious Tania was joking around, Time/Life is presenting cover girl Kate Upton — her 19-year-old breasts pouring out of her top and her pubic area just barely covered, while she’s smiling like the nice girl next door — as a serious role model of health and vitality that young girls and women should aspire to. Right. If you’re a photographer, you’ll notice that the shot was taken, as many recent swimsuit issues photos have been, at crotch level, forcing the viewer to focus attention on the young woman’s pubic area. Very slick, very subtle — and we think extremely nasty in a subversive way.