'It's art, not porn': Androgynous male model Andrej Pejic on why Barnes & Noble should not censor topless magazine cover



He may be the model of the moment, but Barnes & Noble sparked a debate when they elected to censor an image of male model Andrej Pejic on the cover of Dossier Magazine 'in case customers confuse him for a woman'.

Now the androgynous beauty, 19, has spoken out about the debacle earlier this month, admitting that he didn't believe the photo should have been be censored.

In an interview with New York magazine, he said it didn't matter whether he was male or female.

Censored: Barnes & Noble demanded earlier this month that a magazine bearing a topless image of male model Andre Pejic was covered in opaque plastic

'I think the question really isn’t the gender of the person on the cover, it’s whether it’s porn or it’s art,' he explained. 'And clearly, it’s art, so art really should not be censored in a democratic society.'

He said that retailers didn't get nervous over images of bare-chested men on fitness magazines, and the image wasn't sexual in any way.

Androgynous: Serbian-born Mr Pejic's feminine looks have made him a fashion industry favourite

'But even that, I think, is irrelevant,' Mr Pejic continued. 'It’s art, so I don’t think it should be censored at all. It’s not any sort of sexual image.'

He joked that he understood why retailers may have been confused though: 'I have just been named the 98th sexiest woman in the world, so it makes the situation a little bit confusing for them.'

Earlier this month both Barnes & Noble and Borders demanded that issues of Mr Pejic's Dossier magazine cover come wrapped in opaque plastic.

The Serbian-born catwalk star, who has appeared in high-profile shows for Givenchy and Jean Paul Gaultier, appears topless on the cover of the glossy title.



But Barnes & Noble is said to have told Dossier's distributor that it would have to forfeit the order or agree to a covering concealing the image.

It said that though it understood that Mr Pejic was male and not female, 'the model is young and it could be deemed as a naked female'.

Dossier co-founder and creative director Skye Parrott told Jezebel.com that the directive came as a shock.

She said: 'We knew that this cover presented a very strong, androgynous image, and that could make some people uncomfortable. That's partly why we chose it. I guess it has made someone pretty uncomfortable.'

She added that colleagues in the industry were equally stunned.

'I've been talking to all my friends who work in magazines, and nobody I know has ever heard of anything like this happening,' she said. 'Especially with a guy. Guys are shirtless on magazine covers all the time.

Rising star: Mr Pejic is a catwalk favourite and has appeared in shows for Givenchy Haute Couture (left) as well as the label's menswear collection (right)

'[It poses] a very interesting question of gender.'

Dossier, which sells 20,000 copies per issue, says that the Barnes & Noble and Borders orders represent just under 10 per cent of its print run.

'What message are the big bookstores sending - that the male torso is only appropriate all-ages viewing when the man in question is ripped?'

But the booksellers' ruling about the cover has already sparked some negative response.

An article on Jezebel read: 'Pejic is a man. And pictures of shirtless men, in Western culture, are not considered "obscene". So why is Pejic's cover getting the same treatment as a porno mag?

'What message are the big bookstore chains sending — that the male torso is only appropriate all-ages viewing when the man in question is ripped?'

Styleite added: 'Need we remind you that a crazily buff (and pretty much shirtless) Aaron Schock graces the cover of June’s Men Health? If Andrej were muscled instead of waif-like, would this be an issue?



'More importantly, if Andrej had a more masculine face, would this be an issue?'

Rules: Barnes & Noble is said to have told Dossier's distributor that it would have to forfeit the order or agree to a covering concealing the image

Mr Pejic, who was raised in Australia, and was discovered while working in McDonalds. He has been hailed the next big thing by fashion industry insiders.

He says he is comfortable modelling both men's and womenswear and aspires one day to model for Playboy.

In an interview earlier this year, he said: 'Sometimes I feel like more of a woman, other times I feel male.

'I'm sure most people think of me as a woman. It doesn't bother me anymore and I feel fine about it... I don't consider my looks unusual.'

