Is this our idea of beauty?

The eagerly awaited swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated hit the stands, and on the cover is a seminude photo of Israeli bombshell Bar Rafaeli. It gave a lift to every glum male office worker who saw it (if it didn't, see your doctor). But it left me with decidedly mixed feelings. Sure, ta'ava hi la'einayim, and I reacted like any normal healthy man. But is this our idea of female beauty? We are rightfully proud when Israeli cancer researchers or Internet developers score a coup. Most of us rejoiced when a female Israeli singer won the Eurovision song contest. But are we happy when a young woman, identified as Israeli, graces the cover of a popular magazine in a pose that leaves little to the imagination? Would we be pleased if our sisters or daughters were to be seen in that kind of outfit? David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister, famously remarked that we will know we are a normal country when Israeli prostitutes ply their trade in Hebrew. They do - but normalcy like that I can do without, thank you very much.
See a previous post of mine for pictures of our kind of female beauty.