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How did the illustrator get such an abstract-but-faithful-to-the-original illustration of goatse past the editors of The Economist?

That must qualify as a skilled bit of social hacking…

I don't think every illustration involving hands pulling apart something can be described as "faithful" to the original goatse.

It's not goatse. Given the curve of the bars and the placement of the downward pointing triangle,it's a abstract of a woman's torso.