Bachelors and Bunnies

by Pitzulo, Carrie

• ISBN13: 9780226670065
• ISBN10: 0226670066
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-05-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

For a lot of people, thoughts about the sexual politics ofPlayboyrun along the lines of what Gloria Steinem reportedly once told Hugh Hefner: "A woman readingPlayboyfeels a little like a Jew reading a Nazi manual." Hefner's magazine celebrates men as swinging bachelors and women as objects of desire; ergo, it's sexist. Not so fast, says Carrie Pitzulo. WithBachelors and Bunnies, she delves into the history of the magazine to reveal its surprisingly strong record of support for women's rights and the modernization of sexual and gender roles. Taking readers behind the scenes ofPlayboy's heyday, Pitzulo shows how Hefner's own complicated but thoughtful perspective on modern manhood, sexual liberation, and feminism played into debatesboth in the editorial offices and on the magazine's pagesabout howPlayboy's trademark "girl next door" appeal could accommodate, acknowledge, and even honor the changing roles and new aspirations of women in postwar America. Revealing interviews with Hugh Hefner and his daughter (and laterPlayboyCEO) Christie Hefner, as well as with a number of editors and even Playmates, show that even as the magazine continued to present a romanticized notion of gender difference, it again and again demonstrated a commitment to equality and expanded opportunities for women. Offering a surprising new take on a twentieth-century icon,Bachelors and Bunniesgoes beyond the smoking jacket and the centerfold to uncover an unlikely ally for the feminist cause.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Introduction: Playboy: The Sassy Newcomer	p. 1
The Womanization of Playboy	p. 13
Inventing the Girl-Next-Door: The Pulchritudinous Playmates	p. 35
Selling the Dream: Playboy and the Masculine Consumer	p. 71
Lack of Love Is a Tragedy: Playboy and Romantic Values	p. 104
The Battle in Every Man's Bed: Playboy and the Fiery Feminists	p. 127
Feminism, the Playboy Foundation, and Political Activism	p. 150
Conclusion	p. 168
Notes	p. 181
Works Cited	p. 221
Index	p. 233
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