Editor’s Notice: The views expressed on this commentary are solely these of the writers. CNN is showcasing the work of The Dialog, a collaboration between journalists and teachers to supply information evaluation and commentary. The content material is produced solely by The Dialog.
The Dialog
—
Hugh Hefner launched Playboy Journal 70 years in the past this yr. The primary problem included a nude {photograph} of Marilyn Monroe, which he had bought and revealed with out her information or consent.
Hefner went on to construct the Playboy model off the backs of the numerous ladies featured in its pages, whose magnificence and efficiency of heightened female sexuality have entertained its readers for generations.
Approaching its seventieth anniversary in December, Playboy has radically shifted. With the journal not in publication, the Playboy Mansion bought to a developer and London’s final remaining Playboy Membership closing in 2021, what’s the future for Playboy? The model is altering to maintain up with the post-#MeToo world.
Hefner handed away one month earlier than allegations in opposition to movie producer Harvey Weinstein surfaced in 2017 giving momentum to the #MeToo motion (which noticed survivors of sexual assault and harassment converse out in opposition to their abusers).
READ MORE: Intercourse, love and companionship … with AI? Why human-machine relationships may go mainstream
Lately, many have re-evaluated Hefner’s legacy and relationships with ladies. The 2022 docuseries “The Secrets and techniques of Playboy” (which aired on Channel 4 within the UK) detailed sexual misconduct accusations in opposition to Hefner from a number of ex-girlfriends, together with mannequin Sondra Theodore and TV persona Holly Madison.
Hefner and Playboy’s relationship with ladies has been difficult. Playboy was an early supporter of abortion rights, helped fund the primary rape package and was at instances an early proponent of inclusivity (for instance that includes transgender mannequin, Caroline “Tula” Cossey, in its June 1981 problem). However most ladies featured in Playboy have match inside a slim magnificence commonplace — skinny, white, able-bodied and blonde.
In the meantime Hefner’s private relationship along with his a lot youthful girlfriends reportedly adopted patterns of management and emotional abuse. Ex-girlfriend Holly Madison described Hefner as treating her “like a glorified pet” in her 2015 memoir, “Down the Rabbit Gap.”
Hefner’s passing meant he evaded reckoning with the #MeToo motion. Playboy, nevertheless, responded, releasing a assertion during which it affirmed help for the ladies featured in “The Secrets and techniques of Playboy” and referred to as Hefner’s actions “abhorrent.”
The assertion declared that the model was not affiliated with the Hefner household and can be specializing in points of the corporate’s legacy that align with values of intercourse positivity and free expression.
READ MORE: The ‘milf’: a quick cultural historical past, from Mrs Robinson to Stifler’s mother
Right now, Playboy is a really totally different firm from the one Hefner launched almost 70 years in the past. Roughly 80% of Playboy employees establish as ladies, in accordance the corporate, and its motto has modified from “Leisure for Males” to “Pleasure for All.” Shares within the firm are publicly traded and 40% of its board and administration are ladies.
The corporate has additionally moved in the direction of extra creator-led content material via its app, Playboy Centerfold. Much like subscription content material service OnlyFans, Playboy Centerfold permits subscribers to view content material from and work together with its creators, which it name “bunnies.”
On the app, creators — or bunnies — are in a position painting their very own our bodies nevertheless they want, placing the facility again of their fingers. Maybe Playboy’s future is not in serving the male gaze, however as an alternative the very viewers Hefner dismissed in his first letter from the editor:
“When you’re a person between the ages of 18 and 80 Playboy is supposed for you … When you’re anyone’s sister, spouse or mother-in-law and picked us up by mistake, please go us alongside to the person in your life and get again to your Women Dwelling Companion.”
The celebrities of Playboy’s mid-2000s actuality sequence, Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt, are additionally having fun with a resurgence amongst followers.
“The Ladies Subsequent Door” launched in 2004. The present targeted on the lives of Hefner’s three girlfriends, Madison, Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson. It grew to become E’s finest performing present and cultivated a brand new feminine viewers for Playboy.
“The Ladies Subsequent Door” was a narrative of difficult empowerment regardless of patriarchal interference. Its three feminine protagonists went from being recognized solely as a few of Hefner’s many blonde girlfriends, to celebrities in their very own proper.
They every in the end broke up with Hefner, leaving the Mansion and happening to guide profitable careers.
The present’s depiction of Madison, Marquardt and Wilkinson as empowered, fun-loving and sophisticated people, who discovered pleasure and company via expressing their sexuality was maybe what drew so many feminine followers to the present. Nevertheless, amid the women’ battle for company, Hefner retaliated.
The sequence reveals that he maintained last say in each Playboy {photograph} of the women, in addition to imposing strict curfews and spending allowances.
In Madison and Wilkinson’s memoirs, “Down the Rabbit Gap,” and “Sliding into Dwelling,” they declare that manufacturing persistently undermined them. They refused to pay them for the primary season, didn’t credit score them till season 4 and aired their uncensored nude our bodies in overseas broadcasts and DVD releases with out consent.
READ MORE: #MeToo in house: We should handle the potential for sexual harassment and assault away from Earth
Fan curiosity in “The Ladies Subsequent Door” stays robust. In August 2022 Madison and Marquardt launched their podcast “Ladies Subsequent Stage,” the place they interview earlier playmates and work together with followers. Additionally they recap episodes from their very own factors of view, unpacking their experiences of engaged on the present.
Having reached 10 million downloads as of February 2023, the success of the podcast — 14 years after the final episode of “The Ladies Subsequent Door” — speaks to the cultural legacy of the Playboy model. It additionally reveals that regardless of Hefner’s authentic editor’s notice, Playboy resonates with some ladies.
Playboy is now in a post-Hefner period, the place the imagery of girls discovered inside outdated problems with Playboy can function inspiration for others to take pleasure in their very own sexuality. Regardless of the future has for the corporate, the idea of Playboy has develop into public property — be that within the look of Playboy bunny costumes every Halloween, the recognition of cheeky Playboy brand tattoos or branded lingerie and clothes.
In a post-#MeToo period, the ladies of Playboy are talking up and taking on. With the mansion gates closed, the bunnies are lastly reclaiming the model as their very own.
Prime Picture: Hugh Hefner with Playboy “bunnies” in London in 1966.
