Playboy Gives Women A Different Way To View Their Sexuality
Playboys’ Bunnies Protested During The ’70s Women’s Liberation Movement — A Feminists’ Take On The Sexy Publication.
I follow Playboy’s Instagram account mainly for the captions. They’re not always prolific, but more-often-than-not they share a quote from a Playmate that really gives me those empowering feel-good vibes.
As the daughter of a sex worker, I love to see women who are unapologetically getting their bags and embracing themselves while they’re at it.
Playboy to me has always been a platform that bolsters what is normally seen as a sordid industry; and I’m here for it, but has Playboy always been for women’s empowerment?
Bunnies on Strike!
On a sunny summer day in Chicago, a group of women formed a picket line. Playboy labeled it, The Day The Bunnies Walked out.
Half-dressed they slipped out of the club in their uniforms (which was against the rules at the time) to protest in the Chicago Streets. This was 1975, Playboy says: “No one had ever seen anything like it.”
It was the height of the Women’s Liberation Movement, and the bunnies wanted the right to define the boundaries between work and their private lives.
To appease the catholic church and the police, the Chicago club had imposed rules that prohibited the women from dating customers.
Women also weren’t allowed to give out their last names. The regulations protected the Playboy Club from being labeled as a brothel. And the girls couldn’t go home with the guests, either.
Keyholders meeting outside of the club with the bunnies had to log the encounter to prove nothing debauched had transpired.
Along with the aforementioned demands, the women wanted the option to be a Keyholder (members) and not just bunnies.
On that summer day the bunnies happily formed a picket line with signs reading off their demands:
“Why Are We The Untouchables?” “Bunnie Independence in 75!” “We Want To Be keyholders Too!” and “Wake Up Hef Its 75!”
Is Playboy For Feminists?
Playboy knew it was being watched closely by the church, law enforcement, and other conservatives. Meeting the bunnies’ demands would essentially challenge what was socially acceptable and put their business in jeopardy.
Playboy would need the public on their side to make any bold changes.
So the corporate office came up with a great plan to meet the bunnies’ demands. They would gain the publics’ sympathies by staging a picket line. The whole thing was a brilliantly executed marketing ploy.
Bunny approved-protests aside, Playboy holds a special place in my heart. I know… it sounds strange. Let me explain.
Growing up with a sexually liberated mother shaped me as a sex-positive feminist early on.
To me, my mother was strong, crafty, stylish, independent, and a true hustler. There wasn’t a lot of other comparable messaging about women when I was growing up.
But, when I stumbled upon a crate of Playboy magazines, a lot of things about my mom began to make sense to me.
I’m so very grateful that I was never conditioned to view sex workers as anything less than human. All women deserve respect, regardless of how they make their money. That might be an unpopular opinion, but I’ll stick by it until the end of my days.
Controversy
What makes Playboy so controversial is that it’s made for men. Even though the magazine has never shied away from discussions on race, politics, or feminism, it still sold like hotcakes because of its editorial content.
Without a doubt, many men picked up the magazine and objectified the women’s bodies they saw on its pages.
But if male customers objectify the women photographed, is that the magazine’s fault?
Former Playboy Intern, Amanda Wills, gives her feminist perspective on the provocative magazine in a gripping interview with Town & Country:
“The magazine was made for men. We know this. And many of the famed bylines belonged to men. That was the Playboy the public saw. The Playboy I saw was a masculine culture, sure, but it was also one where brilliant women were also driving the prose you read, the photos you saw, and the ads that paid for all of it. It was the women behind the scenes, not on the pages, I wanted to emulate.”
You can’t win at everything, as much as I would like it to be otherwise. Women’s bodies will be subjected to criticism and hyper-sexualization for a long time to come. But I’m glad there are brands like Playboy that give women a chance to look at their sexuality in another way, one that is empowering.
When I wrote the article, Have You Ever Question Your Reasoning for Buying Lingerie? I looked at the intimate apparel culture that shaped Victoria’s Secret branding.
Both brands (Playboy and VS) are catered toward men — but what distinctly makes them stand apart is who’s at work behind the scenes and the messages they share.
Wills’s interview paints a pretty picture of a brand that is in touch with a woman’s desires. While in contrast, VS is still struggling to adjust its marketing to ‘for women’ — as a women’s brand. That’s the difference; and why I stuck by Playboy and abandoned my loyalty to Victoria’s Secret.
