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Hugh Hefner launched Playboy Magazine this year 70 years ago. The first issue included a nude photo of Marilyn Monroe, which he purchased and published without her knowledge or consent.
Hefner continues to build the Playboy brand on the countless women who appear on the pages of this magazine, whose beauty and ability to express highly feminine sexuality has delighted readers for generations. .
Coming to its 70th anniversary in December, Playboy has changed completely. With the magazine out of print, Playboy Mansion being sold to a developer, and the last remaining Playboy Club in London closing in 2021, what is the future of Playboy? Brands are changing to catch up with the post-#MeToo world.
Hefner died a month before charges against film producer Harvey Weinstein surfaced in 2017, giving impetus to the #MeToo movement. sex offenders speak out against their abusers).
In recent years, Many people have re-rated Hefner’s legacy and relationships with women. The 2022 documentary series “Playboy’s Secrets” (aired on Channel 4 in the UK) detailed allegations of sexual misconduct against Hefner from several ex-girlfriends, including including model Sondra Theodore and television personality Holly Madison.
Hefner and Playboy’s relationship with women is complicated. Playboy is a early supporters about abortion rights, help fund the first rape series and sometimes a early proponent of inclusion (e.g. the introduction of transgender model, Caroline “Tula” Cossey, June 1981 issue). But most of the women who appear on Playboy fit narrow beauty standards – thin, white, fit, and blonde.
Meanwhile, Hefner’s personal relationships with much younger girlfriends are said to be model follows emotional control and abuse. Ex-girlfriend Holly Madison describes Hefner treating her “like a glorified pet” in her 2015 memoir, “Down the Rabbit Hole.”
Hefner’s departure means he’s not taking into account the #MeToo movement. However, Playboy responded, releasing a declare which affirms support for the women featured in “Playboy’s Secret” and calls Hefner’s actions “disgusting”.
The statement states that the brand is no longer affiliated with the Hefner family and will focus on aspects of the company’s heritage consistent with the values of positive sexuality and freedom of expression.
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Today, Playboy is a very different company from the one Hefner founded nearly 70 years ago. According to the company, about 80% of Playboy employees identify as women, and their motto has changed from “Entertainment for Men” to “Fun for All”. The company’s shares are publicly traded, and 40% of the company’s board and management are women.
The company has also moved towards more creator-led content through its app, Playboy Centerfold. Similar to the content subscription service OnlyFans, Playboy Centerfold allows subscribers to view content from and interact with content creators they call “bunnies”.
On the app, creators — or bunnies — can sculpt their own bodies the way they want, empowering them. Perhaps the future of Playboy no longer caters to the male gaze, but instead the very audience that Hefner dismisses in his book. first letter from the editor:
“If you are a man between the ages of 18 and 80 then Playboy is for you… If you are someone’s sister, wife or mother-in-law and picked us up by mistake, please pass us on to the man on the page. your outfit. life and back to your Ladies Home Companion.”
The stars of Playboy’s mid-2000s reality TV series, Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt, are also gaining fan following.
“The Girls Next Door” was released in 2004. The show focuses on the lives of three girlfriends of Hefner, Madison, Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson. It became E’s best show and attracted a new female audience for Playboy.
“The Girls Next Door” is a story of complex empowerment despite patriarchal intervention. Its three heroines went from being known only as some of Hefner’s blonde girlfriends, to celebrities in their own right.
They eventually parted ways with Hefner, leaving the Mansion and continuing to lead successful careers.
The film depicts Madison, Marquardt, and Wilkinson as empowered, fun, and complex individuals who find joy and self-determination through the expression of their gender is perhaps what attracts so many people. Many female fans came to the film. However, in the midst of the girls vying for representation, Hefner retaliated.
The series sees him have the final say in every picture Playboy takes of the girls, as well as imposing strict curfews and spending subsidies.
In Madison and Wilkinson’s memoirs, “Down the Rabbit Hole” and “Sliding into Home,” they argue that the production process has always weakened them. They refused to pay them for the first season, did not give them credit until the fourth season, and aired their uncensored nude bodies on foreign broadcasts and released DVDs without agreement.
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Fan interest in “The Girls Next Door” remains strong. In August 2022, Madison and Marquardt launched the “Girls Next Level” podcast, where they interviewed former playmates and interacted with fans. They also summarize the episodes from their own point of view, unpacking the experience of working on the show.
Reaching 10 million downloads as of February 2023, the podcast’s success — 14 years after the final episode of “The Girls Next Door” — speaks to the cultural legacy of the Playboy brand. It also shows that despite Hefner’s original editor’s notes, Playboy still resonates with some women.
Playboy is currently in a post-Hefner era, where images of women found in old issues of Playboy magazines can be an inspiration for others to enjoy their own sexuality. Regardless of the company’s future, the Playboy concept has become a common asset – be it the appearance of Playboy bunny costumes every Halloween, the popularity of cheeky Playboy logo tattoos or clothing. branded underwear and clothing.
In the post-#MeToo era, the women of Playboy are speaking out and taking over. When the mansion’s gates close, the bunnies finally reclaim their own brand.
Top image: Hugh Hefner with the Playboy “bunnies” in London in 1966.
