RIP Hugh Hefner.
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Best post I saw today:
When Bowie died I locked myself in my room and listened to all his albums, today Hugh Hefner died....
When Bowie died I locked myself in my room and listened to all his albums, today Hugh Hefner died....
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Uh, foul play is suspected.
http://www.theonion.com/article/officials-investigating-hugh-hefners-death-suspect-57070?utm_content=Main&utm_campaign=SF&utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialMarketing
http://www.theonion.com/article/officials-investigating-hugh-hefners-death-suspect-57070?utm_content=Main&utm_campaign=SF&utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialMarketing
Understood. This may help: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4565862/hugh-hefners-first-wife-cheated-playboy/
I doubt he'd answer to that.
Well, Playboy was certainly an improvement over National Geographic.
Playboy made sex respectable, and it certainly linked sex to sophistication and as a natural part of one's lifestyle. It took the existing hypocritical puritanism, the wink, wink, nod, nod, say no more, and shook it by the throat. You not only had a gorgeous centerfold to drool over, you had a lot of great writing, and great cartoons, Jean Shepherd and Gahan Wilson come to mind.
It celebrated female beauty, and was relatively tame compared to Penthouse, much less Screw. Porn it was not.
Did it objectify women? Yes, but no more than fashion does. And it celebrated that women were smart and accomplished in ways that went counter to the thinking of many men. Playboy reinforced some stereotypes, but it also blew apart others.
It caused some harm, it certainly did some good. It probably caused more than a few Church Ladies to have heart attacks.
I'm grateful to Hefner for donating a very large sum of money to help save Mount Lee (site of the HOLLYWOOD sign) from being covered up by a pile of McMansions. Because of his generosity, more open space has been preserved for people to enjoy.
Playboy made sex respectable, and it certainly linked sex to sophistication and as a natural part of one's lifestyle. It took the existing hypocritical puritanism, the wink, wink, nod, nod, say no more, and shook it by the throat. You not only had a gorgeous centerfold to drool over, you had a lot of great writing, and great cartoons, Jean Shepherd and Gahan Wilson come to mind.
It celebrated female beauty, and was relatively tame compared to Penthouse, much less Screw. Porn it was not.
Did it objectify women? Yes, but no more than fashion does. And it celebrated that women were smart and accomplished in ways that went counter to the thinking of many men. Playboy reinforced some stereotypes, but it also blew apart others.
It caused some harm, it certainly did some good. It probably caused more than a few Church Ladies to have heart attacks.
I'm grateful to Hefner for donating a very large sum of money to help save Mount Lee (site of the HOLLYWOOD sign) from being covered up by a pile of McMansions. Because of his generosity, more open space has been preserved for people to enjoy.
I am not exaggerating, someone reading this thread can see how many philosophical and artistic people there are in the States among ordinary citizens. This thread can totally change someone's bias towards Americans. I just hope you've raised/are raising kids that will continue doing your job.
When I was 12 my Mom found a Playboy under my mattress. She said "I guess you're old enough for that now". I was stunned that I didn't get in serious trouble, and that my Mom could be that cool. :mrgreen:
Hef was a fellow Chicagoland guy. His bunny loomed over the skyline from his building for decades. As you know, he came from an extended family of Methodist ministers and stern believers, so though he did an effortful job of being a complete contrary hedonist, there was always a strong current of the sanctimonious and doctrinal thought, of sex to purify the soul. Once you contended with real love, physical and other dimensions, his airbrushed beauties looked like fake photographed food. Being from some of the same sources as Hef -- without any of his gift for business and self-promotion -- I saw through him early. I'm not sure he started any cultural change, but he transported it to the middle and upper-middle class and linked it to "success" of a sort. He was a shy guy, an introvert. He wanted to buy girls, and he did. I have some empathy but don't buy the image. I know where he grew up. Rest in peace, old boy. You did about as well as you could.
When I for my 13th birthday I was given a subscription to Playboy and access to the beer in the fridge. If I drank I couldn't leave. If I had friends over we couldn't drink. Times were different. Thanks Hef, for the great reading material, and the visuals.
I do not think Hef exploited women. I believe in individual accountability.
I do not think Hef exploited women. I believe in individual accountability.
Wow Tim...some thirteenth birthday present you got there!
You Yanks were lucky to get Playboy...we over here got Fiesta Magazine with its pages and pages of 'Reader's Wives' and blimey, there were some real dogs on those pages I can tell you.
However our Mayfair Magazine seems to have been more like Playboy, nothing too explicit and certainly no gynaecological images and some intelligent reading to boot...happy days :
:
Regards,
Jay.
You Yanks were lucky to get Playboy...we over here got Fiesta Magazine with its pages and pages of 'Reader's Wives' and blimey, there were some real dogs on those pages I can tell you.
However our Mayfair Magazine seems to have been more like Playboy, nothing too explicit and certainly no gynaecological images and some intelligent reading to boot...happy days :
:Regards,
Jay.
Yikes - a friend just posted some links on fb about Hefner publishing sexualized full-frontal nude photos of an 10-year old Brooke Shields, and an 11-year-old Eva Ionesco. I won't link the article where I saw them 'cause it's revolting.
So - Hugh Hefner: "a real man" and hero to all wannabe playboys, or a child pornographer? Sure, their parents are partly to blame, but so the hell is he.
So - Hugh Hefner: "a real man" and hero to all wannabe playboys, or a child pornographer? Sure, their parents are partly to blame, but so the hell is he.
Playboy was tame and as far as I know never came close to hardcore. Religionists will disagree, but given the puritanical bent of the US with the addled teachings that the body is evil and source of all misery, and the readiness of the country for a sexual shift, I must think he did the country a favor. By no means do I disagree that sex is primarily an animal act and that we lose some humanity if heart and head do not accompany the loins. Promiscuity and prudery both miss the mark. But c'mon! We won WW II, or so we are taught, but it was really Russia kicking Nazi ass after their invasion that turned the war. At any rate, the start of the American Century after WW II that turned out to be only three decades was ushered in by all manner of saluting to the flag, the continuing sexual repression just one. The 60s exploded many rigidities. Hefner's credo that hedonism should co-exist with intelligence and culture was his definition to package his magazine. From what I read he spent much of his life cavorting with the ladies, hardly the activity of one dedicated to art and the life of he mind.
The man sold magazines with nudes, but he was important by turning the sexual spigot from a trickle to a stream.
The man sold magazines with nudes, but he was important by turning the sexual spigot from a trickle to a stream.
Shields' mother took some heat over that. Nothing illegal back then, if I recall. No blame to access. I'm not defending Hefner, I simply find moral judgements interesting. Much as we smokers are social pariahs these days in the eyes of many.
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