This is fucked up in so many ways. Okay, first of all, I'm not putting down sex workers - I think they are in a terrible situation in which society has told them that they must be sexy, but only for the benefit of men. Really, all girls and women are in this situation. Don't you notice how everywhere you look, you're being told to be sexy, but at the same time, you're hearing that if you have sex before marriage you're a skank? Do men get the same message? It doesn't even make sense for men to be glorified for being studs while girls are called whores, because in case anybody didn't notice those men have to be having sex with someone.
In any case, back to Hugh Hefner. So there's this article in the Chicago Tribune, from just a couple of weeks ago. Let me quote a choice paragraph.
And the fullness of Hefner's vision -- the fact that it encompassed more than just provocative photo spreads -- means that Hefner and his opponents, including some major feminists, actually may have been fighting on the same side. Fraterrigo writes: "Playboy's distaste for traditional domestic roles, affirmations of women's right to enjoy sex outside of marriage, and support for women's reproductive freedom all embolden Hefner to assert, quite seriously, a half-century after starting his magazine, 'I was a feminist before there was such a thing as feminism.' "
Let's see... "distaste for traditional domestic roles... affirmations of women's right to enjoy sex outside of marriage... support for women's reproductive freedom." All sounds great, right? Yeah, maybe if you're talking about something that's, y'know, FOR women. Maybe if it's not about women outside of these traditional domestic roles just there to please guys. Maybe if it's something actually ABOUT THE WOMEN. What the fuck, Elizabeth Fraterrigo (author of the "enlightening new book" (Chicago Tribune's words) "Playboy and the Making of the Good Life in Modern America")?? So you're saying women now have a "Good Life" because their sexiness is appreciated? Well guess what, Elizabeth? Women who get pregnant are still going to be called a slut.
Taking the Playboy culture as a sign of women's empowerment -- that women are being appreciated for something besides cooking, cleaning, and babies -- is like giving up.
Once we get an inch, we're not even going to try for the mile we deserve? We're just going to take that and say "well, it's more than we got before! I'm happy being appreciated for my body!" And by the way, that's an attractive (in the eyes of pop culture) woman's privilege, to be able to take this as empowerment. Playboy doesn't celebrate all types of bodies, does it? Lizzie Miller, the "plus-sized" model (looks like a normal person to me) who sat on the cover of Glamour, would never be a Playmate of the Month. And thank god, because she appreciates her body too much for that anyway.
Pseudo-feminists need to realize already that's it's not "taking it too far" too want, y'know, actual appreciation, to not contribute to this disgusting culture in which it's considered empowered to be a centerfold for a porn magazine.
Non-existent readers, I think feminists have a way healthier view of sexuality. Everyone should appreciate themselves as a sexual being, not as a sexual object for someone else. God, I'm just pissed off now.
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