Hugh Hefner is cool? Why??

In My Humble Opinion
1

He’s a f***ing pig. A dirty old man. A misogynist and little more than a rich, martini-swilling male slut. The only reason I can imagine that he’s so beloved by and popular among celebrities and movie stars is, he throws big parties and invites them. (A lousy reason for real popularity, IMHO.)

In the video that I post a link to below, Hefner is quoted as saying that women “ARE sex objects”. No qualifications to that statement, no mitigating nuance or context. They ARE sex objects, in Hefner’s world. What’s worse, seemingly just because it’s Hef, the female pundit on this film clip actually defends this grotesquely chauvinistic statement of his! <satirical paraphrase> “But Hugh’s so…he’s so COOL! So his sexism is A-OK. Am I right, my fellow baby-making c**dumpsters?” </sp>

No doubt some Dopers (mostly males, I reckon) will offer Hefnerian apologetics along the following lines:

  1. The P***y Defense:

“Hef really IS cool! He’s da Man! What I wouldn’t give to have even half the p***y he’s had in his life! Ergo, it’s OK.” (Corollary argument: “You’re just jealous 'cause you can’t get laid like he does!”)

  1. The Capitalist Hero Defense:

“Yeah, he might be a misogynist pig, but he’s worked hard and created an empire all his own. Let 'im be. Let 'im fly his freak flag if he wants. He employs a lot of people, so his sexism and insults towards women are OK.”

  1. The Tongue-In-Cheek Male Chauvinist Pig Defense:

“But women ARE just sex objects! Whassa problem??”

Now, I don’t have any problem with Playboy magazine, or the culture and lifestyle it promotes. In fact, I don’t really have much of a problem with pornography at all, whether soft-core or hardcore (beyond finding it tacky–if both men and women want to exploit each other, for different things and/or different reasons, let 'em knock themselves out). But Hugh Hefner has always struck me as little more than an over-sexed male pig, who for some inscrutable reason is beloved of seemingly damn near everyone in our society, no matter how misogynist he really is.

I guess if you throw big and fancy enough parties, decency, ethics, and respect for women just don’t matter.

2

Yawn. Sorry if I can’t be bothered by your righteous indignation, but I have a woman I’d rather be fucking.

3

I’m a woman who is all about my right to be treated equally, etc. and so forth. But what you seem to be forgetting is that the women that he’s objectifying (since that’s what we’re talking about in the OP) want to be objectified**. If a woman wants to take her clothes off for a magazine, rock the fuck on. How about this? Hugh Hefner is giving women an outlet to take control of their sexuality and do with it what they please. Hugh Hefner is giving women a forum to be sex objects if that’s what they wan to be.

As feminists, we need to remember that the point of the movement is that women can do what they want. We need to step off and stop judging each other so goddamn hard. So what if someone wants to tee hee hee around a pool all day in Hollywood, posing naked, and doing whatever it is Playboy girls do. Just because I wouldn’t do it, doesn’t make it wrong.

So there. Hugh Hefner is cool because to me, he was the guy who made female sexuality a more mainstream subject, something not as taboo. And yes, I’d classify posing naked as an aspect of female sexuality, if that’s what a female wants to do. Is Hefner the only pornographer? Of course not. He isn’t the only, he wasn’t the first. He’s just one of the most famous.
**I’m not putting some judgment or value on a woman who takes her clothes off. I actually have nothing against such life choices. “Objectified” and “object” etc have a heavy connotation.

4

Nope.

His quote was that ALL women are sex objects.

5

Hefner isn’t a misogynist. He made a simple statement of fact. If women weren’t sex objects there wouldn’t be a human race. It’s just that simple. But apart from that Hefner has done a great deal to liberate and empower women and release them from the notion that “good girls don’t.” He’s always readily employed women, and many of them hold key positions in his company. He’s an honorable guy with a lot of integrity. He’s also polite and extremely personable and has very good relationships with almost all his ex-girlfriends. And in the magazine business he’s very highly regarded for his editorial talents, with one publisher (sorry, I don’t remember which one) once stating that while Hefner is famous for his Playmates and bedmates, what he really is, is the best magazine editor who ever lived. He’s always been honest and up front with his bedmates and girlfriends and feels that dishonesty is one of the greater moral failings. And he doesn’t swill martinis; to the extent he drinks, he limits himself to no more than an ounce of bourbon a day, usually mixed with Pepsi (Gag!) I don’t like a lot of the societal changes that he and his magazine have had a hand in creating, but the fact of the matter is that he’s a very smart, engaging and personable guy with an extraordinary record of accomplishment, socially, sexually and personally.

Frankly, it sounds like you know virtually nothing about him. Even the “martini swilling” image dates back to the sixties. I’d suggest you do some investigating and read up on him somewhat and see if you don’t change your mind. He has played a considerable role in the fact that women are as free and equal to men, sexually and otherwise, as they are today.

6

Women ARE sex objects. They are not ONLY sex objects but they are sex objects, and so are men.

7

He said “Women object to sex,” and it got turned around and abbreviated :slight_smile:

8

I find Hugh Hefner to be a really pathetic figure. Every time he is held up as some kind of cultural icon I think to myself, “that old thing?” I can’t get worked up about him though because he is so sad.

9

Hugh Hefner is cool in the same way that Italy is civilized. It’s sort of built into the definition. Any percieved deviations from the word cool, or civilized, would result in the redefinition of the word rather than the reclassification of the object.

10

He’s a dirty old man.

11

You mean Hugh Hefner, the wealthy multi-millionare with the giant mansion who founded what is now a $338 million company that publishes a magazine subscribed to by over 3 million readers? The Hugh Hefner who has been with some of the most beautiful women on the planet?

Yeah. What a loser.:rolleyes:

12

Hugh Hefner is the fucking man. The only issue I have with him is the fundraiser he hosted for Jenny McCarthy’s autism campaign. But he’s more than made up for it by helping fight censorship and anti-gay sentiment in the United States.

I’m going to be sad when he dies.

13

Well, for one, he doesn’t feel the need to self-censor the words “fucking” and “pussy”.

14

What I have heard, is that when Playboy began, it was considered refreshingly sex-positive by many men AND women, and was an important part of the 60s-70s cultural revolution. Up until then, US pop culture was more dominated by the “gray old men in suits” of the Lawrence Welk / Joe McCarthy variety. In that context, H.H.'s openness about that stuff could even be seen as helpful to women’s liberation.

Growing up later, it never occurred to me to read Playboy, and H.H. probably comes across about as subtle as Austin Powers now, but it sounds like he had his time & place.

15

Hefner made himself “cool” about 50-55 years ago.

He became irrelevant in the early 80s.

He’s been a sad caricature of his “cool” self over the past 15-20 years.

16

Too bad, I would subscribe just for that issue

:smiley:

17

I think these days its basically just market positioning/marketting - he’s portraying himself as the nice side of porn, from the 60’s where it was all more innocent etc etc.

Otara

18

I really don’t applaud Hugh Heffner’s lifestyle because it is really self serving and a bad example for young men that our society relies on for stable familial relationships.

On the other hand I admire what he stands for and accomplished in terms of civil rights and women’s liberation.

Above all, I admire him for his honesty. That is why you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who has dealt personally with him say a bad word about him.

19

A feminist critique on Playboy and Hefner as you would expect they have a negative take. All was not as it seemed.

20

I self-censored because this isn’t the Pit. Whether it’s Board policy or not, I try not to use foul language in any place other than the Pit.