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bphantom64 · November 3rd, 2017, 02:37 AM

Thanks for that thoughtful post. And a great selection of photos and poses by Candy Loving, my own perennial favourite (Karen's a close 2nd.)

I agree that anyone who posits that all the women in PB were indistinguishable is, as you say, as guilty of objectification as those they accuse of it. How the heck did all of us PB readers wind up with favourite Playmates if they're all the same?

No, we recognized that these were real women with real personalities. We recognized, on some level, that PB's "girl next door" did indeed live nearby, in our cities and towns and communities and neighbourhoods. The concept taught me that girls could like sex too and that that was something to be celebrated, not feared or disdained. And it taught me that the woman I married could be more than just a housemate--she could be a playmate too. I didn't need a wife and a mistress; the same woman could be both.

So I do think Hef and Playboy changed the world, or at least western culture. It didn't do so on its own but it was part of an array of forces that shook up the repressed, retrograde culture of the 50s and early 60s. It was still enough of a force to affect an impressionable young lad like myself when I read the mag in the late 70s and 80s.

I think it was the internet that ultimately robbed PB of its power. When I was in my early teens I had to summon up the courage to retrieve that precious stapled collection of pages from the upper regions of the magazine rack and brave the critical gaze of the middle-aged drug store sales clerk when I paid for it. Now you can look at as many naked women as you please from the privacy of your home or bedroom.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not pining for a return to the good ol' days! Forums such as this have allowed me to amass a complete collection of all the glorious images of my favourite Playmates from years gone by. What a great change from the few precious photos in a couple of increasingly-dog-eared old magazines! But yes, at the same time, we've lost something. Are we better off for it? Only time will tell.

November 3rd, 2017, 02:37 AM	#73
bphantom64 Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 19 Thanks: 3,072 Thanked 784 Times in 17 Posts	Thanks for that thoughtful post. And a great selection of photos and poses by Candy Loving, my own perennial favourite (Karen's a close 2nd.) I agree that anyone who posits that all the women in PB were indistinguishable is, as you say, as guilty of objectification as those they accuse of it. How the heck did all of us PB readers wind up with favourite Playmates if they're all the same? No, we recognized that these were real women with real personalities. We recognized, on some level, that PB's "girl next door" did indeed live nearby, in our cities and towns and communities and neighbourhoods. The concept taught me that girls could like sex too and that that was something to be celebrated, not feared or disdained. And it taught me that the woman I married could be more than just a housemate--she could be a playmate too. I didn't need a wife and a mistress; the same woman could be both. So I do think Hef and Playboy changed the world, or at least western culture. It didn't do so on its own but it was part of an array of forces that shook up the repressed, retrograde culture of the 50s and early 60s. It was still enough of a force to affect an impressionable young lad like myself when I read the mag in the late 70s and 80s. I think it was the internet that ultimately robbed PB of its power. When I was in my early teens I had to summon up the courage to retrieve that precious stapled collection of pages from the upper regions of the magazine rack and brave the critical gaze of the middle-aged drug store sales clerk when I paid for it. Now you can look at as many naked women as you please from the privacy of your home or bedroom. Don't get me wrong, I'm not pining for a return to the good ol' days! Forums such as this have allowed me to amass a complete collection of all the glorious images of my favourite Playmates from years gone by. What a great change from the few precious photos in a couple of increasingly-dog-eared old magazines! But yes, at the same time, we've lost something. Are we better off for it? Only time will tell.