To think this thread has aged hideously?

[O6bftdff]

I’m watching Secrets of Playboy on Channel 4 and the abuse, emotional, physical and sexual, of women that took place over the decades linked to Hefner and Playboy is sickening.

I looked for Mumsnet threads on the documentary, but this came up from 2008 instead.

I’ve read it quite shocked. I know we’re post-Me Too now, but did it ever really look like a fun place to be? Was it not clear Hefner was always exploitative and a creep, albeit not to the hugely criminal extent it’s been revealed to be now.

Then again, I always thought it was clear Jimmy Savile was dangerous but I’ve seen dated threads about him where everyone is rushing to defend him.

On a positive note, I think there’d be a lot more criticism of the way these women were clearly being exploited if the documentary aired this year and now in the early 2000s.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/643859-to-be-watching-quot-girls-of-the-playboy-mansion-quot

In 2008 I was 23/24 I watched this show and read the book. I was appalled, but I was definitely in the minority then, however there are also still a lot of women on here who believe consent can be purchased and that sexual exploitation is empowering

I also think of the mid-late 2000s as only five minutes ago

But then sometimes when I’m scrolling TikTok bits of reality TV from that era (ten years younger, snog marry avoid, how clean is your house, talent shows and lots more) and I realise how different attitudes were a mere 15-20 years back.

It's a great book!

I was obsessed with Playboy and the show when I was 14/15. I wanted to dye my hair blonde and get a boob job to be like them 🙈 Now I look back and think wtf.

I can remember seeing “Bunny girls” on TV, late 60sI think maybe early 70s, I was at school. Can remember then thinking it was seedy, creepy, not glamorous at all. I can’t imagine how anyone would think it was fun.
It’s like Savile learnt his ways from Hefner 🤢

Oh come on, I'd have been appalled by this in the late 90s, let alone 2008! I was all about snagging anyone and everyone in my late teens, but even then, thanks to Eurotrash, we could see the seedy stuff and realise it was exploitative.

I think most of the posters on that thread could see that the women were being exploited and that it was awful.

2008 was the same year Sachsgate happened. Andrew Sachs and his wife were portrayed as the primary "victims" (not sure if that's the right word) of that event - the impact on Georgina Baillie was completely ignored by the media. Seriously - you have sex with a man, then he phones your grandfather live on the BBC to brag about it. The reaction from the media was essentially "Well, she's in a band called Satanic Sluts, she performs in skimpy clothes, what did she expect? She'll be doing well out of the publicity..."

People back then? People like me in their 30s with children and having experienced so much casual sexual abuse.
Grew up with tits everywhere from page 3 to buying peanuts in the pub. Tits on TV sitcoms via magazine or calendar. Watching Baywatch with your Stepdad.
Tits at work via calendars. Having to pack and post said calendars. Oh and then Loaded and Nuts.
Imagine growing up and that was supposed to be acceptable.

My daughter is 16 now and is horrified at the thought.

#Me too couldn't have happened soon enough.

You have a very strange opinion of women and girls back in those years.

It reminds me of a thread I once saw in which a woman wanted to use an Indian surrogacy clinic, and dismissed questions about the surrogate mother's welfare with "The website says they have a gold star for ethics." People will use any excuse to avoid giving a shit about women's well-being.

Jonathan Ross was sacked from the BBC

Russell Brand has always been a cunt.

It didn't go unpunished. They thought it was acceptable. Nobody else did.

I don't think transactional sex is ever going to go away. Clearly, there is also something in it for the women or else they wouldn't be there. I imagine there is also probably a lot of backstabbing and jostling for position.

During my office heyday, I worked with one woman who was in a relationship with the Department Head and used it to her full advantage and power over the rest of us, and then wasted no time in getting involved with his replacement when he left (she was rather attractive). People like that do exist.

I'll never understand why Trinny Woodall rushed into Nigella's shoes after she was choked by that repulsive Saatchi man... They are no longer together now but I bet he's not single...

While I do think MeToo has value, I do think we'll probably look back and see some of the assumptions as something naive and possibly faddish. Real life is far more nuanced and complicated.

I didn't say it went unpunished - I said Andrew Sachs and his wife were considered the real victims, rather than their granddaughter.