The Playboy philosophy at 50

TownHall.com ^ | December 17, 2003 | Cal Thomas

[r9etb]

You can't blame the decline in American morality on Playboy. It's things like court decisions and condoning gay marriage that lead us down that road.

They're all symptoms of the same, larger problem.

[Eowyn-of-Rohan]

" I lived though the '50s and the ''40s. They were nothing similar to the way they are falsely depicted"

Exactly! That is what my parents say too. I am disappointed by the way the 60s and 70s are portrayed too. If a person believes what the media tells them, the 60s were all about hippies and Woodstock, when that didn't even hit the mainstream til about 67, and the 70s are all about disco, which most people had nothing to do with.

[Joy Angela]

Always Forge

But NEVER Forget! :)

[T Lady]

Thank you, sir, for making my point. Hefner may not be solely responsible for America's current moral climate, but as RLK pointed out earlier, Hugh Hefner was one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century, and his philosophy has reached far and wide into every part of our society: the Arts-music, films, and television specifically- save for a precious few- The Lord of The Rings, PAX TV, Clay Aiken, Norah Jones, Ruben Stoddard, and a few others I can think of, the entertainment industry is so sexualized it can even make the most jaded person blush-having taken on an In-Your-Face-type of stance. Fashion- has anyone seen just how perilously low the below-the-waist pants are that young women and some CHILDREN are wearing these days?! As Michelle Malkin also pointed out, even Maternity fashions have become rather vulgar, where some women opt to expose their swollen bellies. Madison Avenue- just two words: Sex Sells (or so the Advertising Mavens believe). These are only a few, but the most obvious. Oh yes, Hefner's fingerprints are all over them. He gets no free pass on this one.

-Regards, T.

[RLK]

In the '40s there was an old couple across the street who were in their 90s. It's hard to believe, Mr. Noth was probably 12 years old when the civil war started. I would see him and his wife holding hands and teetering around the block as they walked together with their white hair.

When I was working in a hospital there was an old woman of 87 who broke her hip. Her husband was a great old guy who used to visit her ever day. They had children 70 years old. She called me a monkey when I used to tease her. They were 30+ years old at the turn of the century and were still devoted to each other.

I had two friends who were then in their 60s. Virginia told me she had been married to Earl for 47 years and as far as she was concered it wasn't nearly long enough.

What do Hefner and his eternal teenage followers have? In my life I have found a better all-around psychological adjustment in those generations while studies show a wave of serious mental disorder by a factor of five to 10 beginning with people who were teenages or young adults in the '60s.

[Gritty]

Good comments. Sometimes it's hard to keep the thread on topic rather than going off on a giddy giggle as some are wont to do when they idolize a creep like Hefner and guffaw about what he stands for.

I grew up in the 50s and early 60s. Hefner and his "Playboy Philosophy" had a lot of adherents (to my shame, myself included). As Thomas points out, he did more than most to p!ss in our moral punchbowl and deconstruct our sound social underpinnings. He was an active promoter of the hedonistic lifestyle, was proud of it, and made many millions promoting it.

The results of his efforts may in some ways be "fun", but they're certainly not "funny".

Hefner deserves a place at the table along with the worst scoundrels in American history. He has solidly earned a place at the Head Table. He played his own large part in the miserable moral decay which has overtaken our society. He was not alone and he had plenty of help, but he was at the head of the charge!

[Tempest]

"Would Hefner acknowledge that AIDS, which is currently devastating Southern Africa with a vengeance worse than Europe's medieval Black Death, is any of his doing?"

I didn't realize that Playboy magazine had such a huge circulation in the jungles of Africa???

[KantianBurke]

I spotted that too. Cal went overboard on that one.

[T Lady]

Double Ping!! on your post, Gritty!

-Regards, T.

[T Lady]

"I spotted that too. Cal went overboard on that one."

I have to respectfully disagree with you both. The implication here is that the hedonistic lifestyle so vaunted by Hefner and his followers has resulted in the spread of infectous diseases, including AIDS. As for the reference to Southern Africa, I believe Thomas was citing this as the most devastating example, which unfortunately, it is. Also, you have to remember that people travel around the world to many places, some perhaps not even knowing they are carrying this deadly disease.

-Regards, T.

[nopardons]

South Africa and some of the other SubSaharn African countries are NOYT something out of an old Tarzan movie! People live in BIG cities, there are paved roads and highways, and no, they don't live in a " jungle ".

They also get magazines from all over the world, besides putting out their own. Why are you assuming that Playboy isn't sold all over the world? It unfortuantely is.

[Siamese Princess]

WAS the culture then so "repressed", or did the media present a fake and narrow image of 1950s society? Speak to people who actually LIVED through it (as I have to my parents). Also, I think the country was better off in those days when the media was "repressive" than it is now with the media the way it is.

Remember, too, that you can't separate sexual morality or immorality from general morality or immorality, in an individual or a society. There has been a massive breakdown in overall morality and simple consideration for others over the past 40 years. In the much maligned 50s, there was little crime despite a higher rate of poverty. A friend of mine, who grew up in Washington Heights, New York, told me that even in the early 60s the door to his family apartment was left unlocked during the day. The crime rate began to go up in the mid-60s. People in general were better behaved, politer and even dressed better.

[Mortimer Snavely]

Big ol' BUMPEROO!!

[Mortimer Snavely]

ka-PING!!!

[k2blader]

Nice article.

Folks who think such porno is harmless are deceiving themselves.

[RLK]

Playboy Philosophy was like a rock thrown into the water. It produced ripples in the psychological and philosophical environment far beyond the original source, both geographically and conceptually. Hefner was a master of creating the false social cause or movement. Since its creation the type of thought has diffused into a wide variety of areas. Bionking a woman and running off was interpreted as a moral victory over the vestiges of victorian antisexuality. In the same way, the attempted murder of Terri Schiavro is interpreted as a moral triumph of death with dignity. A new hypothetical morality and social struggle id conceptualized and acted upon.

[nopardons]

This may actually be a first,which may never happen again again, so do mark it down in your diary.

I agree completely with your post and have absolutely nothing to add.

Merry Christmas. :-)

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Tempest]

Because the aids virus came from the jungles of Africa not from the metropolitan areas. So unless Hugh and his lovely bunnies are passing mail out in brush I'm not quite sure what the author was eluding to as far as culpability between an adult magazine and a deadly veneral diesease which began in the jungles of Africa.

[nopardons]

You still don't " get it " at all and there's just no point in explaining it all to you. So, just keep right on imagining that AIDS came from the jungle and that HETEROSEXUAL Africans don't pass it on, due to the lessening of moral codes, that Heff spread around the world. ;^)