Replies

Hefner opened a Pandora's box with "Playboy" to be sure, but the repression of healthy sex--even in marriage--didn't help stop him. No one had to BUY the magazine...no one was getting their arm twisted.

In its early days, Playboy was a rebel--publishing writers and opinions that no one else would--conservative and liberal. His show on TV was one of the ONLY shows on at the time to have whites and blacks guests on even terms. (I don't know what was happening backstage.)

If you think that we became corrupted because of one magazine, and that is where all of the premarital sex and cheating marriages began, pick up a copy of "The Way We Never Were", a wonderful ethnographic account of America's cultural and social history since its founding. The 50's were a commercial...most sitcoms in the 50's were designed to sell large commercial appliances through clever product placement. It is common knowledge in the advertising and marketing world.

The spread of AIDS in Africa? Please. In a country where the culture is spreading the rumor that men can only cure themselves of AIDS by raping a virgin and then they go home and sleep with their wives after seeing a prostitute...sad. Terribly tragic. This is the same culture that practices female clitorectomies...no one is having healthy sex there after marriage there. It is a male-dominated culture where men wield sex as power. Nothing is more heart-wrenching than hearing the cries of a 12 year old girl being "cut for marriage"...to hear her scream, "Why? I'm a good girl! A good girl! Why are you doing this?" while they hold her down. Without anesthesia or antiseptic. Those cries haunt your dreams when you've tried to stop them.

Doesn't sound like that is related to any magazine anywhere.