You know him better than we do, obviously , LS, but since Pollack was/is your co-author, might you care to weigh in?
FReegards!
Posted on 09/29/2017 10:19:27 AM PDT by drewh
He was the kind of person American conservatism seeks to enable — the self-made man; the radical, pajama-clad individual; the author of his own destiny. And he idealized women as women, in a way the left no longer allows.
Ironically, when given the choice of going full-throttle into hard-core pornography, and creating the kind of content the market now demanded, or bowing to mainstream traditional standards that shunned nudity on supermarket shelves, Playboy made the more conservative choice. Even in the battle to survive commercially, there were lines Hugh Hefner would not cross. He thus took his place alongside the very conservatives he once mocked earlier.
That does not mean Hefner was a conservative. But Hefner personified the famous promise at the heart of the Declaration of Independence — that this Republic would be devoted to the “pursuit of Happiness.” He pursued that ideal in an age when the left insisted on grievance and misery. He lived an eccentric life. But in the end, he gave up the thrill of girlfriends for the love of one wife. He challenged social conventions, but he also, perhaps despite himself, affirmed the eternal truth that women are women, and there are moral limits.
Hefner’s victory came with a loss — namely, the institution that was Playboy itself. Our culture now rejects the ideal of feminine beauty that Playboy once promoted, regarding it as a form of oppression rather than liberation.
But that feminine ideal lives on — not in the pages of Playboy, but in the imaginations of millions of quietly dissenting adults in the world Hefner helped create. However he is judged, Hefner changed us all.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
It can be easily argued that girls were exploiting Hefner by telling him how attractive he is and trying to seduce him to get that coveted 'Playmate of the Month'.
I am not minimizing the fault of these women by any means, but I cannot excuse Hugh Hefner for profiting on their weaknesses.
And by seducing and stroking Hefner's ego to get in his magazine they were profiting on his weakness.
I know American morality wasn’t as pure as the driven snow...but it was no where near where we are today.
In a Christian society a conservative conserves traditional Christian morality. "Conservative" cannot be separated from the traditions that one is trying to conserve.
I suppose it all comes down to one’s view of women. As a 30-year (very imperfect!) husband and father of girls - and lately the grandpa of a darling little girl - I feel very constrained to defend and protect the “fairer sex.” I was aware of Hefner many years ago when I lived in downtown Chicago and walked past the Playboy mansion off Rush street. I have no sympathy for the man and the deleterious impact he had on our society.
Many cities openly had red light districts until World War I with brothels. They lasted into the 50's in places like Galveston.
And the 70's in La Grange...
Nothing like that today outside a few places in Nevada.
He had a mansion in Chicago and Los Angeles. He never pounded on people doors insisting girls there pose for his magazine. They all went to him.
Nobody got an unsolicited copy of 'Playboy' magazine, they had to go out and buy it or subscribe. On the other hand I've received copies of unsolicited copies of 'Time' that went straight in the trash...
You know him better than we do, obviously , LS, but since Pollack was/is your co-author, might you care to weigh in?
FReegards!
There’s certainly enough blame to go around. I’m just not willing to give the man a pass.
‘What the hell is up with Breitbart?’
This is the question that should have been asked when Bannon hired a flaming gay man, “made him a star,” and went to great lengths to associate Breitbart with Milo Yiannopoulos. Had it not been for the pedophile recording, that act would still be going strong.
Joel Pollak sounds like an idiot.
The article is confusing and confused.
But people around today probably wouldn't feel comfortable in the world of the 1940s and 1950s because we've been shaped by all the other decades, so in a sense, people like Hefner created the world that we live in, and it's a world that we can be more comfortable in because it's our world. Maybe that's it. Or maybe it's not what he meant and even more confusing than what he wrote.
The other thing is that all the people obsessed with porn now would be acting out their fantasies on real people, rather than with illustrated magazines or pixelated images, and that would be more dangerous. Also, whatever you can say about Hef he was certainly in tune with the kind of individualism and consumerism that advanced capitalist economies make possible.
Joel.
Just THINK of how much money you could make, if you charged only ONE QUARTER for each car that crossed. I will sell you this bridge for only 1000 dollars.
I don’t know Joel well. We met in person one time; talked 2-3 times max. No idea what BB is doing.
Totally my “opinion” and no inside info from anyone:
BigLeaguePolitics started up to the right of BB. It seems BB has moved left to pick up Drudge traffic, which moved further left.
A new lib political editor, I am told, came in and hired a couple of lefties. Don’t know if that’s true.
“This man started the stone throwing. Without him doing this, it may have never started.”
Oh, please. That’s like saying that if Thomas Edison hadn’t invented the light bulb, we’d still be using oil lamps. You are giving Hugh Hefner too much credit.
I can’t stand reading Breitbart any more.
Pollack is 100% dead wrong.
If you think porn and classes nudes from hundreds of years old artwork are equivalent, that’s some good dope you’re smoking.
Ah, the argument:
“Since there has always been (fill the vice) in the shadows, mainstreaming it is no different.
And Playboy was quite a bit different from a few racy calendar girls.
So therefore it’s okay?
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