1 00:00:03,750 --> 00:00:06,000 ♪♪ 2 00:00:06,125 --> 00:00:07,833 When people think about "Playboy," 3 00:00:07,875 --> 00:00:11,125 they think about those soft images. 4 00:00:11,208 --> 00:00:14,667 That is part of this narrative that, like, Bunnies, 5 00:00:14,750 --> 00:00:19,167 they're delicate. They're so pretty and soft. 6 00:00:19,208 --> 00:00:20,917 ♪ 7 00:00:20,917 --> 00:00:23,083 What people don't think about 8 00:00:23,208 --> 00:00:25,333 is there's a judgment about the women who pose. 9 00:00:25,417 --> 00:00:27,625 These women may not realize that a photograph 10 00:00:27,625 --> 00:00:30,458 in "Playboy" follows you the rest of your life. 11 00:00:30,542 --> 00:00:35,708 "Playboy" Magazine is placing an ad in campus newspapers 12 00:00:35,792 --> 00:00:38,375 asking for models to appear in a special fall issue. 13 00:00:38,458 --> 00:00:40,750 "Attention female student body, 14 00:00:40,833 --> 00:00:43,083 ever fantasize about being pictured 15 00:00:43,167 --> 00:00:45,417 in the number one men's magazine in the world?" 16 00:00:45,500 --> 00:00:49,417 They want to know your weight, measurements, date of birth. 17 00:00:49,500 --> 00:00:55,417 "Playboy" coming to campus and recruiting 18 00:00:55,542 --> 00:00:57,167 for their pictorials of young college women 19 00:00:57,250 --> 00:01:00,667 and the university allowing it. 20 00:01:00,708 --> 00:01:03,625 That feels predatory. 21 00:01:03,708 --> 00:01:05,625 ♪ 22 00:01:05,708 --> 00:01:09,333 Posing as a coed really did impact my life. 23 00:01:09,417 --> 00:01:11,333 ♪♪ 24 00:01:11,375 --> 00:01:17,000 Being judged and bullied by people who didn't even know me-- 25 00:01:17,125 --> 00:01:19,500 that was the worst part. 26 00:01:19,583 --> 00:01:24,000 Posing for "Playboy" has followed me to this day. 27 00:01:24,083 --> 00:01:25,917 I was in situations where I said, 28 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:27,000 "I hope they don't find out." 29 00:01:27,083 --> 00:01:29,583 A lifetime... [laughs] as a pariah 30 00:01:29,667 --> 00:01:35,000 where something relatively minor was unjust. 31 00:01:35,042 --> 00:01:39,208 When it comes to sex, women can't win. 32 00:01:41,125 --> 00:01:43,875 [motor revving] 33 00:01:43,958 --> 00:01:45,458 My name is Hugh Hefner. 34 00:01:45,542 --> 00:01:46,833 I'm editor-publisher of "Playboy" magazine. 35 00:01:46,875 --> 00:01:48,250 REPORTER: Playboy is one 36 00:01:48,333 --> 00:01:50,917 of the most famous brand names in the world. 37 00:01:51,042 --> 00:01:53,417 It was simply to include sex as 38 00:01:53,500 --> 00:01:56,375 one natural part of a package for a male audience. 39 00:01:56,458 --> 00:01:58,292 WOMAN: When I made the choice to do "Playboy," 40 00:01:58,375 --> 00:02:00,417 I didn't realize all the choices that I was making 41 00:02:00,500 --> 00:02:02,792 that came with that choice. 42 00:02:02,875 --> 00:02:05,708 WOMAN #2: We don't judge the men for buying the "Playboy"s, 43 00:02:05,792 --> 00:02:09,000 but we judge the women for posing for "Playboy." 44 00:02:09,083 --> 00:02:10,333 JILL: I was never Jill anymore. 45 00:02:10,417 --> 00:02:13,125 I was Jill that posed for "Playboy." 46 00:02:13,208 --> 00:02:15,042 WOMAN #3: I just gave in and knew that I was 47 00:02:15,125 --> 00:02:16,958 probably gonna go to hell. 48 00:02:17,042 --> 00:02:18,375 WOMAN #4 It got to a certain point 49 00:02:18,500 --> 00:02:21,250 where it wasn't fun anymore. 50 00:02:21,333 --> 00:02:23,500 SONDRA: This process was very painful, 51 00:02:23,583 --> 00:02:27,792 but I should be able to tell my story as I lived it. 52 00:02:37,375 --> 00:02:39,208 ♪ 53 00:02:39,292 --> 00:02:43,083 "Playboy," in its portrayal of women's sexuality, 54 00:02:43,167 --> 00:02:44,833 is undoubtedly serving 55 00:02:44,917 --> 00:02:47,917 the desires and the fantasies of straight men. 56 00:02:48,042 --> 00:02:54,667 And the celebration of coeds in the magazine is absolutely 57 00:02:54,708 --> 00:02:58,167 a part of the entire vision of sexuality 58 00:02:58,250 --> 00:03:02,333 and femininity that Hefner is promoting in "Playboy." 59 00:03:02,375 --> 00:03:04,583 ♪ 60 00:03:04,667 --> 00:03:09,708 The problem is, when you pose so young, 61 00:03:09,792 --> 00:03:12,542 you're dealing with something very permanent 62 00:03:12,625 --> 00:03:16,000 that is going to follow you around. 63 00:03:16,083 --> 00:03:19,250 Women have had to pay consequences 64 00:03:19,333 --> 00:03:22,542 for having appeared years ago. 65 00:03:22,625 --> 00:03:26,583 My name is Michelle Mislevicek Gaines. 66 00:03:26,667 --> 00:03:29,333 I appeared in the September 1984 issue 67 00:03:29,458 --> 00:03:33,458 of "Playboy," "Girls of the Big Ten." 68 00:03:36,625 --> 00:03:38,250 ♪ 69 00:03:38,333 --> 00:03:40,542 I'm from Madison, Wisconsin. 70 00:03:40,708 --> 00:03:43,833 I always wanted to go to the University of Wisconsin. 71 00:03:43,917 --> 00:03:47,583 Was originally an economics/ political science major. 72 00:03:47,667 --> 00:03:52,250 Intended to do government work, maybe international relations. 73 00:03:52,333 --> 00:03:55,208 I was living with Ron, my fiancé at the time. 74 00:03:55,292 --> 00:03:58,583 Our wedding was set for the summer of 1984. 75 00:03:58,667 --> 00:04:02,042 He had a subscription to "Playboy." 76 00:04:02,125 --> 00:04:04,458 And every month I had to hear 77 00:04:04,542 --> 00:04:07,500 about how beautiful these women were, 78 00:04:07,542 --> 00:04:10,583 how hot they were, how desirable they were. 79 00:04:10,667 --> 00:04:14,917 I thought, "How can you not think that hurts me?" 80 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:18,667 I don't look anything like that. 81 00:04:18,792 --> 00:04:21,333 And then literally, he and his friends talking 82 00:04:21,417 --> 00:04:24,250 about, "Oh, yeah, she's got great boobs, 83 00:04:24,333 --> 00:04:26,417 but--but the legs on the other one are..." 84 00:04:26,500 --> 00:04:29,958 Just like they're comparing pieces of steak. 85 00:04:30,042 --> 00:04:32,500 ♪ 86 00:04:32,583 --> 00:04:35,917 I was already dealing with my warped pursuit 87 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,458 of a certain body type, 88 00:04:38,542 --> 00:04:42,667 and Ron's interest in "Playboy" didn't help it. 89 00:04:42,708 --> 00:04:45,875 I don't think anyone would have ever considered me overweight, 90 00:04:45,958 --> 00:04:49,833 but I would burst into tears in front of a mirror. 91 00:04:49,875 --> 00:04:53,333 And so I struggled 92 00:04:53,417 --> 00:04:57,125 with body dysmorphia and anorexia. 93 00:04:57,208 --> 00:05:00,708 I was very young. I had no confidence. 94 00:05:00,792 --> 00:05:07,458 So, it was crushing. I still struggle with it. 95 00:05:07,583 --> 00:05:12,833 I think that as much as "Playboy" for so long 96 00:05:12,875 --> 00:05:17,125 was seen as the ideal beauty standard 97 00:05:17,208 --> 00:05:18,417 for young women, 98 00:05:18,542 --> 00:05:21,042 a specific issue is the fact that 99 00:05:21,125 --> 00:05:24,042 with younger college age girls, 100 00:05:24,125 --> 00:05:26,542 that it's entirely possible that 101 00:05:26,625 --> 00:05:30,000 when they're making these choices to pose for "Playboy," 102 00:05:30,042 --> 00:05:31,500 they might not understand 103 00:05:31,625 --> 00:05:35,250 the potential consequences of that choice. 104 00:05:35,375 --> 00:05:36,833 Young women grow up feeling like, 105 00:05:36,917 --> 00:05:38,417 "Oh, that's what I'm supposed to look like, 106 00:05:38,542 --> 00:05:40,125 and if I don't look that way, 107 00:05:40,208 --> 00:05:41,958 there's something wrong with me." 108 00:05:42,042 --> 00:05:43,833 ♪ 109 00:05:43,875 --> 00:05:46,583 I was sitting home on a Saturday evening, 110 00:05:46,667 --> 00:05:48,875 and the local evening news came on. 111 00:05:48,958 --> 00:05:52,000 They had a camera crew and a reporter 112 00:05:52,083 --> 00:05:55,583 at the Concourse Hotel to cover "Playboy" auditioning 113 00:05:55,667 --> 00:05:58,417 for "Girls of the Big Ten." 114 00:05:58,542 --> 00:06:02,708 Ron said, "Think of it. It'd be an adventure." 115 00:06:02,833 --> 00:06:06,292 So, the next day, I went to the audition down at the hotel. 116 00:06:06,375 --> 00:06:08,667 I walked into the bedroom. 117 00:06:08,708 --> 00:06:12,000 That's where the audition takes place. 118 00:06:12,125 --> 00:06:17,083 David Chan, who was their famous "Girls of..." photographer, 119 00:06:17,167 --> 00:06:20,625 welcomed me in, told me to shut the door behind me. 120 00:06:20,708 --> 00:06:22,625 And then he said, "Take off your clothes." 121 00:06:22,708 --> 00:06:24,292 ♪ 122 00:06:24,375 --> 00:06:26,875 No get to know ya. No conversation. 123 00:06:26,958 --> 00:06:29,500 Just, "Hello. Welcome. Take off your clothes." 124 00:06:29,542 --> 00:06:33,792 I knew I was a prude, but still, I wasn't nervous. 125 00:06:33,875 --> 00:06:38,250 I wasn't scared. I was mostly just curious. 126 00:06:38,333 --> 00:06:41,250 And then he said, Get up on the dresser. 127 00:06:41,333 --> 00:06:45,042 So I just hopped up on the dresser, 128 00:06:45,167 --> 00:06:49,542 And he snapped, and it didn't take very long, 129 00:06:49,542 --> 00:06:52,708 and they just said, "We'll let you know." 130 00:06:52,792 --> 00:06:55,792 At that time, it was just all about having the experience 131 00:06:55,875 --> 00:06:59,917 of auditioning and going on my merry way. 132 00:07:00,042 --> 00:07:04,333 That evening, the phone rings, and it's David Chan. 133 00:07:04,333 --> 00:07:07,125 He said, "We'd like you to be in the magazine. 134 00:07:07,208 --> 00:07:09,042 We'd like to shoot tomorrow." 135 00:07:09,167 --> 00:07:13,000 I cupped the phone. I said "Ron, it's--it's 'Playboy.' 136 00:07:13,042 --> 00:07:16,000 It's David Chan. He-- He wants me to be in it." 137 00:07:16,125 --> 00:07:18,250 He goes, "Tell him yes." 138 00:07:18,375 --> 00:07:20,500 I said, "Okay." 139 00:07:20,583 --> 00:07:24,000 So, I did not have any time to think about it. 140 00:07:24,042 --> 00:07:30,000 The photo shoot took place in a frat house. 141 00:07:30,125 --> 00:07:34,500 Two frat boys vacated their room for the day. 142 00:07:34,583 --> 00:07:38,458 All the pics took place on their bunk bed, 143 00:07:38,542 --> 00:07:42,500 and most of the shots, I was on all fours, 144 00:07:42,583 --> 00:07:45,583 and David Chan would say, 145 00:07:45,708 --> 00:07:47,458 "Now suck in your stomach. 146 00:07:47,542 --> 00:07:49,458 Okay, suck in your stomach more than that. 147 00:07:49,542 --> 00:07:52,500 Okay, now stick your butt out. Stick your butt out. 148 00:07:52,583 --> 00:07:55,917 Okay, now turn your head toward me and smile." 149 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,208 And I said to him, "You contort yourself like this 150 00:07:59,292 --> 00:08:00,958 and crack a smile." 151 00:08:01,042 --> 00:08:05,167 And he said, "The object is to look so sexy 152 00:08:05,250 --> 00:08:11,333 and so inviting so that men can have fantasies 153 00:08:11,375 --> 00:08:14,500 that you're actually wanting them." 154 00:08:14,583 --> 00:08:16,000 In that moment, 155 00:08:16,083 --> 00:08:20,417 what hit me the most was the whole dichotomy. 156 00:08:20,500 --> 00:08:23,250 You're supposed to project this hotness, 157 00:08:23,333 --> 00:08:27,917 but you're also not supposed to be that kind of girl. 158 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:32,125 The positions were very bad-girlish. 159 00:08:34,375 --> 00:08:36,333 That wasn't really me. 160 00:08:36,375 --> 00:08:38,333 I liked the rock 'n' roll kind of look, 161 00:08:38,417 --> 00:08:41,042 but there was a kind of sluttiness 162 00:08:41,125 --> 00:08:42,500 that I didn't like. 163 00:08:42,583 --> 00:08:45,917 At the time, I never thought anything about 164 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:50,167 what would happen when the magazine came out. 165 00:08:54,042 --> 00:08:55,667 This magazine will probably exist somewhere 166 00:08:55,792 --> 00:08:58,458 for a hundred years in a library, 167 00:08:58,542 --> 00:09:01,125 and they'll be able to go there and look you up 168 00:09:01,208 --> 00:09:02,750 in all your nubile glory. 169 00:09:02,833 --> 00:09:06,500 It's their own decision. If--If they want to pose, 170 00:09:06,583 --> 00:09:08,542 it shouldn't affect the school in any way. 171 00:09:08,625 --> 00:09:10,208 REPORTER: Some, though, disagree. 172 00:09:10,292 --> 00:09:13,292 It's totally degrading, you know, for the women. 173 00:09:13,292 --> 00:09:15,125 I don't like "Playboy" Magazine. 174 00:09:15,125 --> 00:09:17,042 I don't agree with the things that they have in it. 175 00:09:17,125 --> 00:09:18,375 I think it's very sexist. 176 00:09:18,458 --> 00:09:20,167 Um, I think it's a pretty good idea. 177 00:09:20,250 --> 00:09:22,083 You know, there are plenty of pretty girls around here who, 178 00:09:22,167 --> 00:09:24,875 if they want to show it, can, but I think the whole campus 179 00:09:24,958 --> 00:09:27,125 might get a bad idea about that girl if she did. 180 00:09:27,208 --> 00:09:29,458 ♪ 181 00:09:29,542 --> 00:09:32,208 The expectations of beauty in "Playboy" 182 00:09:32,292 --> 00:09:34,542 really focus on young women 183 00:09:34,625 --> 00:09:38,333 in their late teens and into their 20s, right? 184 00:09:38,417 --> 00:09:39,917 The sort of college years. 185 00:09:40,042 --> 00:09:46,500 And the first "Girls of College" feature was in 1977, 186 00:09:46,542 --> 00:09:50,000 and it featured the "Girls of the Big Ten." 187 00:09:50,083 --> 00:09:54,458 And posing for "Playboy" in college can be transgressive. 188 00:09:54,542 --> 00:09:56,875 It can be rebellious. It can be fun. 189 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:00,750 But at that age, we don't necessarily 190 00:10:00,833 --> 00:10:04,792 understand the long-term consequences of our decisions, 191 00:10:04,875 --> 00:10:09,708 because the problem is we still live in a culture 192 00:10:09,792 --> 00:10:12,583 that judges women for their sexuality. 193 00:10:12,667 --> 00:10:16,167 So, you're taking your clothes off in "Playboy." 194 00:10:16,208 --> 00:10:19,292 A lot of people are gonna attach particular meaning 195 00:10:19,375 --> 00:10:20,917 to your actions. 196 00:10:21,042 --> 00:10:24,750 We don't judge the men for buying the "Playboy"s, 197 00:10:24,875 --> 00:10:28,083 but we judge the women for posing for "Playboy." 198 00:10:28,167 --> 00:10:29,583 The hypocrisy 199 00:10:29,667 --> 00:10:31,917 and the double standard is stunning. 200 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:33,958 ♪ 201 00:10:34,042 --> 00:10:36,625 At the time of the shoot, unbeknownst to me, 202 00:10:36,750 --> 00:10:39,833 "Playboy" had sent 8x10 glossies 203 00:10:39,917 --> 00:10:43,417 of my face and my unlisted telephone number 204 00:10:43,542 --> 00:10:45,125 to the local newspapers. 205 00:10:45,208 --> 00:10:48,500 So, a reporter called Sunny Schubert 206 00:10:48,625 --> 00:10:51,125 from the "Wisconsin State Journal" 207 00:10:51,208 --> 00:10:54,333 called and asked could we meet for coffee and do an interview? 208 00:10:54,417 --> 00:10:56,500 Sunny and I met for coffee. 209 00:10:56,583 --> 00:11:02,167 Then that Saturday, the article came out, 210 00:11:02,292 --> 00:11:05,542 and it was so mean. 211 00:11:05,625 --> 00:11:10,792 "Michelle Mislivicek, a real person, 212 00:11:10,917 --> 00:11:13,708 not one of those plastic preppies." 213 00:11:13,833 --> 00:11:17,042 And she's being, of course, facetious. 214 00:11:17,125 --> 00:11:20,500 She's saying that I am very plastic, 215 00:11:20,583 --> 00:11:23,000 but I really wasn't. 216 00:11:23,042 --> 00:11:27,083 The whole gist was to make me look stupid, 217 00:11:27,208 --> 00:11:30,250 to make me look vacuous. 218 00:11:30,375 --> 00:11:33,667 I'm not bragging. I was just "known as one of the brainiacs." 219 00:11:33,750 --> 00:11:39,917 And so, it was crushing to be painted as dumb. 220 00:11:43,375 --> 00:11:49,250 After I posed for the magazine, I expected that hardly anybody 221 00:11:49,333 --> 00:11:52,875 would see the picture, would notice that it was me. 222 00:11:52,958 --> 00:11:54,542 But when the article 223 00:11:54,625 --> 00:11:58,167 in the Saturday Feature section came out, 224 00:11:58,292 --> 00:12:02,833 I knew that everyone in Dane County, Wisconsin, 225 00:12:02,875 --> 00:12:05,500 is gonna know I was in "Playboy." 226 00:12:05,542 --> 00:12:08,167 You couldn't miss my face. It was huge. 227 00:12:08,208 --> 00:12:13,500 I thought to myself, two weeks from the appearance 228 00:12:13,583 --> 00:12:19,958 of that feature article, Ron and I were getting married. 229 00:12:20,042 --> 00:12:23,000 The minister called and said, 230 00:12:23,042 --> 00:12:26,000 "I cannot marry you since your fiancée 231 00:12:26,125 --> 00:12:29,417 took her clothes off and appeared in 'Playboy.'" 232 00:12:29,500 --> 00:12:34,042 The magazine wasn't even out yet, 233 00:12:34,125 --> 00:12:37,708 and now we have no one to perform the ceremony. 234 00:12:37,875 --> 00:12:40,167 in the middle of peak wedding season. 235 00:12:40,208 --> 00:12:44,083 The wire services picked up the news 236 00:12:44,208 --> 00:12:46,708 that the pastor refused to do the ceremony. 237 00:12:46,792 --> 00:12:50,875 So, we scrambled, and we were able to find a judge 238 00:12:50,958 --> 00:12:53,375 that went around and did ceremonies. 239 00:12:53,500 --> 00:13:03,458 ♪♪ 240 00:13:05,958 --> 00:13:08,500 Then the magazine came out. 241 00:13:08,625 --> 00:13:14,042 We got our subscription, and then I saw the picture. 242 00:13:14,167 --> 00:13:17,125 ♪♪ 243 00:13:17,208 --> 00:13:19,167 [pages rustling] 244 00:13:24,500 --> 00:13:27,000 I've always been grateful 245 00:13:27,083 --> 00:13:29,167 that I had that much covered 246 00:13:29,250 --> 00:13:31,750 but been very uncomfortable with the pose. 247 00:13:31,833 --> 00:13:35,833 Yeah, I guess it does... 248 00:13:35,958 --> 00:13:41,125 It certainly reeks of subjugation. Yeah. Yeah. 249 00:13:41,208 --> 00:13:45,333 ♪ 250 00:13:45,417 --> 00:13:49,917 But I was happy that the picture was not totally nude 251 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:53,500 and that it was very small. 252 00:13:53,583 --> 00:13:56,792 It's only this big by this big, 253 00:13:56,875 --> 00:14:01,833 but something that small can make people go so crazy. 254 00:14:01,958 --> 00:14:09,042 I was a receptionist for a local convenience store chain. 255 00:14:09,167 --> 00:14:14,792 I went into work, and people were looking at me strange. 256 00:14:14,875 --> 00:14:18,292 I was called into the president's office. 257 00:14:18,417 --> 00:14:24,042 He said, "What you have done is disgracing our company." 258 00:14:24,125 --> 00:14:27,375 I said, "You sell the magazine." 259 00:14:27,458 --> 00:14:34,250 Firing me would be really hypocritical. 260 00:14:34,333 --> 00:14:36,625 In the meantime, "Playboy" called 261 00:14:36,708 --> 00:14:41,208 and said, the "Donahue Show" is interested in having you on. 262 00:14:41,333 --> 00:14:45,083 I went there because I was very familiar with his show. 263 00:14:45,208 --> 00:14:49,333 I knew Donahue was going to be on our side. 264 00:14:49,417 --> 00:14:52,500 And the topic of the episode was, 265 00:14:52,583 --> 00:14:55,083 "How much should religion interfere with your life?" 266 00:14:55,208 --> 00:14:58,208 Um, Michelle, what do you say to those who say, 267 00:14:58,292 --> 00:15:00,833 how can you possibly present yourself in that way 268 00:15:00,958 --> 00:15:05,083 in a magazine of this kind and be a Christian, too? 269 00:15:05,167 --> 00:15:08,375 Because I-I feel in my heart that Jesus wouldn't-- 270 00:15:08,458 --> 00:15:11,333 wouldn't sit in judgment of me for doing this. 271 00:15:11,375 --> 00:15:12,917 The Bible was supposed to be the word of God. 272 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:14,833 Did God ever publicly condemn anyone? 273 00:15:14,917 --> 00:15:16,667 He struck people dead for those things. 274 00:15:16,792 --> 00:15:24,167 There was so much judgment, so much holier than thou. 275 00:15:24,250 --> 00:15:29,875 I was judged, but in some ways I also judged myself. 276 00:15:29,958 --> 00:15:32,958 I thought that posing in "Playboy" 277 00:15:33,042 --> 00:15:37,333 would improve my body dysmorphic disorder, 278 00:15:37,375 --> 00:15:40,042 but it didn't quite work out that way. 279 00:15:40,125 --> 00:15:45,417 "Playboy" did exacerbate that illness. 280 00:15:45,500 --> 00:15:51,500 That picture was just one day in my life. 281 00:15:51,583 --> 00:15:55,208 And I wanted to keep that forever and ever. 282 00:15:55,292 --> 00:15:59,125 And so, I was obsessed with the idea of wanting 283 00:15:59,208 --> 00:16:03,125 to go back to my 102-pound self. 284 00:16:03,208 --> 00:16:06,083 ♪ 285 00:16:06,167 --> 00:16:11,250 I struggled with the not eating kind of anorexia 286 00:16:11,333 --> 00:16:15,250 and the over-exercising kind of anorexia. 287 00:16:15,333 --> 00:16:20,167 ♪ 288 00:16:20,208 --> 00:16:25,167 My daughter--she's mostly learned from my dysfunction, 289 00:16:25,292 --> 00:16:30,583 and she wanted to feel more comfortable in her own skin. 290 00:16:30,667 --> 00:16:33,167 And she does, thank goodness. 291 00:16:33,250 --> 00:16:38,833 ♪♪ 292 00:16:38,875 --> 00:16:41,667 But I never thought posing in "Playboy" 293 00:16:41,750 --> 00:16:43,792 when I was just a college student 294 00:16:43,875 --> 00:16:47,167 would have all these consequences. 295 00:16:47,208 --> 00:16:49,458 At the time that I was in the magazine, 296 00:16:49,542 --> 00:16:53,875 I was a double major-- economics and political science. 297 00:16:53,958 --> 00:16:57,000 I intended to do government work, 298 00:16:57,083 --> 00:16:59,042 but after I appeared in the magazine, 299 00:16:59,125 --> 00:17:01,500 I knew very soon, 300 00:17:01,583 --> 00:17:06,750 life in politics or in government was over. 301 00:17:06,833 --> 00:17:09,625 There were a lot of doors that I knew were shut then. 302 00:17:12,917 --> 00:17:14,667 It did. 303 00:17:14,708 --> 00:17:20,333 You know, no one likes to have choices taken away from them. 304 00:17:20,417 --> 00:17:26,042 And I really wish I had been more savvy then 305 00:17:26,125 --> 00:17:31,000 about knowing what kind of harm it was doing to women 306 00:17:31,083 --> 00:17:33,792 and to women's self-esteem, 307 00:17:33,875 --> 00:17:36,208 especially future forward 308 00:17:36,208 --> 00:17:39,292 as somebody who was gonna be the mother of a daughter. 309 00:17:45,208 --> 00:17:46,583 "Playboy" Magazine is placing an ad in campus newspapers 310 00:17:46,667 --> 00:17:49,500 asking for models to appear in a special fall issue 311 00:17:49,542 --> 00:17:52,625 featuring the "Women of the Atlantic Coast Conference." 312 00:17:52,708 --> 00:17:56,000 The ad is creating quite a stir on ACC campuses. 313 00:17:56,083 --> 00:17:57,833 Some outraged Chapel Hill women 314 00:17:57,917 --> 00:18:01,333 are urging the other women on campus to ignore it. 315 00:18:01,417 --> 00:18:06,167 "Playboy" was used to being protested against, 316 00:18:06,250 --> 00:18:09,333 particularly by the late '60s, 317 00:18:09,417 --> 00:18:12,292 when much of American culture was 318 00:18:12,375 --> 00:18:14,375 being influenced by various protest movements. 319 00:18:14,500 --> 00:18:19,500 So when the "Girls of College" issues emerged, 320 00:18:19,667 --> 00:18:24,042 protest was already really prominent for "Playboy." 321 00:18:25,125 --> 00:18:32,167 This is the Playboy ad that ran on March 7, 1998. 322 00:18:32,208 --> 00:18:36,958 I was 19 years old, first year in college, 323 00:18:37,042 --> 00:18:41,375 and I helped organize a protest against "Playboy" Magazine, 324 00:18:41,458 --> 00:18:46,333 recruiting for models on UNC Chapel Hills campus. 325 00:18:46,375 --> 00:18:49,167 ♪ 326 00:18:49,208 --> 00:18:51,417 I was born in Madison, Wisconsin. 327 00:18:51,542 --> 00:18:56,167 My family moved around a lot. We ended up in North Carolina, 328 00:18:56,292 --> 00:18:59,083 and the decision to go to UNC was really easy. 329 00:18:59,208 --> 00:19:00,833 It's a great school. 330 00:19:00,875 --> 00:19:05,875 It was exciting to get to leave home and go live on my own. 331 00:19:05,958 --> 00:19:09,208 ♪ 332 00:19:09,292 --> 00:19:10,833 My first year of college, 333 00:19:10,917 --> 00:19:13,167 I was the co-founder of A.S.A.P.-- 334 00:19:13,250 --> 00:19:15,000 Advocates for Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention. 335 00:19:15,042 --> 00:19:17,750 ♪ 336 00:19:17,875 --> 00:19:19,958 And me and a bunch of activists, 337 00:19:20,042 --> 00:19:21,583 we wanted to put on this Women's Week, 338 00:19:21,667 --> 00:19:23,500 and each day was gonna be devoted to, like, 339 00:19:23,583 --> 00:19:26,000 Women's History Day, Women's Health Day, 340 00:19:26,125 --> 00:19:29,167 which took place in March 1998. 341 00:19:33,375 --> 00:19:36,458 We had a professor come from a university in Boston, 342 00:19:36,542 --> 00:19:40,917 and she gave a slideshow on pornography, 343 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:42,500 basically about how 344 00:19:42,583 --> 00:19:46,667 the sexist, violent images of women are harmful. 345 00:19:46,792 --> 00:19:51,667 And the first image that I remember is an image 346 00:19:51,750 --> 00:19:53,958 of a woman being fed into a meat grinder, 347 00:19:54,042 --> 00:19:55,833 which was in "Hustler." 348 00:20:03,333 --> 00:20:04,750 It's a spectrum. 349 00:20:04,833 --> 00:20:11,625 "Playboy" is part of a larger machine 350 00:20:11,708 --> 00:20:15,333 that promoted the commoditization 351 00:20:15,417 --> 00:20:18,208 and objectification of women. 352 00:20:18,292 --> 00:20:20,833 And the implication is that women are ready 353 00:20:20,917 --> 00:20:24,417 and available for sex anytime. 354 00:20:24,500 --> 00:20:29,500 So, I think "Playboy" definitely contributes to a rape culture. 355 00:20:29,583 --> 00:20:31,458 ♪♪ 356 00:20:31,583 --> 00:20:35,833 So, the professor showed a "Penthouse" spread 357 00:20:35,875 --> 00:20:37,583 from December 1984 358 00:20:37,708 --> 00:20:41,500 that showed Asian women hanging from trees 359 00:20:41,583 --> 00:20:44,125 that were bound and gagged, 360 00:20:44,208 --> 00:20:46,958 heads falling forward, possibly dead. 361 00:20:47,042 --> 00:20:49,875 ♪ 362 00:20:49,958 --> 00:20:51,583 The professor said 363 00:20:51,667 --> 00:20:55,667 in 1985, a young girl, her name was Jean Fewel-- 364 00:20:55,792 --> 00:20:58,250 she's Asian, she was being adopted, 365 00:20:58,333 --> 00:21:00,083 was kidnapped on her way to school, 366 00:21:00,167 --> 00:21:03,875 and found bound and hanging from a tree, 367 00:21:03,958 --> 00:21:07,833 just like the magazine right here in Chapel Hill. 368 00:21:07,875 --> 00:21:11,458 She'd been sexually assaulted, and the person 369 00:21:11,542 --> 00:21:14,625 who was ultimately convicted of her murder 370 00:21:14,708 --> 00:21:17,792 was addicted to pornography and had been found to be 371 00:21:17,875 --> 00:21:20,083 in an adult bookstore three days before that. 372 00:21:20,167 --> 00:21:24,500 ♪ 373 00:21:24,625 --> 00:21:30,542 Hearing the story of Jean, my friend burst into tears. 374 00:21:30,625 --> 00:21:32,333 She is from Chapel Hill, 375 00:21:32,375 --> 00:21:35,333 and she said, "Jean was my friend." 376 00:21:35,375 --> 00:21:38,333 And, like, the trauma that I felt 377 00:21:38,375 --> 00:21:41,333 radiating from her, like, I was just pissed. 378 00:21:41,417 --> 00:21:45,333 Deeply personal issues really affected my way 379 00:21:45,417 --> 00:21:49,042 of looking at the world and women in the media. 380 00:21:49,125 --> 00:21:51,208 ♪ 381 00:21:51,292 --> 00:21:53,833 I was the daughter of a single mother. 382 00:21:53,875 --> 00:21:57,250 Also, I had some deeply traumatic things happen to me 383 00:21:57,333 --> 00:21:59,292 when I was younger. 384 00:22:00,958 --> 00:22:03,958 Yes, but not on campus. 385 00:22:04,042 --> 00:22:07,000 When I was much younger. 386 00:22:07,083 --> 00:22:08,417 It's an obvious question. 387 00:22:08,500 --> 00:22:11,583 And I was like, Do I want to talk about that? 388 00:22:13,208 --> 00:22:15,500 I don't know what else to... 389 00:22:15,583 --> 00:22:20,708 say about the assault other than it happened, 390 00:22:20,792 --> 00:22:22,000 and it... 391 00:22:24,667 --> 00:22:28,125 You are forever part of a club 392 00:22:28,208 --> 00:22:30,292 that no one wants to be a part of. 393 00:22:30,375 --> 00:22:33,875 So, 19-year-old me, 394 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:38,083 I was just ready to stand up for what I believe in. 395 00:22:38,167 --> 00:22:40,958 ♪ 396 00:22:41,042 --> 00:22:43,833 And so when the slideshow was over, people were saying, 397 00:22:43,875 --> 00:22:47,042 "What can we do? Like, how can we stop this?" 398 00:22:47,125 --> 00:22:48,708 I raised my hand and I said, 399 00:22:48,792 --> 00:22:52,500 "Actually, I just saw an ad in the student newspaper. 400 00:22:52,583 --> 00:22:55,792 'Playboy' is recruiting for models. 401 00:22:55,875 --> 00:22:59,583 And I said we could try to disrupt their photo shoot." 402 00:22:59,667 --> 00:23:02,250 To be clear, it is a woman's choice to do 403 00:23:02,333 --> 00:23:04,417 what she wants with her body. 404 00:23:04,500 --> 00:23:08,125 This protest was not about the women who pose. 405 00:23:08,208 --> 00:23:09,708 It was about "Playboy" Magazine 406 00:23:09,833 --> 00:23:13,792 plus UNC's de facto endorsement of "Playboy." 407 00:23:13,875 --> 00:23:19,000 ♪ 408 00:23:19,125 --> 00:23:23,500 We tried to throw everything we could into this protest. 409 00:23:23,583 --> 00:23:27,167 We took their ad, and we repurposed it. 410 00:23:27,292 --> 00:23:28,958 This is our ad that says, 411 00:23:29,042 --> 00:23:32,208 "Subvert 'Playboy' coming to Chapel Hill. 412 00:23:32,292 --> 00:23:33,625 Attention, wo/men, 413 00:23:33,708 --> 00:23:36,167 ever fantasized about realistic representations 414 00:23:36,208 --> 00:23:37,708 of women in magazines? 415 00:23:37,792 --> 00:23:39,750 Give 'Playboy' a piece of your mind, 416 00:23:39,833 --> 00:23:41,958 not just a piece of your body." 417 00:23:42,042 --> 00:23:44,708 So, then we decided we would get as 418 00:23:44,792 --> 00:23:48,292 much negative publicity for "Playboy" as we possibly could. 419 00:23:48,375 --> 00:23:49,625 And it was a community effort. 420 00:23:49,708 --> 00:23:52,292 It was grad students. It was parents. 421 00:23:52,375 --> 00:23:55,417 It was professors. Undergrads. 422 00:23:55,500 --> 00:24:00,542 The day of the audition, we met on campus. 423 00:24:00,667 --> 00:24:02,792 We were a group of probably 50. 424 00:24:02,875 --> 00:24:06,417 And then we marched to the Carolina Inn, 425 00:24:06,500 --> 00:24:09,500 where "Playboy" reps were coming to do interviews. 426 00:24:09,542 --> 00:24:14,333 We had 21 minutes of silence for the 21 years 427 00:24:14,375 --> 00:24:18,333 that "Playboy" had been printing pictorials of college women. 428 00:24:18,375 --> 00:24:20,875 And we had signs that said, 429 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:22,667 "It's not funny. We're not Bunnies." 430 00:24:22,750 --> 00:24:24,750 "The 'Playboy' Bunny brings rotten eggs." 431 00:24:24,875 --> 00:24:26,875 ♪♪ 432 00:24:26,958 --> 00:24:31,792 The cops came. We were not breaking any rules. 433 00:24:31,875 --> 00:24:33,458 We were absolutely, like, legally allowed 434 00:24:33,542 --> 00:24:35,500 to do what we were doing. 435 00:24:35,583 --> 00:24:37,208 I wasn't intimidated by them. 436 00:24:37,292 --> 00:24:40,667 ♪ 437 00:24:40,792 --> 00:24:42,333 I gave an interview to the local news, 438 00:24:42,458 --> 00:24:45,750 you know, said this thing about destroying women's autonomy 439 00:24:45,833 --> 00:24:47,750 and all of these really big concepts. 440 00:24:47,833 --> 00:24:50,500 I'm sick of violence against women. 441 00:24:50,542 --> 00:24:51,750 I'm sick of sexual assault. 442 00:24:51,833 --> 00:24:54,125 I'm sick of institutions that make that possible. 443 00:24:54,208 --> 00:24:56,000 ♪♪ 444 00:24:56,042 --> 00:24:59,708 After that interview... 445 00:24:59,792 --> 00:25:01,958 [laughs] I had no idea what was about to happen. 446 00:25:02,042 --> 00:25:06,167 ♪ 447 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:13,333 ♪ 448 00:25:13,417 --> 00:25:14,958 The day of the "Playboy" protest, 449 00:25:15,042 --> 00:25:16,667 I gave an interview to the local news. 450 00:25:16,750 --> 00:25:18,083 I didn't think anything of it. 451 00:25:18,167 --> 00:25:20,375 And then that night, my friend Kevin-- 452 00:25:20,458 --> 00:25:22,375 he called me in my dorm room, 453 00:25:22,458 --> 00:25:25,000 and he said, "Do you watch 'The Daily Show'?" 454 00:25:25,083 --> 00:25:27,917 And I was like, "No, I don't even know what that is." 455 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:30,625 He's like, "Well, you need to watch it 'cause you were on it." 456 00:25:30,708 --> 00:25:33,333 And I just couldn't believe it. 457 00:25:33,417 --> 00:25:36,667 And of course, there's no playback at that point, right? 458 00:25:36,667 --> 00:25:38,000 You didn't have DVR. 459 00:25:38,042 --> 00:25:41,583 So my friend stayed up all night watching TV 460 00:25:41,667 --> 00:25:44,667 and taped it, like the 5 a.m. rerun for me. 461 00:25:44,750 --> 00:25:47,500 I watched it. I was so embarrassed. 462 00:25:47,542 --> 00:25:51,167 What is the sound of one hand protesting? 463 00:25:51,208 --> 00:25:52,500 [audience laughter] 464 00:25:52,583 --> 00:25:54,708 "Playboy" Magazine, the only porno mag 465 00:25:54,875 --> 00:25:57,000 that's okay to leave out when company's over... 466 00:25:57,083 --> 00:25:59,167 -[laughter] -...is casting its nets 467 00:25:59,208 --> 00:26:02,417 into the vast sea of barely legal boat show queens. 468 00:26:02,500 --> 00:26:03,917 that is the American college system 469 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:06,458 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. 470 00:26:06,542 --> 00:26:10,000 Oddly, there were some protesters. 471 00:26:10,042 --> 00:26:11,542 Also makes very unwarranted assumptions 472 00:26:11,667 --> 00:26:13,667 about men and their sexuality, 473 00:26:13,750 --> 00:26:15,875 showing a man as a dominator and a predator. 474 00:26:15,958 --> 00:26:17,917 And so it's very disturbing. 475 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,167 Magazine agreed many of the protesters had valid points 476 00:26:20,292 --> 00:26:22,417 about female exploitation and subjugation, 477 00:26:22,542 --> 00:26:23,833 many of which will be addressed 478 00:26:23,917 --> 00:26:26,542 in the upcoming "Hot Protesters of the ACC." 479 00:26:26,625 --> 00:26:28,958 [laughter and applause] 480 00:26:29,042 --> 00:26:32,458 I was mortified. 481 00:26:32,542 --> 00:26:35,625 I wasn't expecting to get this guy who had all this power, 482 00:26:35,708 --> 00:26:39,083 he has a huge platform, to, like, focus on me, 483 00:26:39,167 --> 00:26:40,000 and mocking me. 484 00:26:40,042 --> 00:26:43,083 I was mortified. I felt humiliated. 485 00:26:43,167 --> 00:26:45,083 I felt like my image was used against me. 486 00:26:45,167 --> 00:26:47,917 Yeah, they took my face, 487 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:52,250 and they superimposed it on the cover of "Playboy" 488 00:26:52,333 --> 00:26:56,208 with the new caption, "Hot Protesters of the ACC." 489 00:26:56,292 --> 00:27:00,833 I was naive. I didn't know that something that you say 490 00:27:00,875 --> 00:27:03,750 in one news market could make it, you know, 491 00:27:03,833 --> 00:27:05,542 all the way up to New York or L.A., 492 00:27:05,625 --> 00:27:11,667 and it really felt unfair. 493 00:27:11,750 --> 00:27:16,583 It feels like bullying to take a young woman 494 00:27:16,667 --> 00:27:18,375 who's speaking her mind about something 495 00:27:18,458 --> 00:27:21,708 that's pretty serious and making a joke out of it. 496 00:27:21,833 --> 00:27:23,542 I was 19 years old. 497 00:27:23,667 --> 00:27:25,458 I was ashamed for years. 498 00:27:25,583 --> 00:27:28,667 People brought it up to me, like strangers mentioned it. 499 00:27:28,708 --> 00:27:31,417 It was hurtful. 500 00:27:31,542 --> 00:27:34,208 Imagine, if you will, sitting down to your morning coffee, 501 00:27:34,292 --> 00:27:37,125 turning on your home computer to read the day's newspaper. 502 00:27:37,208 --> 00:27:39,125 Well, it's not as far-fetched as it may seem. 503 00:27:39,208 --> 00:27:41,875 REPORTER: It spans the globe like a superhighway. 504 00:27:41,958 --> 00:27:43,917 It is called Internet. 505 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:48,292 In 1981, only 213 computers were hooked to the Internet. 506 00:27:48,375 --> 00:27:50,000 As the new year begins, 507 00:27:50,125 --> 00:27:51,875 an estimated two and a half million computers 508 00:27:51,958 --> 00:27:53,750 will be on the network, 509 00:27:53,875 --> 00:27:55,958 serving as many as 20 million people. 510 00:27:56,042 --> 00:27:59,792 In the mid to late '90s, the Internet is emerging, 511 00:27:59,875 --> 00:28:03,333 and magazines like "Playboy" have to deal with that 512 00:28:03,417 --> 00:28:06,292 and figure out how to exist within that space. 513 00:28:06,375 --> 00:28:09,458 And so one of the things they started doing was a cyber club. 514 00:28:09,542 --> 00:28:14,375 ♪♪ 515 00:28:14,458 --> 00:28:19,500 So, you could have access online to images that were similar 516 00:28:19,583 --> 00:28:23,417 to what "Playboy" had presented throughout its history. 517 00:28:23,500 --> 00:28:27,000 But one of the things that's different is that when 518 00:28:27,042 --> 00:28:31,167 a woman chooses to pose for the cyber club, 519 00:28:31,292 --> 00:28:37,667 those images are available to virtually anyone, anytime. 520 00:28:37,750 --> 00:28:41,000 And so the potential for negative consequences 521 00:28:41,083 --> 00:28:46,333 or judgment just becomes that much more significant. 522 00:28:46,375 --> 00:28:48,875 ♪ 523 00:28:48,958 --> 00:28:55,667 I grew up in a small town about two hours northeast of Dallas. 524 00:28:55,750 --> 00:28:58,917 I started fashion modeling when I was around 12. 525 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:01,042 There's a modeling school in Dallas. 526 00:29:01,125 --> 00:29:06,667 and I went there and did a few of their courses, 527 00:29:06,708 --> 00:29:11,917 and then I started shooting with some local photographers. 528 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:15,625 My first memory of "Playboy" is seeing "Girls Next Door." 529 00:29:15,708 --> 00:29:18,208 Of course, when I saw the show 530 00:29:18,292 --> 00:29:20,958 and the girls and the glamour and all that, 531 00:29:21,042 --> 00:29:24,333 I definitely wanted to be a part of that whole shebang. 532 00:29:24,417 --> 00:29:27,917 When I was 17, 533 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:31,542 around the time that I was going to college to be a teacher, 534 00:29:31,667 --> 00:29:35,458 I started shooting with a photographer named Jose Luis, 535 00:29:35,542 --> 00:29:38,875 and we started by doing some test shoots together. 536 00:29:38,958 --> 00:29:42,500 He did a lot of, like, glamour shoots 537 00:29:42,583 --> 00:29:43,917 with nude models and stuff. 538 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:45,833 So when I turned 18, 539 00:29:45,917 --> 00:29:48,583 I told him that I wanted to do a nude shoot. 540 00:29:48,708 --> 00:29:50,583 You know, the goal was "Playboy." 541 00:29:50,708 --> 00:29:54,333 Then Jose called me one day and said, 542 00:29:54,417 --> 00:29:57,375 "Hey, I've been doing some work for 'Playboy.' 543 00:29:57,500 --> 00:29:59,292 Do you want to do a photo shoot? 544 00:29:59,375 --> 00:30:00,792 Maybe we can do a photo submission 545 00:30:00,917 --> 00:30:02,958 and see if they purchase it." 546 00:30:03,042 --> 00:30:05,917 So, that was my first "Playboy" shoot, 547 00:30:06,042 --> 00:30:09,250 and I was really excited for it. 548 00:30:09,333 --> 00:30:12,750 When Jose called me and told me that they had purchased 549 00:30:12,833 --> 00:30:14,625 the submission to put it on Playboy Plus, 550 00:30:14,708 --> 00:30:16,667 the online version of Playboy, 551 00:30:16,750 --> 00:30:18,667 I think initially I was so in shock. 552 00:30:18,750 --> 00:30:21,417 I didn't really have any feelings. I was just like, wow. 553 00:30:21,500 --> 00:30:24,000 ♪ 554 00:30:24,083 --> 00:30:26,750 This was from my first shoot with "Playboy." 555 00:30:26,833 --> 00:30:31,917 When I logged in and saw myself on Playboy Plus, 556 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:33,833 I was very proud. 557 00:30:33,917 --> 00:30:36,375 And then pretty soon after that, 558 00:30:36,458 --> 00:30:40,375 I did a couple more shoots for Playboy Plus. 559 00:30:43,042 --> 00:30:45,625 I felt great. [laughs] It was super exciting. Yeah. 560 00:30:45,750 --> 00:30:51,417 But I had no idea that because I had posed in college, 561 00:30:51,542 --> 00:30:53,042 things were going to get crazy. 562 00:30:53,125 --> 00:30:55,333 ♪ 563 00:30:59,083 --> 00:31:02,458 ♪ 564 00:31:02,542 --> 00:31:05,833 This one's one of my favorites. It's a little blurry. 565 00:31:05,917 --> 00:31:10,125 At the time I posed for Playboy Plus in college, 566 00:31:10,208 --> 00:31:12,042 I was really excited to be a part of it. 567 00:31:12,125 --> 00:31:13,833 ♪ 568 00:31:13,875 --> 00:31:17,208 When my various shoots came out, 569 00:31:17,292 --> 00:31:19,292 I definitely posted a lot of the pictures on social media. 570 00:31:19,375 --> 00:31:21,167 ♪♪ 571 00:31:21,250 --> 00:31:25,000 All my friends and classmates knew that I had done "Playboy," 572 00:31:25,125 --> 00:31:27,750 and people were happy for me. 573 00:31:27,833 --> 00:31:32,000 Honestly, I think that one of the reasons why in college 574 00:31:32,083 --> 00:31:36,667 I wanted to model and do "Playboy" so bad 575 00:31:36,792 --> 00:31:40,542 is because I was bullied in high school for my acne. 576 00:31:42,708 --> 00:31:46,458 So, you know, after all those years of not fitting in 577 00:31:46,542 --> 00:31:49,417 and just not feeling so great about myself 578 00:31:49,542 --> 00:31:52,667 to have such a positive response online... 579 00:31:52,708 --> 00:31:55,500 it felt nice. 580 00:31:55,542 --> 00:31:57,375 [mouse clicks] 581 00:31:57,458 --> 00:31:58,458 ♪ 582 00:32:01,542 --> 00:32:05,292 ♪ 583 00:32:05,375 --> 00:32:08,250 So, I posed for "Playboy" as a coed, 584 00:32:08,375 --> 00:32:13,292 graduated with my degree at 20, and then at 21, 585 00:32:13,375 --> 00:32:16,500 I got hired at a magnet school in Dallas, 586 00:32:16,542 --> 00:32:18,000 close to downtown, 587 00:32:18,042 --> 00:32:21,500 to teach high school Spanish grades nine through 12. 588 00:32:21,625 --> 00:32:25,000 ♪ 589 00:32:25,083 --> 00:32:27,333 Before I started teaching, 590 00:32:27,458 --> 00:32:29,583 in the back of my mind, I was always thinking, like, 591 00:32:29,667 --> 00:32:31,000 you know, I did do "Playboy," 592 00:32:31,125 --> 00:32:32,917 and I don't want these kids to find out. 593 00:32:33,042 --> 00:32:35,625 So, I went to thrift shops, and I bought, like, 594 00:32:35,708 --> 00:32:39,000 the most grandma-looking clothes I could. [laughs] 595 00:32:39,083 --> 00:32:44,125 Also, I deleted all of the photos from my social media 596 00:32:44,208 --> 00:32:48,667 anywhere where I had posted pictures of myself modeling, 597 00:32:48,708 --> 00:32:50,333 I had taken them down. 598 00:32:50,458 --> 00:32:51,958 But then I thought that because I had done it before, 599 00:32:52,042 --> 00:32:53,333 it wouldn't really matter. 600 00:32:53,333 --> 00:32:56,792 ♪ 601 00:32:56,875 --> 00:32:58,958 I had been teaching two or three months, 602 00:32:59,042 --> 00:33:02,792 and I came into class one day, 603 00:33:02,875 --> 00:33:05,958 and it was before school had started, 604 00:33:06,042 --> 00:33:09,500 and a few of my students came in to the classroom. 605 00:33:09,583 --> 00:33:12,250 It was a group of them, three or four girls, 606 00:33:12,375 --> 00:33:14,875 and they came to my desk, and one of them was like, 607 00:33:14,958 --> 00:33:17,917 "Ms. Deweese, uh, we need to talk to you." 608 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:21,333 Said, "Okay, yeah, sure. What's going on?" 609 00:33:21,417 --> 00:33:23,375 And she goes, 610 00:33:23,500 --> 00:33:26,000 "Well, the other day when you were sick, 611 00:33:26,125 --> 00:33:29,833 We tried to find you online 612 00:33:29,875 --> 00:33:31,542 so we could, you know, send you, like, 613 00:33:31,625 --> 00:33:33,708 a "get well soon" message. 614 00:33:33,792 --> 00:33:38,375 And we Googled your name, and we found your pictures." 615 00:33:38,458 --> 00:33:41,625 And I said, "Oh, what pictures? 616 00:33:41,750 --> 00:33:44,333 And she goes, "All of them." 617 00:33:44,375 --> 00:33:46,083 ♪ 618 00:33:46,167 --> 00:33:48,083 Yeah, all of them. 619 00:33:48,167 --> 00:33:53,125 And I said, "Okay. So, who all knows?" 620 00:33:53,208 --> 00:33:56,500 And she goes, "Everybody. 621 00:33:56,583 --> 00:33:59,958 Like, a few of the students got ahold of them, 622 00:34:00,042 --> 00:34:02,083 and they've been posting them on Twitter, 623 00:34:02,208 --> 00:34:03,875 and they've just been, like, circulating around." 624 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:06,417 ♪♪ 625 00:34:06,500 --> 00:34:08,917 And I said, "Thanks for telling me," 626 00:34:09,042 --> 00:34:12,292 And I started teaching the class, 627 00:34:12,375 --> 00:34:16,708 and I had gotten maybe five minutes into my lesson 628 00:34:16,792 --> 00:34:18,917 when my principal called me into her office. 629 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:20,708 ♪ 630 00:34:20,833 --> 00:34:24,833 And she's like, "I don't really care about the pictures. 631 00:34:24,875 --> 00:34:26,167 It's something that you did before, 632 00:34:26,208 --> 00:34:28,667 but I am going to have to check with the district 633 00:34:28,792 --> 00:34:31,167 and see how they want me to move forward." 634 00:34:31,250 --> 00:34:33,958 She called me back the same day, 635 00:34:34,042 --> 00:34:36,292 and she told me that the district 636 00:34:36,375 --> 00:34:40,208 didn't really have any other disciplinary action for me 637 00:34:40,292 --> 00:34:43,500 and that if there were any parents who were uncomfortable, 638 00:34:43,583 --> 00:34:45,750 they would move the students from my class 639 00:34:45,833 --> 00:34:47,417 to another teacher. 640 00:34:47,500 --> 00:34:49,792 So I was like, "Okay, everything's good." 641 00:34:49,875 --> 00:34:52,000 ♪♪ 642 00:34:52,083 --> 00:34:54,417 Soon after, my principal told me 643 00:34:54,500 --> 00:34:57,167 that there was one particular mother 644 00:34:57,250 --> 00:35:00,833 who was very upset about these pictures. 645 00:35:00,917 --> 00:35:03,292 And the mother said, 646 00:35:03,375 --> 00:35:06,333 "Well, what are you gonna do about the teacher?" 647 00:35:06,417 --> 00:35:09,042 And my principal told her, "I can't discuss that with you. 648 00:35:09,125 --> 00:35:10,833 It's a personnel matter." 649 00:35:10,875 --> 00:35:13,208 So, then the mom got mad, 650 00:35:13,333 --> 00:35:15,625 and she contacted all the news stations. 651 00:35:15,708 --> 00:35:19,625 Soon after that, I was told that I needed 652 00:35:19,708 --> 00:35:23,375 to leave the campus because it was gonna be really crazy. 653 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:26,417 Here's a question for you. 654 00:35:26,500 --> 00:35:29,083 Is it okay to be a "Playboy" model 655 00:35:29,167 --> 00:35:30,542 before you become a teacher? 656 00:35:30,625 --> 00:35:34,875 Right now, the answer for Cristy Nicole Deweese is no. 657 00:35:34,958 --> 00:35:36,333 Parents of her students 658 00:35:36,417 --> 00:35:38,208 complained about Deweese's modeling. 659 00:35:38,292 --> 00:35:40,000 REPORTER: Deweese hasn't been back in the classroom 660 00:35:40,042 --> 00:35:41,500 since her secret got out, 661 00:35:41,583 --> 00:35:43,917 and it's not clear if she ever will return. 662 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:46,292 ♪ 663 00:35:46,375 --> 00:35:49,042 They were going to put me on leave, 664 00:35:49,125 --> 00:35:53,000 and they thought it would maybe be, like, a couple weeks 665 00:35:53,042 --> 00:35:54,375 before I could come back. 666 00:35:54,542 --> 00:35:58,625 It was a rough time. It was pretty stressful. 667 00:35:58,708 --> 00:36:00,167 It was kind of scary. 668 00:36:00,250 --> 00:36:03,000 The news stations were showing up at my house. 669 00:36:03,042 --> 00:36:09,625 I remember my stepdad going to the door, and it just being, 670 00:36:09,625 --> 00:36:13,333 like, random people out there trying to talk to me. 671 00:36:13,458 --> 00:36:16,625 And people were constantly blowing up my phone. 672 00:36:16,708 --> 00:36:19,167 I was like, I don't even know how they got my phone number. 673 00:36:19,208 --> 00:36:20,667 People were threatening me online. 674 00:36:20,792 --> 00:36:23,500 People were calling me all kinds of names. 675 00:36:23,542 --> 00:36:27,667 ♪ 676 00:36:27,792 --> 00:36:30,833 It was hurtful because a lot of the assumptions 677 00:36:30,917 --> 00:36:33,583 and things that they were saying about me weren't true. 678 00:36:33,667 --> 00:36:35,833 ♪ 679 00:36:38,333 --> 00:36:43,792 Um, that I was a slut, that I was stupid. 680 00:36:43,875 --> 00:36:46,958 That there was no way that I could be a good teacher 681 00:36:47,042 --> 00:36:49,333 because I had posed in "Playboy." 682 00:36:49,417 --> 00:36:52,375 REPORTER: The school district is keeping quiet so far, 683 00:36:52,458 --> 00:36:55,250 but students and parents have both been speaking out. 684 00:36:55,333 --> 00:36:59,375 It was just a lot going on, but at the time, 685 00:36:59,458 --> 00:37:02,792 I still thought that I was gonna have my job. 686 00:37:02,875 --> 00:37:05,292 She's not provocative. She's not anything. 687 00:37:05,375 --> 00:37:06,833 She's, like, a really good teacher. 688 00:37:06,875 --> 00:37:09,958 My students actually created a petition 689 00:37:10,042 --> 00:37:12,625 to try to get me to keep my job. 690 00:37:12,708 --> 00:37:14,667 ♪ 691 00:37:14,750 --> 00:37:18,625 But then the district office told me 692 00:37:18,708 --> 00:37:21,667 that there was just too much pressure from the media 693 00:37:21,750 --> 00:37:23,542 and that they were gonna have to let me go. 694 00:37:23,667 --> 00:37:27,083 She can't give tests because we saw her breasts. 695 00:37:27,167 --> 00:37:28,625 A Dallas school district 696 00:37:28,708 --> 00:37:31,875 has fired a 21-year-old Spanish teacher 697 00:37:31,958 --> 00:37:36,125 because she posed nude for "Playboy" back in 2011. 698 00:37:36,208 --> 00:37:41,667 It really was like a witch hunt, and I didn't understand why. 699 00:37:41,708 --> 00:37:47,042 After I was fired, I was definitely sad. 700 00:37:47,125 --> 00:37:50,583 I was really liking teaching. It's what I had studied for. 701 00:37:50,708 --> 00:37:53,125 It was what I had seen myself doing long term. 702 00:37:53,208 --> 00:37:55,542 ♪ 703 00:37:55,625 --> 00:37:57,250 I was a good teacher. 704 00:37:57,333 --> 00:37:59,833 The students loved being in my class. 705 00:37:59,958 --> 00:38:01,500 They learned a lot. 706 00:38:01,625 --> 00:38:05,917 Because I was bullied, I cared about providing, like, 707 00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:08,667 a loving environment for them, 708 00:38:08,667 --> 00:38:11,625 and all of a sudden that was being taken away 709 00:38:11,708 --> 00:38:16,375 just because I posed for "Playboy" in college. 710 00:38:20,083 --> 00:38:24,625 Even though at the time, I tried to ignore a lot of the outrage, 711 00:38:24,708 --> 00:38:27,500 honestly, I was pretty mad about it. 712 00:38:27,542 --> 00:38:31,250 I don't feel like I deserve to be fired 713 00:38:31,333 --> 00:38:36,625 from my job as a teacher for posing in "Playboy" in college. 714 00:38:36,708 --> 00:38:38,833 ♪ 715 00:38:38,958 --> 00:38:44,708 And I'm not really sure why that one mom cared so much. 716 00:38:44,792 --> 00:38:48,042 The issue was solved by her son being out of my classroom. 717 00:38:48,125 --> 00:38:51,542 ♪ 718 00:38:51,667 --> 00:38:54,667 It was no longer gonna affect her or her child, 719 00:38:54,750 --> 00:38:58,750 but I guess she had some strong opinion about me being 720 00:38:58,833 --> 00:39:02,667 naked on the Internet and wanted me to lose my job. 721 00:39:02,708 --> 00:39:06,250 Obviously, getting fired was very stressful, 722 00:39:06,333 --> 00:39:11,500 but it was more traumatic to have the news media hounding me. 723 00:39:11,625 --> 00:39:15,333 And there were several people online 724 00:39:15,417 --> 00:39:19,042 making a lot of negative comments about me. 725 00:39:19,042 --> 00:39:23,750 I didn't feel like I had really done anything that would 726 00:39:23,833 --> 00:39:26,083 make me deserve that kind of treatment. 727 00:39:26,167 --> 00:39:30,208 Because I do live in Texas, I'm in the Bible Belt, 728 00:39:30,333 --> 00:39:31,833 so I wasn't completely 729 00:39:31,875 --> 00:39:37,167 blindsided by people's conservative reactions. 730 00:39:37,250 --> 00:39:40,500 I think, you know, 731 00:39:40,583 --> 00:39:45,000 there was a lot of religious influence on the decision, 732 00:39:45,042 --> 00:39:47,708 and I was kind of expecting 733 00:39:47,792 --> 00:39:52,083 there to be some outrage from that group of people. 734 00:39:52,167 --> 00:39:53,750 It would have been nice 735 00:39:53,833 --> 00:39:56,125 had "Playboy" made a supportive statement or something, 736 00:39:56,208 --> 00:39:58,417 but they didn't reach out at all. 737 00:39:58,500 --> 00:40:02,333 But I don't think that posing for "Playboy" 738 00:40:02,417 --> 00:40:04,833 was worthy of that much attention. 739 00:40:04,917 --> 00:40:08,792 I think it was blown way out of proportion. It was a lot. 740 00:40:12,250 --> 00:40:14,833 ♪ 741 00:40:14,917 --> 00:40:18,042 When I was in "Playboy," back at that time, 742 00:40:18,125 --> 00:40:20,708 we didn't have Twitter, we didn't have Facebook, 743 00:40:20,792 --> 00:40:23,167 we didn't have likes and that kind of feedback. 744 00:40:23,292 --> 00:40:27,625 But there was enough publicity to feel the powerlessness 745 00:40:27,708 --> 00:40:33,167 of being in the center of other people's conversation. 746 00:40:33,208 --> 00:40:37,458 ♪ 747 00:40:37,542 --> 00:40:41,083 And I think now I would fight against anybody 748 00:40:41,167 --> 00:40:43,167 who wanted to cancel me 749 00:40:43,250 --> 00:40:47,750 in the ways people did at that time. 750 00:40:47,875 --> 00:40:49,917 ♪♪ 751 00:40:50,042 --> 00:40:52,417 My experience protesting "Playboy" 752 00:40:52,500 --> 00:40:55,833 was deeply distressing to me, 753 00:40:55,917 --> 00:40:58,417 but I would still do it again. 754 00:40:58,542 --> 00:41:03,625 Because it was the first time I really saw, 755 00:41:03,708 --> 00:41:07,417 you can make change. You can speak up. 756 00:41:07,500 --> 00:41:09,417 We couldn't really finish the conversation, 757 00:41:09,500 --> 00:41:10,917 but we started it. 758 00:41:11,042 --> 00:41:13,000 And I think it was a really important conversation 759 00:41:13,083 --> 00:41:14,333 to be had. 760 00:41:14,375 --> 00:41:16,125 ♪ 761 00:41:16,125 --> 00:41:19,667 "Playboy" coming into campus was 25 years ago. 762 00:41:19,792 --> 00:41:23,250 When I think if this could happen now, 763 00:41:23,333 --> 00:41:27,125 I think there would be a lot more outrage about it, 764 00:41:27,208 --> 00:41:29,000 and it might still happen, 765 00:41:29,083 --> 00:41:33,833 but I think the response would be stronger. 766 00:41:35,417 --> 00:41:36,875 I think it's progress. 767 00:41:36,958 --> 00:41:39,375 I have to believe it's progress. 768 00:41:39,458 --> 00:41:42,833 ♪ 769 00:41:42,875 --> 00:41:46,917 ♪ 770 00:41:47,042 --> 00:41:52,000 "Playboy" is just a very complicated package of ideas. 771 00:41:52,083 --> 00:41:57,250 We can't ignore the fact that "Playboy" was a magazine 772 00:41:57,333 --> 00:42:02,500 that was explicit in its support for the civil rights movement, 773 00:42:02,583 --> 00:42:04,750 for free speech, 774 00:42:04,875 --> 00:42:07,333 separation of church and state, 775 00:42:07,458 --> 00:42:10,083 gay rights. 776 00:42:10,167 --> 00:42:13,833 But at the same time, I think that "Playboy" 777 00:42:13,917 --> 00:42:18,833 absolutely embodied a lot of sexism, even misogyny. 778 00:42:18,917 --> 00:42:26,542 And we like to think that women can make free sexual choices, 779 00:42:26,625 --> 00:42:31,083 but we can't, because our choices are always 780 00:42:31,167 --> 00:42:36,208 judged within a culture that is very sexist and patriarchal. 781 00:42:36,292 --> 00:42:39,208 So, a young college age girl 782 00:42:39,292 --> 00:42:42,708 takes her clothes off for "Playboy." We judge her. 783 00:42:42,792 --> 00:42:48,667 Her peer on campus protests "Playboy." We judge her. 784 00:42:48,708 --> 00:42:52,750 When it comes to sex, women can't win. 785 00:42:52,833 --> 00:42:58,083 ♪ 786 00:43:01,083 --> 00:43:02,833 When I agreed to do season one of this show, 787 00:43:02,917 --> 00:43:06,708 I really did not anticipate saying as much as I did. 788 00:43:06,792 --> 00:43:09,167 It tore me apart from my family. 789 00:43:09,208 --> 00:43:12,333 Hugh Hefner was not a predator to me. He was family. 790 00:43:12,375 --> 00:43:15,458 When people found out my mom had dated Hugh Hefner 791 00:43:15,542 --> 00:43:18,958 and was the "Playboy" model, I was told, 792 00:43:19,042 --> 00:43:23,292 "Oh, your mom's a glorified prostitute. You're a slut." 793 00:43:23,375 --> 00:43:26,042 I should be able to tell my story as I lived it, 794 00:43:26,125 --> 00:43:29,375 not somebody else's idea of what it was.