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Playboy Figured Out How to Appeal to Women

Photo: Courtesy of Playboy

Last year, Playboy magazine announced its intent to become “female-friendly.” Not by introducing the shameless male objectification we deserve, but by swapping the fake tans, hair, and breasts for “a more healthy, naturalistic look” among female Playmates, as editorial director Jimmy Jellinek told Slate’s Amanda Hess.

This week, the magazine published its first big hit with women, eliciting glowing links from Feministing, Bustle, and Makers. But it turns out being female-friendly has nothing to do with nudging the goal post of male approval in a more attainable direction. It actually requires the opposite: undermining male approval as the objective in the first place. To that end, Playboy’s lady-viral “Flowchart: Should You Cat Call Her?” is a useful reminder for men of how often female strangers want their unsolicited feedback on their physical appearances. (Answer: virtually never.)

I, for one, can’t wait to hear people claim they read Playboy for the feminist flowcharts. 

Playboy Figured Out How to Appeal to Women