Hugh Hefner as a feminist???

I haven't forgotten about my blog...I have more so been neglecting it, due to busyness, which is really a lame excuse. A devoted follower mentioned I hadn't been on for a while, and I thank him for this!...

Sooo, about Hugh Hefner...While watching tv tonight, I stumbled upon his show 'Girls Next Door', where his 'girlfriends' who live in the Playboy Mansion talk about their lives there and all the glamour that accompanies that...

With that, I remember a friend fairly recently talking about a documentary of Hugh Hefner that played at TIFF this year. I have been reading up on it, as well as the many reviews...I have no opinion, yet, but am extremely intrigued...

Reviews have been everywhere from women saying that they find Hugh Hefner and his Playboy enterprise as 'empowering and liberating for women's expression of sexuality', and to others stating it is a weak attempt at trying to showcase Hefner for what he is not-an activist, rebel and humanitarian. But the MOST intriguing of reviews is from Hugh Hefner himself. In one article, he is quoted as saying, 'I was a feminist before feminism was created'. Huh????...

Obviously, this has me very intrigued! Bringing me to some blogging research...I am going to watch this documentary and write my review. It makes me think of the age old question, who and to what extenxt can one be defined as a feminist...

Can you be a feminist if you think Barbie is liberating?...Can you be a feminist if you have implants, orange skin, and white bleached blonde hair? Can you be a feminist if you are a white, powerful man who created one of the most largely recognized pornographic magazines in the world?...Hmmmm...

I have always been a person who has a very open mind regarding this; you can be a feminist if you say you are one and identify with what the theory stands for, and if the theory and movement does something for you. Plain and simple...But Hugh Hefner???

Comments sooo welcome and of course, my review of his documentary will follow.