Gloria Steinem's 11-day undercover stint as a Bunny in Playboy's New York City club was the subject of a bombshell essay that changed her career. The impacts of her exposé absolutely impacted the Bunnies working across clubs - from the pay discrepancies, mandatory gynecological exams, and regular harassment from customers. However, a lot of the women working alongside Gloria, while she was posing as "Bunny Marie," had mixed feelings on her essay, as their experiences at the clubs may not have aligned with the cruel workplace described in the essays. Kathryn Lee Young (Scott), author of The Bunny Years, collects stories from women with very different memories of the clubs - including the author herself, who worked alongside her as Bunny Kay. Later, this piece inspired a 1984 made-for-TV film starring Kirstie Alley as Gloria (and I am reviewing it!). We're overviewing the complicated legacy of this exposé - its immediate reception, the changes Bunnies experienced as a result, the contradictory tales from other Bunnies, and Gloria Steinem's own regret about her time undercover at the NYC Playboy Club.
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Time stamps:
00:00 Intro
00:53 Gloria goes undercover
02:16 The bombshells from "A Bunny's Tale"
06:01 Disappointing earnings
07:26 Workplace harassment
08:32 Subpoenaed and making changes
09:11 Revisiting in 1980s (and my thoughts)
12:34 "All women are bunnies."
13:16 Reactions from "real" Bunnies + The Bunny Years
18:01 My reflections
18:40 Debating Steinem
20:57 Would Hugh Hefner and Gloria Steinem dated?
22:00 Why Gloria Steinem regrets being a Bunny
23:31 Kirstie Alley as Gloria in A Bunny's Tale (1984)
28:59 Final thoughts
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