Times Series on Hugh Hefner

Thank you for your “trilogy” profile of Hugh Hefner. I must say I have been waiting on the edge of my seat all this time to hear of the life and words of this great man who has in his words “contributed a great deal to our society.”

According to Hefner, our society is far better off regarding sexuality than it was 30 years ago before Playboy magazine. I, as an attractive 24-year-old-woman, am curious to find the truth behind this. If the question is are we simply having more sex, the answer is definitely yes. The odds are much greater now that sometime during my life I will be raped--one out of 3 women will be raped in 1985. Incest and child molestation is only now being addressed and is on the rise. I also must educate myself and be aware of the many sexual diseases I can catch--how romantic!

In dealing with a man in a dating situation, I now find that he “expects” to have sex with me simply because he took me out to dinner. I am viewed as almost a freak if I reject his advances, which often times are an indication to him that I’m only playing hard to get. Very few men will let me get to know them unless I cater to their sexual needs first and demonstrate my ability to please them. Fortunately, and unfortunately, for myself, I stopped playing this game long ago and as a result have few dates. However painful for me, it is the only way I can be true to myself.

The “Playboy” man in my eyes is a little boy who has not yet grown up. He is empty and full of fantasy, illusion and confusion about himself and woman. He does not know how to love because he is too busy seeing to it that his ego is not hurt--like you, Hef.

Mr. Hefner, I must say I feel sorry for you. Though you have millions of dollars and are a proclaimed “success,” one can hear in your words a certain desperation, an attempt to create an illusion with words to disguise the truth of who you are and what your life has been all about. Could it be that you are now only seeing the light and our attempting to change it by saying you are a great man?

If you indeed want to take the credit for our society’s new discovered “sexuality” then be our guest. You have obviously been a sheltered man who has lived in a self- made cocoon. You are only now discovering that the power you thought you had is not really power at all. You are a phony, Mr. Hefner. An ordinary person with just an inkling of love is richer than you are.

CHERYL BEHUNIN

Manhattan Beach