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| author |
Daniel Cube Gunn
| | title |
Hugh Hefner's God: Religion in Playboy Magazine
| | abstract |
This project examines the place of religion in Playboy magazine. In 1962 Hugh Hefner began publishing The Playboy Philosophy--what he called his "editorial credo"--to explain what he believed to be America's overly puritanical tendencies. Much of that document which was published over the course of several years in various editions of the magazine dealt specifically with America's religious landscape. Through his editorial control over Playboy magazine, Hefner was attempted to transform himself into an authority on American religion. Hefner critiqued America's religiosity, and he did so primarily using two means: satirical cartoons and editorial commentary. With these two tools he intended to "strike at the root" of what he believed to be America's Puritanism. The cartoons satirized Puritans, biblical myths, the clergy and the supernatural. I have termed these comics Hefner's "soft power" because they subtly undermine confidence in religion by satirizing it. At the same time he published the cartoons and his credo, he also engaged prominent progressive religious thinkers. Martin Luther King, Jr, Madalyn Murray, William Sloane Coffin, Saul Alinsky and Jimmy Carter were interview subjects. Others, such as Harvey Cox, Gary Wills and William Hamilton, submitted articles discussing progressive religious issues and still others participated in a "Religion Round Table" discussion on theological issues and the emerging "New Morality." Thus, as Hefner satirized some religious views he promoted and endorsed others which one could call more progressive. The editorial material was therefore more conventional, or hard power, to strike at the root of what Hefner believed to be America's Puritanism. Readers from various religious traditions responded, usually positively, to the religious content of the magazine. Hefner had obviously struck a nerve with those religious Americans who had felt marginalized by more culturally conservative tendencies, if not also the roots of American Puritanism.
| | school |
The Caspersen School of Graduate Studies, Drew University
| | degree |
D.Litt.
(2014)
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| advisor |
Jesse T Todd
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| committee |
Christopher Anderson
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| full text | DCGunn.pdf |
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