Penelope’s Loom

  Warning:  this article deals with issues that are inflammatory. Also, I shall try to present both sides of the equation bad and good. There are aLOT  of ‘tell all’ books, and former employees who don’t say good things about their experience at Playboy. I shall try to include these as well as the more positive side of Playboy and Hugh Hefner.  This post also contains erotic pictures, so don’t go any further if you don’t like that sort of thing! So, who was this man--a feminist pariah? A champion for civil rights? A man who wished to do his part in banishing Puritan sexual attitudes? A man who made sexual objects of both   men and women?  Yes, certainly. He was born in 1926, the child of staunchly Methodist parents.  He had one younger brother (who would later join him in his publishing endeavors).  Hefner described his childhood as one devoid of public displays of affection from his parents.  Sex should never be discussed openly;  it was only appropriate in the marriage bed.  It was a

Are you a Stratfordian, or an Oxfordian? Let me explain.  The question to ask here, is whether or not Shakespeare actually wrote Shakespeare. Now, I grew up with Shakespeare.  No, my parents weren't at all enamored of his works.  I was.  As a young teenager, I once saw Romeo and Juliet with Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whittington (?).  I fell in love with those two teenagers, thinking that this was the mostest romanciest thingie ever.  Though it is also true that I thought that those two crazy kids could have survived, by taking their show on the road, and leaving fair Verona for parts unknown. From watching the film, I then continued on to reading the play and fell further in love with it.  I remember mopping my parent's hall floor (white terrazzo, if you're at all interested), and reciting the balcony scene at the top of my lungs.  I know, I know.  But, what else can you expect from an historian in the making? The next play I fell in love with, was Hamlet--and this has been

ADVISORY:  The Content Below is Somewhat Explicit.    One of my darker passions has always been crime.  I am guilty of watching those true crime documentaries on Netflix and Amazon Prime.  Are you? So, now I shall turn my time, albeit briefly, to an historic crime that has most likely been solved recently through the study of DNA:  Jack the Ripper. Has there ever been a serial killer who inspired more imagination? Ted Bundy or even Charles Manson perhaps.  For some reason, these freaks have become part of the darker part of the American imagination.  I find it odd, perhaps (?) that these men were perpetrating such horrors almost exclusively against women. Why? Well we have ever been perceived as the 'weaker sex', historically.  Easy prey for some monsters.  This, at least, is a past perception.  In more recent times, I believe that this conception of women is changing.  We also have some power in a physical and mental sense, but it will take time. Most certainly, Jack has captu

 They fled.  Off into the land of luxury and empty promises.   So much for the happily ever after the fairy tales promised a young Wallis.  So much for David's dream of living forever with his love.  Do you know the one thing he never factored into his equation? That once you have that kind of power and lose it, you spend the rest of your life trying in vain to fill the vacuum created by its' absence. So, what was next? They weren't hurting for money, as the Duke was notoriously penurious (but not with his beloved Wallis!). Jewels. And those were just two pieces in her collection, which was later valued in the millions, when it was finally auctioned off at Christie's. So! When fairy tales fail, try a little diamond therapy! Fashion. Wallis was obviously not a beauty, but she sure knew how to make the most of her assets. What about the Duke?  Get a load of these images: That last suit ... um ... well .... well ...??? It must have been some kind of fashion statement.  Now