Gloria Steinem hopped in a bunny suit so other women writers could leap

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Set us as preferred It was 1963 and up-and-coming freelance journalist Gloria Steinem had been a working writer in New York City for roughly three years when Show magazine sent her on an undercover assignment which she was uniquely qualified for: to infiltrate Manhattan’s “greatest new showbiz gimmick,” The Playboy Club.She already had the beauty and brains, all she’d need was an alias, a leotard and a notebook.

The assignment would change the course of her career, but not in the way that she’d hoped.“GIRLS:Do Playboy Club Bunnies ReallyHave Glamorous Jobs,Meet Celebrities, AndMake Top Money?Yes, it’s true! Attractive young girls can now earn $200-$300 a week at the fabulous New York Playboy Club, enjoy the glamorous and exciting aura of show business, and have the opportunity to travel to other Playboy Clubs throughout the world.”Armed with the above ad and welcomed by a grinning private guard calling, “Here bunny, bunny, bunny!” Steinem set out to expose the working conditions and interior lives of the bunnies slinging booze to the playboys who patronized the club.She subjected herself to the wardrobe fittings, which included getting her bunny suit stuffed to boost her breast size; she was poked and prodded during an invasive physical exam; she strutted through the club near-naked with sore feet and a suit so tight, she had to wrap gauze around her midsection where her skin had been rubbed raw; and various other indignities she swallowed for the sake of journalism.Documenting a lunch shift at the club, Steinem wrote, “Somehow, the usual tail pullings and propositions and pinching and ogling seemed all the more depressing when, outside this windowless room of perpetual night, the sun was shining.” World & Nation Gloria Steinem, who urged women to pursue self-affirmation, political power and equali...