Female Empowerment through the Playboy Lens...

With its iconic rabbit head trademark and its provocative identity, Playboy has worked hard to change some of the misconceptions surrounding the brand. First launched in America in 1953, the magazine emerged from a society on the cusp of a sexual revolution. It aimed to normalise discussions around sex and nudity. It’s fair to say that the brand has not been without controversies, but today it’s seen by many as a symbol of female empowerment and self-expression. Now a multi-billion-dollar company and widely recognised across 180 countries, Playboy stands for self-confident and self-determined women, for hedonism, for beauty and for the joy of self-empowerment.??

As Playboy Germany celebrates its 50th anniversary, the magazine is seeing its highest subscription figures since the year 2000. This year it launched a special issue for the anniversary, with 50 different covers designed by 50 artists. Having recently welcomed the title onto Readly, I sat down with Myriam Karsch, co-founder and managing partner of Kouneli, to talk about the internal culture of the workplace; the fact that the team is majority-female; and some of the misconceptions people have about its audience. Read on to understand what it is about Playboy that has driven its success as the emblematic brand it is today.??

Ranj Begley: Congratulations on the 50th anniversary! What would you say it is about Playboy that has secured its status as the iconic brand it is today??

Myriam Karsch: When Playboy launched in the 1950’s, Americans were afraid of two things: the Russians and someone turning the lights on during sex. The World War had been won but the Cold War was escalating. At the same time, two very controversial books were published in which the scientist Dr Alfred Kinsey conducted a comprehensive study into the sexual behaviour of both the men and women. It’s not an exaggeration to say that these books represented an early stage of the sexual revolution, and it was out of this climate that Playboy emerged.?

The first issue featured nude photography of Marilyn Monroe. Without this, the magazine wouldn’t have lasted for very long. At the time, these nude pictures in colour were a total taboo-breaker and a scandal that really paid off for Playboy. Since then, nudity has been our USP. I believe it’s this clear USP that makes the?brand so powerful. It’s unique; everyone has an image of what Playboy is, they recognise our iconic logo and our history. It’s one of the most valuable and recognised brands in the world.?

RB: What are the misconceptions around the brand? And how do you convince people to think otherwise??

MK: Well, I can only speak for the German-speaking region, but I think most misconceptions or reservations about Playboy arise from ignorance or from lack of knowledge. Some people may not perceive the women in the nude sections to be independent or self-determined, but as objects for the male gaze.??

This is something Playboy Germany has been dealing with since we launched in 1972, especially when it comes to the b2b sector. Many people feel the need to justify booking advertising space in our magazine, because they feel like they’re somehow doing something wrong. Added to that, Playboy exists during a time that is dominated by discourses on female empowerment, diversity, Me-Too, sexism, and so on. We live in a world where many people judge or have an opinion about other people's behaviour.??

RB: How would you describe female empowerment through the Playboy lens??

MK: Playboy was founded at a time when the right to self-determination didn’t come naturally, and today it’s more relevant than ever to stand up for precisely this right. Today, Playboy stands for self-confident and self-determined women, for hedonism, for beauty and for the joy of sexuality. Feminism isn’t a one-size-fits-all. Playboy represents a type of feminism that emphasises a women’s rights to make her own decisions and to pursue the things that make her feel most empowered. It’s a powerful platform for women who want to share their own personal message.?

As well as that, part of Playboy’s ethos worldwide has always been to create a culture where all people can pursue pleasure. We’re committed to civil rights, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ equality rights, and many other crucial social justice projects.?

RB: You can see that in your content, diversity and inclusion are central to the editorial. For me as a second generation British-Asian, there was still a sense of shame associated to sex and nudity growing up. But now I see 20-something-year-old Asian women openly proud and comfortable expressing their sexuality. Magazines like Playboy are pioneering that change, which is incredibly important.?

MK: We’re very lucky that Playboy is such a lively brand and we’re happy that it touches so many people in a positive way. But we also know that not all people out there are fans, and we don't want to turn them into Playboy fans. The fact that the brand provokes an emotional response is crucial to its success. It creates great discussions and debates which in my view, is the best grounds for us to tell stories that really move people. So when we talk about the misconceptions people have, they're part of our success story.??

RB: Which Playboy magazine cover do you consider to be the most inspiring and the most powerful???

MK: There are so many because every woman has her own personal motive as to why she wants to show herself naked to the public. Giuliana Farfalla was our first transsexual coverstar. This was a shock to some of our heteronormative target group, but it was the definitely the right decision.?

German Paralympic swimmer Elena Krawzow for the October 2020 issue. This cover is truly amazing for two reasons. First, Elena has only 3% vision, so we have an almost blind woman naked on a visual medium like Playboy, which she uses to push back against the stigmatisation of people with disabilities. And secondly, Elena was born in Kazakhstan, so the shoot for her was an act against the oppression of women in her homeland.??

Bana Hamawandi was a Playmate in the February 2020 issue. Bana is a Muslim woman who had long dreamt of becoming a Playmate. For her, the shoot was an expression of freedom and self-determination. She cried when she told us that she had lost friends because of it and some of her family members had stopped talking to her. But still, she said it was the right decision and she would do it again. That was a really touching story.??

Of course, our first-ever plus-sized model, Hayley Hasselhoff for the May 2021 issue. For her, the cover is one of the highlights of her career. She said, ‘I want to show women who look like me, who identify with my body size, to celebrate your body just the way it is.’ That was such a beautiful message.

The anniversary covers we’ve just launched are also very strong. One features the artistically alienated vulva of Marisa Pepen. For another, the queer performance artist from Hamburg, Geraldine Schabraque was photographed by Ukrainian artist Denys Karlinskyy.

RB: What messaging do you hope to convey through the stories and features of a typical issue?

MK: Besides the nude content, which makes up only 20% of the magazine, we have lifestyle-led articles. So, when people say, “I only read it for the articles,” it’s actually true! For many of our readers, the journalistic quality and the editorial content is very important.?

In terms of the content, Playboy Germany has changed a lot over the past years. To a certain extent, I would say that it’s developed into a people's magazine. The decisive question today is no longer how beautiful the woman on the cover is - because that's very subjective anyway - but whether she's relevant and relatable to our readers. We ask ourselves, is the message that the woman carries important to our audience? The cover star is the store front, and in the back of the store there's lots of beautiful content that engages our readers - otherwise they wouldn’t come back so often.?

RB: That's a powerful message. Because when you say ‘relevant for me’, that means representation. To be able to read about and relate to like-minded women, like me, like my friends - it makes for great reading. You’ve spoken about the content, how else has the title evolved over time??

MK: Playboy Germany is no longer just a print magazine, though we still earn a lot of revenue from the print magazine. We’re now a multi-channel brand with a digital edition, an ad-supported website, and a paid section on the website. We have our own online store where we sell the magazine and other products, and we run events. So it's moved on from the print magazine but the focus is always on the content, the stories and the people.

RB: Who is the typical Playboy reader??

MK: There's not really a “typical reader,” in the DACH region at least. We have a mixed audience which is almost equally represented in all age groups from 19 to 79. We have 87% men and 13% women reading the magazine, and it’s almost a third singles, a third in a relationship and a third with children. Online it’s 75% men and 25% women. But what unites them is that they enjoy life. It’s for a community seeking out new ideas, culture, identity, sexual exploration and self-expression.

RB: What is it like to work at Playboy??

MK: My job is extremely diverse; in a single day I could be working on digital projects, sales, finance, production, marketing, communication and HR.?

As for the culture, I would summarise it as: teamwork makes the dream work. In 2019 we started with 14 employees and now we're 28, which includes the Sports Illustrated editorial team. The Playboy team is mostly women, with a 65% female-majority. We have a real connection as a team because we’re all passionate about the brand.?

RB: What’s been Playboy Germany’s greatest achievement during its 50 years in production??

MK: The Playboy brand today is a culmination of seven decades of fighting for cultural progress, with the brand’s core values at the centre of it all: equality and freedom of expression. It’s truly ground-breaking and it’s what makes it so fascinating to work for.?

On a personal level, I have the chance to do what I believe in while enjoying entrepreneurial freedom, and to work with people who I get along with and who believe in our product as much as I do. But I think the greatest achievement is that we are making a better product than before. Because we really love what we do.?