Hello.
I'm Katie Nolan,
and today we're gonna talk
about Gloria...
Steinem.
Our story begins in the year 1963.
Gloria Steinem was a graduate of Smith College,
very smart, she's 28 years old,
and she's a journalist.
And "Show Magazine" was like,
hey, Gloria, we have a story for you.
We want you to go undercover
at one of Hugh Hefner's Playboy clubs.
And Playboy clubs were advertising themselves
at the time as, like, being in a real live version
of "Playboy."
So, you would have, like, beautiful women everywhere,
and drinks and food and "dude stuff."
- Yeah! - Boobies and vaginas!
- [laughs]
And Gloria was like,
I don't think this is what I want.
I want people to take me seriously.
And her editor was like,
I think this could be your chance
to call Hugh Hefner out on his Goddamn bullshit.
And she was like, you're right. I'm in.
Let's [bleep] do it.
Um.
Uh, what was I talking about?
- Uh. - So she says yes
to the thing...
to the assignment.
And so she goes to the audition
which is at a Playboy club.
So she's this alias she's created for herself
which is Marie Catherine Ochs.
And the woman that she goes up to says,
take off your coat. Let me see your body.
Gloria was like, um, okay
and, like, took her coat off.
And the woman was like...
you look a little old for 24,
but your body's great.
Come back on Saturday for a fitting.
And so Gloria comes back a couple of days later,
and she sees this woman named Sheralee.
And she's like, I'm the bunny mother.
So she goes, and she gets sized.
She puts on this leotard, and she's like, this fits.
And they're like, no it doesn't.
And they keep going in and in.
And Gloria's like, I think that's tight enough.
I can hardly breathe.
- [laughs]
- I just had an ice-- - Are you good?
- An ice cube just assaulted me.
- You got ISIS-ed.
- [laughs] - Sorry.
- So the bunny mother, Sheralee, is explaining
to the bunnies...
there's all these things that they can take
your money away for;
like, if your ears are crooked,
that's a demerit.
If your bunny tail's dirty, that's demerits.
If you're not smiling enough, that's a bunch of demerits.
They also give her this "Bunny Manual"
which is a list of all the rules
that you have to follow.
And in the Bunny Manual, it says...
you're not allowed to date any customers.
But then they were told
unless they hold the special key.
These special key members
were allowed to do whatever they want.
Ew.
That's [bleep] up.
Anyway.
So, they're like, great, you're all set.
You're going to start work soon.
We just need you to complete your physical.
And Gloria's like, what do you mean?
I'm going to be a waitress.
And, like, oh, we just need you to complete a physical
with this doctor,
and then you'll be fine to start.
That's gross. - Yeah.
- That's just gross.
So, she goes to the doctor.
She sits on the table, and she sees there's stirrups.
And the doctor walks in,
and the first thing he says to her is...
so you want to be a bunny.
Which is alarming, as a doctor.
He exams her,
which to a woman means...
you know.
- Pap smear?
- Did you say "patch" smear?
- I've never had one. - It's not a bagel,
Derek. It's a...
- It's a-- - I'm from New York, eh.
[together] I'ma gettin' a pap "schmear."
[both laugh]
So, she finishes the exam.
And she goes the next day to train for this job.
That's a fancy word for
you're going to work and not get paid any money.
She's training as a table bunny.
And they teach her that she has to follow
the other bunny servers around,
and so she's going around, asking these people, like,
hello, I'm bunny Marie. What can I get for you?
And they would say things like,
yeah, girl, let me see your titties.
Open it up.
Which is bullshit.
How many times are you allowed
to say bullshit on Comedy Central?
I've said it a whole bunch.
- Whenever you want. - Okay.
- It's some bullshit. - [laughs]
- Do you want me to teach you how to bunny?
- Yes, all right. So, when I walk--
How do I walk?
Well, so, it will be on a tray,
and I need you to be on your tippy toes
all the way up.
Higher than that. - This is all I can go.
- And then cross your legs when you walk.
Bend over the table to serve the drink.
Butt out. - Mm-hmm.
Titties out.
Go away, you slut.
Anyway.
She's working all of these shifts,
and she's like, in her journal,
she's writing all these injustices.
They're, like, working these long hours.
They're not making any money.
On top of that,
it's basically a prostitution ring.
And finally, after working in the Playboy clubs
for four weeks,
Gloria was like, [bleep] this shit.
I have enough in my journal.
I'm gonna publish this shit.
I'm out.
It's just all the stupid sexist dumbass bullshit.
She just wanted to get the [bleep] out.
And so she quit.
And so
Gloria writes an expose on these Playboy clubs.
She's like these women were like...
not making as much money
as they were told they were going to make.
It's insane hours.
They're being grabbed all the time.
They're treated like prostitutes.
They're basically being used as a tool
for the male sexual revolution.
But the women themselves
don't get to own their sexuality,
and that's shitty.
So they publishes--
they publishes--
They publ--
They publish... - Mm-mm.
They publish the story in the magazine.
So, the world reads this article,
and to his very tiny credit,
Hugh Hefner says wow...
Yeah, maybe they won't have to go
to these physical exams anymore.
And you know what,
I'm going to stop making them
have to give so much of their money to us
if they make a mistake.
Which is, like, a really cool thing...
that Hugh Hefner did.
But also, not as cool as just, like,
always treating them that way.
This article made Gloria Steinem a household name,
and she went on to be this...
huge feminist icon.
It's tough, but I swear to God,
if it weren't for Gloria Steinem
I wouldn't be able to be on TV.
It's very hard to be a woman that's like, I love sports.
- And you have stuck to your guns
ever since you've started.
And that...
is what...
- You cried.
- I'm sorry.
- Can I get somebody else to do--
to do this?
- [laughs]