1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:10,039 Speaker 1: It's October nineteen seventy four, a year since Viva's first 2 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: issue hit newsstands, and this issue is significant not just 3 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:18,560 Speaker 1: because it's an anniversary issue, but because at last there 4 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 1: is a Viva woman at the top of the masthead. 5 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 1: It's Kathy Keaton. Here's podcaster in journalist Natalie Robamed reading 6 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: Kathy's editor's letter. She'll be reading Kathy throughout the series. 7 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:34,800 Speaker 1: It's been quite a year, this first year Viva, full 8 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:38,519 Speaker 1: of action and controversy. We must be the first magazine 9 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: in the world to have published a beauty feature on 10 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:45,240 Speaker 1: pubic hairstyles. The Pubic Hair picks an array of Volva 11 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,120 Speaker 1: models with hair trimmed to resemble hearts or cut into 12 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:51,280 Speaker 1: the shape of flames, or by Paul Mitchell before he 13 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:53,600 Speaker 1: goes on to become one of the most famous hairdressers 14 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: of all time. Kathy continues, in the past, women were 15 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:02,279 Speaker 1: supposed to be turned on by sexual suggestion, and yet 16 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 1: today we're discovering that women frankly, boldly and actively enjoy 17 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 1: looking at the malebody. By this time, Bob Guccioni has 18 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: taken his gold chains and gone mostly home, placing Kathy 19 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: Keaton in charge of Viva and Kathy, Well, she's making 20 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 1: quick work of putting her stamp on the magazine. In 21 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:29,360 Speaker 1: this editor's letter, she's announcing a big change. See Kathy's 22 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:32,200 Speaker 1: on a bit of a crusade. In the coming months, 23 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:35,840 Speaker 1: Viva will be exploring men in an infinite variety of ways. 24 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: Undoubtedly will be called outrighteous. We're not. We just don't 25 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 1: believe in censorship. Kathy's new directive, which will reveal more 26 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 1: fully in this episode, comes just as the Viva editors 27 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 1: have found their footing working under Bob making their secret 28 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: magazine within the magazine. But now they're under new pressure 29 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 1: to get with Hathy's sexy program and also, like with 30 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: any new boss, sort out who she is and what 31 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 1: it is she wants. So, who really was Kathy Keaton 32 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,520 Speaker 1: this enigma of seventies femininity? And could she put her 33 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,360 Speaker 1: own successful stamp on Viva and lead the Viva editors 34 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 1: in making the smart feminist magazine they desperately want From 35 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:33,639 Speaker 1: Cooking Media and iHeartMedia. I'm Jennifer Romalini and this is Stiffed. 36 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: Episode three, Soft Focus Semihard, Act one, The Viva Woman. 37 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: I'm Arlie Hurson and my guest is Kathy Keaton, and 38 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:07,520 Speaker 1: we here in her beautiful townhouse in New York City. 39 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,960 Speaker 1: Thank you. That's journalist Arlene Herson introducing Kathy in an 40 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: interview for her cable access show. Kathy and Bob were 41 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:17,640 Speaker 1: kind of regulars on Arlene Show. This interview is from 42 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:20,799 Speaker 1: the early eighties and takes place in the home Kathy 43 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 1: shares with Bob. Kathy is sitting in an Italian Baroque 44 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:27,960 Speaker 1: style chair, which looks like a throne. She's a slim, 45 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:31,679 Speaker 1: icy blonde, her postures straight. There's not a hair out 46 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: of place. You have a wonderful life now, a fulfilling career, 47 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: beautiful house. You met Bob Guccioni in London. He actually 48 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: changed your whole life. He had a crazy idea what 49 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: made you Watson? It was a very good idea. I mean, 50 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 1: I wasn't in the publishing industry, so I didn't know 51 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:50,400 Speaker 1: from anything. I was a daunser. Now Kathy might not 52 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: know much when she first meets Bob, but like him, 53 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:56,720 Speaker 1: she has innate business instincts and she trusts her gut 54 00:03:57,280 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: and to me it might have a lot of sense. 55 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: It was very launch a con and so I thought, well, 56 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 1: I really have nothing to lose anyway, and Kathy didn't 57 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: have much to lose. She'd grown up poor in the 58 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: nineteen forties on a farm in South Africa. Like Bob, 59 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: her family was uneducated, working class. Throughout her childhood, Kathy's 60 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:20,520 Speaker 1: parents struggled financially, and Kathy struggled too. You had polio 61 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 1: as a child, so many people that I know today. Unfortunately, 62 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: there are several that I know who had polio's children 63 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: have life lasting effects from it. You're obviously terrific. Well, 64 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:34,039 Speaker 1: I have to sign my mother for that, because she 65 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:37,679 Speaker 1: immediately made me start exercising, and that's how she started 66 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:40,599 Speaker 1: getting interested in ballet. She used to stand there with 67 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:44,160 Speaker 1: a stick and might be doing so with her mother's 68 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:49,040 Speaker 1: tough love and what honestly sounds like abuse, Kathy recovers 69 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: and ballet is her ticket off the farm. When she's thirteen, 70 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:57,040 Speaker 1: Kathy flees South Africa alone to attend London's Royal Ballet 71 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: School on a scholarship, but when she arrived, she discovers 72 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:04,680 Speaker 1: her scholarship doesn't include housing. Kathy is just a kid. 73 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: She's in her early teens, and she's forced to live 74 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: in an adult boarding house in London. On her own. 75 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:13,040 Speaker 1: I was very lovely and it was miserable at the time, 76 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:15,200 Speaker 1: but it really taught me how to paid bills and 77 00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:18,480 Speaker 1: appreciate money, and to really be very independent take care 78 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: of myself. In lots of words and maybe two camp 79 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 1: Saich a good business person today, The Royal Malat ultimately 80 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:28,000 Speaker 1: doesn't pan out, and Kathy becomes an exotic dancer to 81 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:32,160 Speaker 1: pay the bills, and an extremely successful one. In fact, 82 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:34,880 Speaker 1: an Associated Press story at the time names Kathy the 83 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,479 Speaker 1: highest paid stripper in the world. When she meets Bob, 84 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 1: she's in her twenties, dancing at the famous London nightclub Peegal, 85 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:46,039 Speaker 1: reading the Financial Times on her breaks, and in less 86 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: than a decade through working with Bob and his magazine Empire, 87 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:52,559 Speaker 1: Kathy will go from being one of the highest paid 88 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 1: strippers in the world to one of the highest ranking 89 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 1: and highest paid female executives in the world, though her 90 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:03,040 Speaker 1: success is constantly undermined by the press for her association 91 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:07,040 Speaker 1: with Bob. People who have a view of what Penthouse 92 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 1: magazine and they will say to you, how can you 93 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:11,919 Speaker 1: be married to somebody like Bob GUCCIONI. Now, obviously you 94 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: have a different view of him than we so she 95 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: are tell us a little bit. The working relationship that 96 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 1: we've had together has been terrific, and Bob has always 97 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: encouraged me. And Bob even wrote my first business levels, 98 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:25,359 Speaker 1: and he's always supported me in every single thing. I 99 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,360 Speaker 1: want to write a few minuto that Cathy's not easy 100 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:31,880 Speaker 1: to pin down in this interview or in life. She's 101 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:36,239 Speaker 1: shrewd and business minded, but also kind of tacky, blunt 102 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: and in your face sexy, and that dichotomy between these 103 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:43,360 Speaker 1: two identities is something her more buttoned up New York 104 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:47,360 Speaker 1: intellectual Viva employees now have to parse. Here's how Viva 105 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:51,160 Speaker 1: writer Annie Gottlieb remembers Kathy. She had this new voreche 106 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:53,560 Speaker 1: air about her of being a working class girl who's 107 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:57,599 Speaker 1: gotten rich, you know, which was kind of appealing in 108 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 1: a way, because she was tough and tough and glamorous 109 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:05,360 Speaker 1: in a kind of kind of the way Donald Trump 110 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:09,280 Speaker 1: is a poor man's idea of a rich man. Somebody said, 111 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 1: that's what Kathy Keaton was like a little bit. And 112 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:15,560 Speaker 1: here's Viva sex advice columnist doctor Judy. She was smart, 113 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 1: she was reading Financial Times, she was thinking about economics 114 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 1: at the time when other women weren't thinking about economics. 115 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 1: So while I saw that outside, you know, she also 116 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: had that kind of sleeze or you know, from the 117 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 1: other side of the tracks and trying to look really trashy. 118 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 1: She was intelligent and she wanted to lift women up 119 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:47,760 Speaker 1: and show them another way. But Kathy would do things 120 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 1: that made it hard to respect her as a businesswoman. Remember, 121 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 1: all of these Viva women are working in Bob's Manhattan 122 00:07:54,760 --> 00:08:00,120 Speaker 1: porn empire with its vulva astrays and schlubby pornographers, but 123 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:04,800 Speaker 1: Kathy somehow manages to make things even weirder. Here's Viva 124 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:08,400 Speaker 1: editor Pat Lindon. I remember one day coming to work, 125 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 1: and Kathy would come to work every morning in her limousine, 126 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:19,560 Speaker 1: and somebody was paid to stand outside on the sidewalk 127 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: and say to anybody passing back, would you like to 128 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 1: meet Kathy Keaton? And you know I didn't stick around 129 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 1: to see what the reactions were. I went upstairs to 130 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 1: do my job, but I remember we talked about it, 131 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:36,880 Speaker 1: and you know, wondering how earth she could possibly get 132 00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 1: the nerve to do this. I mean, where's her pride 133 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:43,800 Speaker 1: as a boss? Kathy's clearly complicated, but she also has 134 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: a complicated job. The magazine she's inherited is a mishmosh 135 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: needs a lot of work. Now the Bob's no longer 136 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 1: Viva's editor, Kathy and her staff are trying to quickly 137 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,720 Speaker 1: make up for lost time, shake off Bob's man stink, 138 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:02,880 Speaker 1: and make Viva appeal to the new seventies liberated woman. 139 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 1: And their mission is extra confusing because remember, both Kathy 140 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:10,640 Speaker 1: and Bob hate the word feminist, but Kathy also wants 141 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:12,640 Speaker 1: the Viva editors to ramp up the image of the 142 00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: magazine as liberated, progressive, sexually hip. Here's editor Robin woo Lanner. 143 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:22,440 Speaker 1: We were constantly getting the feedback from Kathy that it 144 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:26,600 Speaker 1: wasn't sexy enough, and in nineteen seventy four, no one 145 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:29,679 Speaker 1: really knows what this modern idea of sexy looks like, 146 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:32,959 Speaker 1: nor can they agree on what a sexually liberated woman 147 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:36,760 Speaker 1: actually desires. And the confusion inside Viva is a micro 148 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:41,120 Speaker 1: version of what's happening outside its office doors. Kathy exudes 149 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:44,360 Speaker 1: show off the sexual confidence, and she wants her staff 150 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,000 Speaker 1: to represent the same in the pages of Viva, but 151 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:50,240 Speaker 1: they might not be ready for that or comfortable with it. 152 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:53,480 Speaker 1: Here's Viva writer Annie, you know, we were trying to 153 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 1: figure out what we wanted and we had really just begun, 154 00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 1: i would say, in those days, and there was a 155 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: lot of pressure or to get hip and get liberated 156 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:06,280 Speaker 1: and get sexy. And what liberated and sexy mean to 157 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 1: some people during this time is pretty radical compared to 158 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:13,360 Speaker 1: how sex was thought about before the seventies. Here's doctor Judy. 159 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:18,760 Speaker 1: People were experimenting or in everything, they were experimenting with 160 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:25,120 Speaker 1: their bodies with different partners of bisexuality. Try sexuality meaning 161 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:28,840 Speaker 1: try anything was so common. I mean, group sex was 162 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:33,079 Speaker 1: like the thing for people to do was no big deal. 163 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:36,320 Speaker 1: It was like if you were cool, you would do it. 164 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:39,080 Speaker 1: If you weren't cool, you were afraid or you know whatever, 165 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:42,040 Speaker 1: or you weren't in the scene. But even doctor Judy 166 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:45,559 Speaker 1: admits it was not all freewheel and free love, good times. 167 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:48,719 Speaker 1: The women of the sexual revolution actually had a lot 168 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:54,120 Speaker 1: to overcome. Oh, shames huge. I mean women were massively 169 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:58,640 Speaker 1: shamed of their bodies, Doctor Judy. Sex therapy, which she 170 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:02,480 Speaker 1: writes about in Viva, includes exercises to help women become 171 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:06,800 Speaker 1: more comfortable in their bodies. The shame about your genitalia 172 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 1: was rappened. I mean they were just every woman I 173 00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 1: would see would be you know, oh those ugly let's 174 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:18,080 Speaker 1: look so ugly. Why would he want to look at 175 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:22,680 Speaker 1: it or lick it or smell it? Always smell bad, 176 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:27,240 Speaker 1: I look bad, I taste bad. Eh. I mean, that 177 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:30,640 Speaker 1: was what the shame was about. And so you know, 178 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:36,480 Speaker 1: the idea was constantly to reassure women, look, you look beautiful, 179 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:41,080 Speaker 1: and examine yourself. So this was a very important part 180 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 1: of getting over that shame. And there's not only shame 181 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:50,080 Speaker 1: for women outside the Viva office, but inside of it too. 182 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:53,800 Speaker 1: In fact, with few exceptions, the women we spoke to, 183 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:57,640 Speaker 1: all now in their seventies and eighties, were almost uniformly 184 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 1: uncomfortable talking about sex and they're own experience of it 185 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:05,040 Speaker 1: at the time, which made creating an erotica magazine tricky 186 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:08,640 Speaker 1: to say the least. Still, Kathy is about to push 187 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:12,160 Speaker 1: a new vision of sexual liberation in the pages of Viva. 188 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:14,560 Speaker 1: Here she is in that same editor's letter from the 189 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 1: top of this episode. What instreacts me most, however, about 190 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:21,120 Speaker 1: Viva is the terrific response we've gotten to our male 191 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:26,760 Speaker 1: nude pictorials. There's been a growing demand for them and Kathy, 192 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:31,920 Speaker 1: she's going to more than meet this demand. Okay, fine, 193 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 1: it's time to talk about the dicks, but you're going 194 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 1: to have to wait until after the break at two 195 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:48,040 Speaker 1: center the penis. What I do remember was boxes of 196 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,760 Speaker 1: letters that would come in. People still wrote letters in 197 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:57,640 Speaker 1: those days from women saying, what a complete disappointment. Not 198 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:01,439 Speaker 1: even one penis in view in your first issue. Circumcised 199 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:03,959 Speaker 1: or not. Women are exploited, and that's why I was 200 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:07,400 Speaker 1: excited to see a sex magazine for women. I'm ready 201 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:09,960 Speaker 1: to exploit these men and by God, turn them into 202 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 1: sex objects good for fucking and fixing cabinets. More cock 203 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:15,880 Speaker 1: and balls. How about some shots of a richly endowed 204 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:19,280 Speaker 1: male with a generous penis flopping out of his unzipped pants, 205 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:27,600 Speaker 1: gearing up that big, powerful organ for action. My impression 206 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: was it was hundreds. It was probably dozens, I don't know, 207 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:34,160 Speaker 1: but a lot of letters from angry women. He said, 208 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:38,800 Speaker 1: you promised us a penthouse for women, and you're cheating us. 209 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:43,079 Speaker 1: Show more cock. Remember, for almost the full year of 210 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:46,079 Speaker 1: Bob was editor, the Sex and Viva looked mostly just 211 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:50,040 Speaker 1: like Penthouse, and not only because of Bob's signature, soft 212 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:55,959 Speaker 1: focused lighting. There's nudity, but it's mostly female. Bob's Viva 213 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:58,480 Speaker 1: depicted women and men getting it on in a variety 214 00:13:58,559 --> 00:14:01,920 Speaker 1: of scenarios Torrian lady on a picnic, Oh no, my 215 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:05,840 Speaker 1: dress fell off, etc. But Bob's vision of a women's 216 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:09,320 Speaker 1: sex magazine is not what Viva's readers signed up for, 217 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:14,040 Speaker 1: and they're not quiet about letting the publishers know, hence 218 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:17,800 Speaker 1: these letters. And so a few months after Cathy takes over, 219 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:21,400 Speaker 1: she gives the people what they want, maybe even a 220 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:24,760 Speaker 1: little more than what they actually want. Suddenly there are 221 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:28,960 Speaker 1: penises everywhere in Viva. There dick sprinkled with glitter dicks 222 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 1: next to high priced stereos, dicks at a rodeo. Dick's 223 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:37,080 Speaker 1: attached to men and their occupations, actor woodsman, boxers dick. 224 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:42,760 Speaker 1: They're even surprised celebrity dicks, well, celebrity bulges, but still. 225 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 1: Here's a clip from the Talking Sopranos podcast about one 226 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:49,480 Speaker 1: of their cast members, Paully Walnuts played by Tony Serrico, 227 00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:54,440 Speaker 1: who appeared in Viva. There was a porno magazine called Viva. 228 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:57,560 Speaker 1: It was like for women in the seventies, and he 229 00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:00,360 Speaker 1: was a cover star in one of them. He's wearing 230 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:08,600 Speaker 1: like a yeah yeah, yeah yeah. And he's like a bodybuilder. 231 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 1: He was huge. Yes. According to Steve Schrippa and Michael 232 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:15,760 Speaker 1: Imperioli on the Talking Sopranos podcast, Viva even featured at 233 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:20,360 Speaker 1: least the outline of Polly Walnut's dick rip. It is, 234 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:24,280 Speaker 1: in a word, a explosion. Here's Viva's feminist film critic 235 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:26,840 Speaker 1: Molly Haskell. I think there was a kind of playful 236 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:28,920 Speaker 1: reversal going on. I was look at us this way, 237 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:31,000 Speaker 1: we'll look at you that way. And I mean, I 238 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:33,200 Speaker 1: think some people really working have turned on by it, 239 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:36,120 Speaker 1: and it was sort of an experiment, I guess, to see, 240 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 1: if you know, the reversal works. All of which seems great, right, 241 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:46,400 Speaker 1: sex positive, even feminist, especially if you love dick. But 242 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:52,960 Speaker 1: Viva was featuring flaccid penises because to get you couldn't 243 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:54,840 Speaker 1: have an erect penis, or then it would have been 244 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:58,000 Speaker 1: porn what Viva editor Robbins talking about. Here are the 245 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:02,400 Speaker 1: obscenity laws surrounding penises. In nineteen seventy four, the Supreme 246 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:06,040 Speaker 1: Court had introduced an obscenity standard called the quote Limp 247 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:13,680 Speaker 1: dick test, Limp dick totally fine, hard dick obscene. Also, 248 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:17,080 Speaker 1: it was considered illegal to mail obscene materials, so a 249 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:20,000 Speaker 1: picture of an erect penis in the mail that challenged 250 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:23,400 Speaker 1: federal law. And this is important because Viva was mostly 251 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:27,240 Speaker 1: a subscription based magazine. It sold on few newsstands. It 252 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:30,600 Speaker 1: never appeared, for example, in the supermarket checkout line next 253 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:34,600 Speaker 1: to Good Housekeeping. And because of all of this, the 254 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 1: penises inside Viva were, without exception soft, So you had 255 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 1: these pictures of man with flaccid penises. And I personally 256 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:48,040 Speaker 1: did not know a woman who would be interested in 257 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:53,760 Speaker 1: looking at Viva blackies. I know. It was not a 258 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:57,480 Speaker 1: turn on. It wasn't. I mean, it was a parody. 259 00:16:57,640 --> 00:17:01,040 Speaker 1: It was almost like a parody of Headhouse, you know. 260 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:04,720 Speaker 1: And this is where this whole strange female erotica experiment 261 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:08,720 Speaker 1: begins to fall apart. First because the dicks and Viva 262 00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:12,760 Speaker 1: are not actually the most carnal, but instead soft and shy, 263 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:17,560 Speaker 1: and there's for sure some shrinkage. But also because while 264 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:21,199 Speaker 1: the dicks are being outwardly promoted by Kathy, behind the 265 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:25,399 Speaker 1: scenes they're still all art directed by Bob. There's still 266 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:29,240 Speaker 1: his idea of what women want to see. Bob is 267 00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 1: the one instructing male photographers to shoot this porn for women, 268 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:38,000 Speaker 1: even after he's no longer Viva's editor. And these male 269 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:40,720 Speaker 1: photographers have an interesting point of view when it comes 270 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:44,520 Speaker 1: to creating erotica for women. I've he's thought of myself 271 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:50,719 Speaker 1: as a lesbian traft in man's clothes. That's Earl Miller, Via, 272 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:54,240 Speaker 1: a staff photographer and the longest running photographer at Penthouse, 273 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:58,880 Speaker 1: because I see women in such a sensitive way, and 274 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:03,200 Speaker 1: that's how I was motivated from deep in my soul 275 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:06,879 Speaker 1: to portray them. He was there for forty years. Earl's 276 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:09,480 Speaker 1: now in his eighties, a porn veteran, but in the 277 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:13,199 Speaker 1: early seventies he was a celebrity photographer coming off a 278 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:15,480 Speaker 1: five year stint on the road with Sunny and Share. 279 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:19,280 Speaker 1: I was there their official photographer for the Sonny and 280 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:23,240 Speaker 1: Share show and shooting a lot of talent, you know, 281 00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:27,120 Speaker 1: actors and actresses and things, and some album covers. And 282 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:31,000 Speaker 1: I saw my first coffee at Penhouse on a newsstand 283 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:34,920 Speaker 1: and I went, oh my god, look at this. This 284 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:40,520 Speaker 1: is this is unbelievable. It's it's it's sensual, it's it's 285 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:44,679 Speaker 1: it's real, it's engaging, so Earl reaches out to Bob, 286 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 1: and Bob, who rarely let anyone shoot the pets, but himself, 287 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:52,480 Speaker 1: takes Earl under his wing. He starts to let Earl 288 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:55,440 Speaker 1: in on the photo shoots, and by then I had 289 00:18:55,480 --> 00:19:00,960 Speaker 1: shot my first really romantic love story. I actually had 290 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:05,080 Speaker 1: shot it with Viva in mind. That first romantic love 291 00:19:05,119 --> 00:19:08,359 Speaker 1: story was for Penthouse, but Earl is quickly tasked with 292 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:12,640 Speaker 1: creating Viva's images. He now faces the dicks alone. I'm 293 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:15,719 Speaker 1: just flying by the seat of my pants and just 294 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:20,920 Speaker 1: trusting my creative instincts, you know. And my instincts told 295 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 1: me that maybe women see men in a more sensitive way. 296 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:28,640 Speaker 1: You know, sometimes a girl wants a good heart fuck, 297 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:31,879 Speaker 1: but maybe that same girl sometimes also wants to be 298 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:36,399 Speaker 1: caressed gently and softly and all magic places in her body, 299 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:39,400 Speaker 1: behind her knees and you know, like her neck, under 300 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:43,919 Speaker 1: her ear where the general touch is more. I always 301 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:47,160 Speaker 1: thought that less is more to be fair by today's 302 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:51,679 Speaker 1: porn standards. Viva's porn is all less is more. The 303 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:56,439 Speaker 1: dicks are unaggressive, They're mostly shot artistically as opposed to erotically, 304 00:19:57,119 --> 00:19:59,480 Speaker 1: or at least what the straight female editors at Viva 305 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 1: would CONSI are erotic, but unknown to Bob Guccioni and 306 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:07,240 Speaker 1: Earl Miller, the men's spearheading these photoshoots, these flaccid dick 307 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:11,960 Speaker 1: picks do, however, have a growing audience, one they didn't predict. 308 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:19,960 Speaker 1: The great you know rumor plus secret about Viva was 309 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:23,080 Speaker 1: it was primarily read by gay guys. That's Bob Guccioni's son, 310 00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:26,480 Speaker 1: Bob Junior. During the course of the publication several years 311 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,800 Speaker 1: it was out, it became a little obvious that there 312 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:33,280 Speaker 1: was a great amount of interest from guys. But maybe 313 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:35,400 Speaker 1: it was obvious to at least some of the editors. 314 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:38,080 Speaker 1: Here's Robin on what happened when she left a few 315 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:40,960 Speaker 1: Vivas at her boyfriend's apartment. I dated a guy in 316 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:43,959 Speaker 1: San Francisco for a while while I was at Viva, 317 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:46,400 Speaker 1: and he was this big, burly guy and he goes, 318 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:49,320 Speaker 1: my landlord keeps hitting on me. Why does he think 319 00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:53,080 Speaker 1: I'm gay? And I'm like, got Viva on your coffee table. 320 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:56,520 Speaker 1: So yeah, some people may be into the decks, but 321 00:20:56,640 --> 00:20:59,040 Speaker 1: for the editors at Viva, the dicks and the way 322 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:02,120 Speaker 1: they're being shot are representative of everything. They didn't want 323 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:05,560 Speaker 1: this magazine to be, they're out of sync with the intellectual, 324 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:07,800 Speaker 1: high end vibe that the women at Viva are working 325 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:11,080 Speaker 1: to create with things like Doctor Judy's female focus sex 326 00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:15,280 Speaker 1: advice columns, with their thoughtful reported pieces on things like 327 00:21:15,359 --> 00:21:17,960 Speaker 1: how to be in control of your own orgasm and 328 00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:22,040 Speaker 1: exploring the world of open marriage. And because Bob's not 329 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:26,600 Speaker 1: really gone, the magazine still has a divided vision his 330 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:31,199 Speaker 1: and theirs. It's like Bob's haunting the feminist editors from 331 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:34,639 Speaker 1: the sidelines, or even from the looks of some of 332 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:39,600 Speaker 1: his stories, heckling them. Here's editor Betty Jane again. You know, 333 00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:44,880 Speaker 1: just this afternoon, I had I unearthed some care sheets 334 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:50,120 Speaker 1: from this is a January seventy five issue, and it's 335 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:54,960 Speaker 1: so incredible because it really shows how it was practically 336 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:59,200 Speaker 1: two magazines. The editors are going full feminist in Viva's editorial, 337 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:02,920 Speaker 1: pulling together all star lineups with big second wave names 338 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:06,120 Speaker 1: like Betty Friedan and Barbara Seamen, who were talking about 339 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:09,479 Speaker 1: serious issues that impact how women think about sex and 340 00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:12,760 Speaker 1: themselves at the time. But I'm looking at this color 341 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:16,000 Speaker 1: line and it says the myth is a female masochism, 342 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 1: and it has all these names and then there's a 343 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:22,639 Speaker 1: little line and right under it is crotch watching, the 344 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:26,119 Speaker 1: only female spectator sport which is talking about. Here is 345 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:30,520 Speaker 1: a Viva story called crotch Watching, and incredibly in your face, 346 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:33,919 Speaker 1: a six page spread of close ups of men's crotches 347 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:39,080 Speaker 1: bulging out of swim trunks, sailor pants, boxing shorts, a 348 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,560 Speaker 1: thong like banana hammock. So that was a layout that 349 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:45,719 Speaker 1: was really had nothing to do with what we use 350 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:48,119 Speaker 1: a magazine we were producing. In some ways it has 351 00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 1: split personality. Now, a crotch section is of course a 352 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:56,240 Speaker 1: natural fit for a straight women's porn magazine, but maybe 353 00:22:56,320 --> 00:23:01,239 Speaker 1: not these crotches shown in this way. The editors were 354 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:05,000 Speaker 1: trying to make a smart, even elite publication, but their 355 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:09,359 Speaker 1: work is always juxtaposed next to corny, sometimes even juvenile 356 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:13,960 Speaker 1: pictures of dogs. The Viva women. They were trying to 357 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:17,639 Speaker 1: make their own version of Esquire, not a joke magazine 358 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:22,040 Speaker 1: with banana hammock schlungs. And while Cathy is in charge 359 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:26,399 Speaker 1: of all this, she's also in a difficult position. She 360 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:29,400 Speaker 1: has to right this wrongheaded ship, and her number one 361 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:32,560 Speaker 1: solution is pushing dick picks. The editors hate, but some 362 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:36,280 Speaker 1: readers say they like Cathy is so determined to make 363 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:39,800 Speaker 1: the dicks work that she forces the entire editorial team 364 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:43,159 Speaker 1: on a media tour to defend Viva's male nudity. So 365 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:47,520 Speaker 1: I had to go on TV shows and radio interviews 366 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:51,000 Speaker 1: and things like that and defend this idea that women 367 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:56,720 Speaker 1: liked to look at male nudity as a way men 368 00:23:56,840 --> 00:24:00,520 Speaker 1: like to look at female nudity. And I just close 369 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:04,919 Speaker 1: my eyes and did it. I don't think really any 370 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:09,000 Speaker 1: of the editors were really interested, you know. In that 371 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:13,359 Speaker 1: side of the magazine, it's another iteration of erotica. The 372 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:17,400 Speaker 1: women at Viva again are never consulted about, but feel 373 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:21,280 Speaker 1: they have no choice but to accept. Kathy's pushing more 374 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:24,840 Speaker 1: and more of her version of sexiness in Viva. But 375 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:29,000 Speaker 1: she's still letting Bob Guccioni art directed. It's an all 376 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:32,800 Speaker 1: in the family, one two punch, a leadership force that's 377 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:36,679 Speaker 1: impossible for the editors to break. Viva's young feminists are 378 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:39,640 Speaker 1: left on more. They need a leader, they can look 379 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:44,040 Speaker 1: up to, someone who's on their side, and they're about 380 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:49,479 Speaker 1: to get it. I didn't want to be curtailed, and 381 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:51,440 Speaker 1: I yes, I did break the rules There's no question 382 00:24:51,440 --> 00:25:03,199 Speaker 1: about it. Stiffed as an original podcast from iHeartMedia and 383 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:07,439 Speaker 1: Crooked Media. It's produced by Crooked Media. It's hosted and 384 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:12,360 Speaker 1: written by me Jennifer Romalini and produced by Megan Donnas. 385 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:16,719 Speaker 1: Sidney Rapp is our associate producer, Story editing by Mary Knopf, 386 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:21,560 Speaker 1: music sound design and engineering by Hannis Brown. Our fact 387 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:26,320 Speaker 1: checker is Julia Paskin. Additional production support from Noafola Kato 388 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:30,200 Speaker 1: and Inez Maza. Thanks to Natalie Robamed for reading the 389 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:34,320 Speaker 1: voice of Katain Keaton from Crooked Media. Our executive producers 390 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:37,640 Speaker 1: are Sarah Geismer, Katie Long, and Mary Knopf, with special 391 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:42,359 Speaker 1: thanks to Alison Falzetta and Lyra Smith from iHeartMedia. Our 392 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:46,119 Speaker 1: executive producers are Beth Ann Mcaluso and Julia Weaver.