What 200 'Playboy' Covers Tell Us About Beauty in America

At this point, Playboy is a relic—an outdated self-parody, much like its creator, Hugh Hefner. But historical artifacts are valuable because they give the present some context by illuminating the tastes, aesthetics and obsessions of the past. Consider: The iconic magazine's covers and pictorials, for better or worse, both reflected and shaped cultural ideas about beauty and sexuality for more than half a century. A new book, Playboy’s Greatest Covers, collects 200 images, and its author, Damon Brown, notes in a conversation with Forbes that "the Playboy model has changed from decade to decade."