Prologue

On March 15, 1976, a significant stronghold of sexism began to crumble when the first male exotic dancer took the Sugar Shack stage. Dana Montana struck a blow that severed the patriarchal, misogynistic stranglehold men have had throughout human history—regarding women as possessions, to be exploited economically, emotionally, politically, and sexually. What Hugh Hefner offered men, Dana Montana provided for women. She turned the tables on the sexual exploitation of women in entertainment. Among the many hallmarks of the American feminist movement, Dana Montana’s courageous and contentious decision to provide sexual fantasy fulfillment for women sent a social seismic wave of radical change through our culture that continues to generate aftershocks. Ms. Montana was not driven by a desire to rise to the forefront of a great cause; rather she was driven to fulfill the most basic of human needs—to love and be loved, and the most fundamental of all needs—to survive. When Betty Friedan’s, The Feminine Mystique, was published in 1963, provoking the second significant wave of the American feminism, Dana Montana was being fitted for a “Bunny” costume at the Chicago Playboy Club. Although the consciousness of the country was being raised regarding women’s rights, Dana was positioning herself to exploit her particular set of personal assets in an institutionalized bastion of anti-feminism—Playboy International, Inc. During the next ten years, rapidly changing events, both in Dana’s personal life and in the moral life of our country, eventually led to a Monday evening in March when Elliot Lanzanna, for the first time ever, began to strip away one of the most significant barriers blocking equality for women in America and in the World. Now, years later, let’s look back at the life of Dana Montana and assess her influence on the world we live in today.