The Playboy cookbook: 'aspiration, affluence, masculinity'

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What did 1970s readers of Playboy magazine look for in a cook book? According to food historian and author Polly Russell, The Playboy Gourmet cook book was all about ‘aspiration, affluence and masculinity’ rather than the kind of cooking that women might be doing for their families. Women's cooking was considered by the authors of Playboy Gourmet to be boring while men, if they tried, could put their masculine charms on display by making delicious, spectacular and also usually very expensive food. Photo credit: 1976: Bunny Girls in costume pose on the roof of the Playboy Club, London in 1976 (Photo credit: Aubrey Hart/Evening Standard/Getty Images)