So we were catching up on our train-wreck viewing on Tivo last night and saw a bit of Dancing with the Stars (we know, we know, but it’s like sequined crack!). Anyway, one of the contestants is Holly Madison, the den mother of the Barbie-esque triptych that “dated” — and fairly recently broke up with — Hugh Hefner. (If you ever saw any of their reality show, The Girls Next Door, then you know what a strange business relationship they all had, complete with office rules and curfews for the three female “employees.”) After her quickstep, during the public critique by the judges, we were struck by how judge Carrie Ann Inaba’s assessment of Madison’s dance was also a perfect feminist critique of her relationship with Grampa Ascot:
What I think is so nice about you is that you’re so willing and eager, that you definitely trust him, you let him drag you around…but I had the feeling you were kind of like a doll and he was just dragging you around the floor. And I didn’t feel that you were grounded in your own… You have to hold your own with [your partner] and be an equal partner in the relationship. Okay? So work on that.
The clip above only shows the dance (without the judging), but you can watch the whole episode here if you’re a masochist. (It’s Week 2, Part 1; Madison is the first dancer up).
Yes, but at the same time, how comfortable was she REALLY with the way she was being treated by Hef? I mean… obviously on TV she acted like everything was okay… and maybe it’s just my own personal biases, but it seems like to me like none of them were really okay with the way that was handled. And they all knew that they would be traded out for someone younger eventually, that this was not supposed to be permanent. I realize some women can be okay with that, but I don’t think any of those girls, Holly included, really were. I mean… they all left the relationship for something totally monogamous, right? Can a girl REALLY be okay knowing that she is just not enough for her man, while he expects to be enough for her?
Interestingly enough I felt that, out of the three former girlfriends of The Playboy, Holly was the only one who really did hold her own. She was, after all, like a “den mother” for the four-way relationship in addition to her responsibilities in regards to the magazine.