Even at the height of Playboy magazine’s popularity and influence, its readers tended to be a bit sheepish about it. “I only read it for the articles,” was the common refrain—and there’s some truth to it, as no one would deny that Playboy’s articles, interviews, and fiction have always been top-notch.

But Carrie Pitzulo thinks that defense sells Playboy short. In Bachelors and Bunnies she shows that, naked women and all, Playboy has long been a positive force for feminism, and that from eternal bachelor Hugh Hefner on down, the magazine has demonstrated a real commitment to equality and opportunity for women. Taking readers behind the scenes of Playboy’s heyday, she shows how Hef’s own complicated but thoughtful perspective on modern manhood, sexual liberation, and feminism played into debates—both in the editorial offices and on the magazine’s pages—about how Playboy’s trademark “girl next door” appeal could accommodate, acknowledge, and even honor the changing roles and new aspirations of women in postwar America. Through revealing interviews with Hefner and his daughter (and later Playboy CEO) Christie Hefner, as well as a number of editors and even Playmates, Pitzulo draws a nuanced portrait of a magazine—and a corporation—that expanded opportunities for women even as its romanticized vision of their sexuality defined beauty for a generation.

At a time when Playboy style is once again on the rise—as evidenced by everything from Don Draper mania to NBC’s upcoming Playboy drama to the new $300 complete Playboy hard drive—Pitzulo reminds us that there’s more to Hef than the smoking jacket, and more to the Playmates than what little they wore. Surprising and sure to be controversial, Bachelors and Bunnies will forever change the way we understand this enduring American icon.