Ex-Playboy Bunny Says Working at the Club Empowered Me

Susanne Singer was no fan of The Playboy Club, which NBC aired last Monday.

Who is Susanne Singer? A school nurse in Chicago, and a proud former Playboy Bunny.

Playboy gave me a chance to become who I am. It empowered me, Singer said, adding the job offers good pay and benefits, according to a godanriver.com report.

It put her through nursing school, she said.

She condemned the show for spreading misconceptions about the Playboy club in Chicago.

Customers were dancing with girls and touching them. That never happened, said Singer. And if it ever did (the customer) would be kicked out forever.

Singer, a Bunny at the Los Angeles Playboy Clubs in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, was a penniless young mother when she went for an interview.

She found that it wasn't enough to be a bimbo with a pretty face. For a woman to be selected as a bunny, she also needed a strong work ethic, good conversational skills and manners.

Singer also pointed out that the Playboy Bunnies are not the playmates who appear naked in Playboy magazines.

Contrary to common belief, there were a lot of rules at the The Playboy Club.

There were no breaks. You went on the floor at 6 p.m. and worked until 2 a.m., said Singer. You could go to the bathroom and the Bunny room to change, but that is it. And if your shoes weren't polished or if the mother didn't like your hair you would get demerits. But the most serious rules were no dating customers and no (giving out) phone numbers.

Working at the club was not as exciting as might seem. The worst part was the three-inch heels every woman was required to wear with her costume.

After a few hours some of us would just go to the kitchen and put Club Soda in our shoes, because our feet would just be burning, said Singer.

Gloria Steinem, the feminist, was probably the most famous of Playboy Bunnies, who wrote a critique of the treatment of women at the clubs. Singer, though agreeing with a few points Steinem made, noted that Steinem worked at the club for just 17 days and said that during her days, women were treated respectfully.

It empowered me in a way, said Singer.

Singer recollected meeting a lot of celebrities and serving Playboy founder, Hugh Hefner, while working at the club. She could save money while working at the club and go to the nursing school later where she met her husband.

Singer now lives with her husband, neurosurgeon Dr. Joel Singer.