From Playboy to Personal Empowerment: A Brief History of Boudoir Photography – Part 3
- Tia Dang
- Sep 29
- 5 min read
Updated: Oct 17
We’ve made it to the final part of our History of Boudoir series! If you’ve read the first two posts and stuck with us until now, you get a gold star. I hope you’ve had fun and picked up a few new things along the way.
From Postwar Gender Roles to Social Change
In last week's post, we explored the power of the pin-up girl during World War II. After the war ended in 1945, American society pushed for women to return to traditional pre-war gender roles. The 1950s is often remembered as a time of postwar prosperity, white picket fences, the nuclear family, and the homemaker managing domestic life.
Change was on the horizon; however, the late 1950s through the 1970s brought the Sexual Revolution and the Women’s Rights Movement. These movements challenged traditional ideas about what it meant to be a woman, sex, and self-expression.
One big change was the invention of oral contraceptives, aka The Pill. While some groups said it would ruin social values, others celebrated it as a breakthrough that gave women more control over their fertility and sexuality (The Pill and The Sexual Revolution).
Playboy, Feminism, and the Debate Over Liberation
In a similar spirit of sexual liberation, Playboy magazine launched in 1953, and the first Playboy Club opened in Chicago in 1960. The Playboy franchise presented a fantasy image for men of the ideal sexual woman. The magazine was known for its pornographic nude and semi-nude photographs, particularly the centerfold feature with the Playmate of the month. While very popular with men, many women didn’t see Playboy as glamorous and sexually liberating.
In 1963, the journalist and activist Gloria Steinem went undercover as a Bunny at the New York Playboy Club. She documented the experience and exposed the harsh realities in a two part expose for Show magazine. Steinem revealed how the women employed as Bunnies were expected to work long hours in painful costumes for poor pay. They also had to endure harassment from guests who'd make sexual advances and often tugged on the costume's white bunny tail. She recalled that the experience made her feel like an object and not a person (Steinem. A Bunny's Tale Part I and II).
On the other side, some women found empowerment through expressing their sexuality and taking ownership of their bodies. One example is the work of photographer Susan Meiselas, who photographed women in strip-tease acts during the 1970s.
In a 2019 interview with BBC Culture, Meiselas described the women she met during the project:
“A lot of women regarded the girl shows as straightforwardly exploitative… But I wanted the book to be part of a dialogue. When one of the women I photographed, Lena, says she found performing a revolutionary experience—that for the first time she’d got men eating out of her hand—who could deny her that feeling?” (Dickson, 'Disarmingly Intimate' Photos of Women).
Meiselas initially thought the women she photographed might feel objectified, but she discovered that many felt empowered by stripping. For them, it was a way to take control of their bodies and earn financial independence. Meiselas recalled that "some of her fellow feminists were appalled that she was attempting to document and understand this world rather than condemn it outright" (Dickson). Even today, there is debate over whether women who express their sexuality or showcase their bodies are being exploited or expressing their sexual liberation.
The Rise of Glamour and Boudoir Photography
This time also saw the rise of glamour photography, which encompasses the boudoir genre. Marilyn Monroe gave us one of the most iconic boudoir portraits in history. Known for her beauty and sex appeal, Monroe began her career as a pin-up in the late 1940s. Just before her death in 1962, she was photographed by Douglas Kirkland wrapped in silk sheets. He described it as incredibly intimate—just the two of them and a camera. “It was extremely intimate… It was just myself, the camera, and Marilyn,” Kirkland recalled of the photoshoot (In Bed With Marylin).
The photos are soft and vulnerable, giving us a rare peek into her private world The photoshoot inspires boudoir even today. At Belle Marie, we love the White Sheets because the photos are playful and sensual; they always end up being client’s favorites.
By the late 1980s and 1990s, digital photography started making it easier and more affordable for people to have their own photo sessions. I recall my mom dressing me in a floral dress, a matching floppy hat, and carefully curling my hair for a photoshoot at our local JCPenny's in the early 1990s. The prints are still proudly displayed in her living room.
Many fellow Millennials and Gen X'ers fondly remember Glamour Shots, a studio experience that opened in 1988 and became wildly popular in the 1990s. Usually found in malls, Glamour Shots let women get glammed up for the day with big hair, fluffy boas, and dramatic makeup. Part of the experience was getting transformed into a movie star for a day with dramatic make up and blinging costumes.
Content creator and fellow millennial, Janine DeMichele-Baggett (aka @retr0avocado) remembers it fondly: “Glamour Shots was a moment in time to transform, get pampered, and feel like a movie star in a way you normally didn’t in ordinary life" (DeMichele-Baggett The Lost Magic of Glamour Shots).
Boudoir Photography Today
That same feeling of transformation and beauty still exists in modern boudoir photography…just with less Aqua Net and bedazzled denim jackets. Today, boudoir has grown into something incredibly personal. Unlike the past, where women were photographed for someone else’s gaze, modern boudoir is often for the person in front of the camera.
Since the early 2000s, many women have booked boudoir sessions to gift their partner the images as celebrations for weddings, anniversaries, or special events. But more and more, women are doing it just for themselves. A boudoir photoshoot is a chance to celebrate their bodies, feel confident, and reconnect with who they are. Even though the style has changed, the heart of boudoir photography is still the same. Boudoir photoshoots today focus on confidence, connection, and celebrating yourself. They are not just for someone else’s eyes anymore.
Belle Marie Boudoir: Empowerment in Every Session
Here at Belle Marie Boudoir, we see this every day. We’re an all female team based in Minnesota who believe in the power of boudoir. Some of our clients are nervous about boudoir sessions at first. But by the end, they’re glowing. We’ve worked with clients from all backgrounds, ages, and experiences—each session is special.
A boudoir shoot can be deeply healing. Whether it’s after a tough season, a big life change, or just because you want to celebrate who you are, it’s an empowering experience. Our studio offers full boudoir photography makeup, wardrobe guidance, and support the whole way through. We’re proud to offer Minnesota boudoir photography that uplifts and empowers.
Boudoir today is so much more than just sexy pictures.
It’s an empowering, emotional experience, and we’re honored to guide you through it from start to finish.
We’ll laugh with you, we’ll cry with you, and we promise you’ll leave with photos that remind you of just how beautiful and powerful you really are.
If you haven't already read part 1 or 2 you can check those out here!
Works Cited
DeMichele-Baggett, Janine. “The Lost Magic of Glamour Shots.” Retro Avocado, Retro Avocado, 15 Apr. 2025, retroavocado.substack.com/p/the-lost-magic-of-glamour-shots.
Dickson, Andrew. “‘Disarmingly Intimate’ Photos of Women.” BBC News, BBC, 24 Feb. 2022, www.bbc.com/culture/article/20190823-intimate-photos-of-womens-bodies.
“In Bed With Marilyn.” Christie’s, www.christies.com/en/stories/in-bed-with-marilyn-monroe-bb8feb6128484921b6551f17dc8bd251. Accessed 28 Sept. 2025.
Steinem, Gloria. “A Bunny’s Tale Part I (PDF).” Show, May 1963, https://undercover.hosting.nyu.edu/files/original/5c9de8d1db51cede1395f6d6fa480ca24e872b76.pdf. Accessed Sept. 2025.
Steinem, Gloria. “A Bunny’s Tale Part 2 (PDF).” Show, June 1963, https://undercover.hosting.nyu.edu/files/original/76f8961b4dccd8f809cd35f43da124b969ec06e3.pdf. Accessed Sept. 2025.
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