And Hugh Hefner, creator of Playboy magazine, died Wednesday in his mansion at the age of 91. Hefner considered himself an advocate for free speech and sexual freedoms. But critics say he degraded women as objects. In a 1963 article, Gloria Steinem went undercover at a Playboy nightclub where waitresses dressed in skimpy bunny outfits, and exposed harsh hours, painful uniforms and crass customers. Another feminist critic challenged Hefner to “come out here with a cottontail attached to your rear end.”