Following the Bunny: Gendered Labor and Digital Play inLivestreaming Cultures

This paper explores the evolution of the Playboy Bunny as a cultural icon, focusing on its intersections with gaming and livestreaming cultures in the digital age.Originally introduced in the 1960s as hostesses of the Playboy Clubs, Bunnies embodied Playboy's ethos of leisure, sophistication, and masculine fantasy (Pitzulo 2011).Their meticulously regulated labor, governed by strict rules of appearance, comportment, and behavior, positioned the Bunny as a symbol of eroticized service and commodified femininity (Preciado 2014).In the present day, the Bunny has been reimagined both as a social media phenomenon (see figure 1) and within Playboy's digital platform, which leverages livestreaming, influencer branding, and self-presentation to remain culturally relevant.economies of gender, play, and media.The Bunny's digital revival reflects a transformation in how gaming and livestreaming spaces commodify pleasure and intimacy, challenging traditional boundaries between play and work.By tracing the Bunny's trajectory across decades, this paper contributes to discussions about the intersections of gaming, gender, and the evolving configurations of labor in digital economies.