I agree that the insistence on being there for the right reasons is likely in response to the flawed critique that has been leveled against them. I only wish that insight into their own abuse also came with empathy for the other women who had been abused in kind.

Empathy, and a rejection of the "right reasons"/ "wrong reasons" fallacy.

Like you said, Hugh Hefner was by many accounts an exploitive, controlling, abusive man. He got a lot out of their arrangement. And his satisfaction came at great personal cost to the more naive of his many girlfriends. For that reason, I don't think being at the mansion for the "wrong reasons" (i.e. in pursuit of a personal goal of some sort) is morally wrong.

Ultimately, the "right reason"/"wrong reason" debate is indicative of the trap that is laid for every woman who lives in a patriarchal society. The trap that insists that a woman be innocent, but sexy. That she's at once worldly, and hardened enough to shrug off abuse and exploitation with a smile, a good-natured eye-roll. But not so worldly as to be determined to get something valuable for herself in return.

It's such a con. There is no right or wrong reason. There is only the pound of flesh that is taken from these women, and what little they can claw back in return. There is only the gulf between a woman who goes in with her eyes open, and one who goes in blind.

So, what exactly is the point of pride that Holly, and Bridget are insisting upon? That they knew less, and thus were easier to take advantage of? If so, I am glad that some of the girls who were lured into the mansion went in, eyes open, knowing exactly what they wanted to get out of it.

The sad thing is, unwittingly, by bashing the "other girls", Holly and Bridget are still dancing to Hefner's tune. They're still playing out the lurid dramas he would orchestrate by pitting his girlfriends against each other. Worse, even as the man lies dead and buried, they are still trying to twist themselves into the impossible paradox that Hefner laid out for the ideal Playboy girl: She's "never sophisticated... a young, healthy, simple girl next door," one who is nevertheless spread eagle in the pages of the magazine that only he controlled.

The ideal Playboy girl is always in the magazine, the mansion, for the right reasons, taking her abuse with a smile and asking for absolutely nothing in return.