Vuolo's pictorial appeared in the November 2001 issue of "Playboy". Some have incorrectly claimed that Vuolo is the first Jewish Playmate. Vuolo herself has agreed it is more likely that she merely is the first "openly" Jewish Playmate. Photos of her 1994 bat mitzvah ceremony at age 13 were included in her pictorial. The fact that she attended synagogue while she was active with "Playboy" led to a fair amount of media attention, including an interview with columnist Shmuley Boteach, who criticized Vuolo for her pictorial, and argued that she was exploited by "Playboy", and that it and pornography in general dehumanizes women, and could lead to things like rape and spousal violence. Boteach paralleled the effects of pornography on men's perception of women with American slavery and The Holocaust. Vuolo challenged this view, saying that "Playboy" is not pornography, and that her experience with the magazine was one of expansion of her career opportunities, and not exploitation. Vuolo's membership in her college sorority was also revoked as a result of her pictorial.