What kind of woman poses for Playboy?

If tonight’s CBS movie, Posing, is to be believed, it’s any woman who wants to perk up a dreary social life; discover an exciting side to herself that she never knew existed; or put some zing back into a moribund marriage.

Last week, a deranged fan of January’s Playmate of the Month, Stacy Arthur, fatally shot the centerfold’s husband because the assailant was obsessed with her, according to police. This isn’t in Posing. In fairness, it couldn’t be; the film was in the can.

But a decade ago, Dorothy Stratten, a Playmate of the Year, had her head blown off by her estranged husband in an episode that began with her selection by the magazine. Two movies — Star 80 and Death of a Centerfold — have been made about this tragedy. Dorothy Stratten isn’t mentioned in Posing, either.

That’s because Posing isn’t so much a network movie as it is a magazine recruitment film. By the way, its title and topic notwithstanding, Posing is about as erotic as Playboy’s stereo and wine advice.

This is probably the point where a disclaimer is appropriate. I have no moral objections to Playboy. Indeed, I have been a subscriber on and off — and not just for the interviews and stories.

Nevertheless, as hyprocritical as it might be, I wouldn’t want my wife, sister or daughter in the magazine.

If Posing is taken at face value — and only those who believe that the questions in the Playboy Advisor are from real people would do so — it would be hard to mount a sustainable argument against a Playboy pictorial. If there is a downside, and the examples cited above demonstrate there are substantial ones, it isn’t presented.

Most of the traditional objections are raised, then shredded in Posing.

To lend authenticity, the three main characters occasionally break down “the fourth wall,” as if this were a documentary, relating their experiences as Playboy models directly to the audience. Actually, “gush over how exhilarating it was” is a more apt description.

An ardent feminist from Yale, played by Amanda Peterson, who tried to have Playboy advertising banished from the student newspaper, testifies how easy it was to take off her top for the magazine. “I was surprised to find myself enjoying it.”

At first meeting, when she confronts a photographer with the charge Playboy exploits women, he responds: “For some women, it’s a ticket out. A lot of our models use the money to go to college.”

A 37-year-old mother of three, played by Lynda Carter, who once berated her husband for bringing “that piece of trash” into the house, marvels: “It’s been incredible. … I must admit I was feeling pretty good about myself.”

L.A. Law dropout Michelle Greene plays a stockbroker who grew up in a home where “Playboy was considered pornography.” She decides to pose because she’s tired of being “just one of the guys” who winds up sitting home alone when the guys go out for fun. “At the end of my shoot,” she exults, “for the first time in my life, I felt really sexy.”

The royal treatment each model gets — the stretch limo; the posh hotel room; the fawning squadron of makeup artists — is presented in Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous fashion.

There is even a misleading subtitle: Inspired by Three Real Stories.

“Inspired by” is not to be confused with “Based on.” The latter means there actually was something akin to what is being shown. “Inspired by” can translate to something as ridiculously inconsequential as three women with similar backgrounds once having posed for Playboy.

There’s only a halfhearted attempt at balance of any sort. The women must endure some post-Playboy retribution from family, friends and employers. However, the bottom line is an endorsement of the Playboy creed. There is no problem a woman has that can’t be overcome by finding a good man.

What kind of woman poses for Playboy? After tonight, a more appropriate question might be: What kind of woman wouldn’t?

Wednesday ought to be an interesting day at the CBS switchboard.