I have been debating about blogging about this topic, but I think it falls under the heading of feminism, at least in my twisted little world, and after all, this blog is my twisted little world, so what Broad says goes. Ahem.Playgirl is dead.
The magazine was founded in 1973 (a GREAT year I might add) and the final issue, January/February 2009, is on the newsstands now. I have only ever seen one issue of the magazine and believe it or not, it was one my mom purchased for me when I was high school/college age. I don't remember exactly. My mother's purchasing of the "naughty" magazine is a much stronger memory for me than whatever contents those glossy pages contained.
Why you ask, does the demise of a tawdy pornography periodical matter? In addition to the purpose of the magazine as a "feminist response to Playboy and Penthouse," Playgirl was apparently the ONLY magazine geared towards women that also just happened to display men in all their natural glory (well sort of, waxing ain't all that natural I don't suppose). So now, girls looking to get their visual socks rocked can't kick it old school with a magazine stuffed under their mattresses. (Note to pubescent boys out there, your mom knows you do this—ESPECIALLY if she is the one still changing your sheets . . . Don't think you are getting away with anything Einstein.)
But you ask, I have always heard that isn't how girls roll. Well . . . speaking solely for Broad minded I will say that everyone gets their jollies in different ways, each sense has its pros and cons. I'm not a prude, I actually have no objection to your basic soft core porn (having abstained from anything beyond that I will say that from what I hear about the harder-core stuff I would find that disturbing, as well as highly unfeminist and a most definite turn off) although I wouldn't mind seeing more porn that is specifically aimed at women and not at 20-something dudes with five minutes to spare.
And that is what Playgirl was about. Trying to get behind what turned women on. So why did the book fail? From the sounds of things there were several reasons, including the publishers (damn them) wanting to dumb down the content, while the editors seemed to be seeking to marry Ms. with naked dudes; and the editors trying to serve too varied an audience, i.e. not only heterosexual women, but homosexual men—apparently the two groups might have different sexual fantasies, go figure.
Where does this leave a modern feminist? Well most certainly with one less outlet to express herself sexually. Is it sad that Playgirl is gone? In a way I say yes, but if from its ashes a new effort to address heterosexual female sexuality rises up to live another day, then perhaps it will not have died in vain.
4 comments:
ok i was all excited thinking brad pitt was going to be the last cover boy, then i clicked through to read the salon article. i've never been one turned on by the full monty, but i do think it's a shame that it's going away. hold the phone---uh, maybe WE should start a women's porn mag! we know tons of people to staff it. hmmmm....we should ponder this. we could TOTALLY do this!
I expected nothing less from you CK. and you are right, it is the avenue our pervy little minds were destined for . . .
I can't look at print porn without getting a giggle fit ... but ... for those who are interested, I believe there is a small-print porn magazine for women that has a feminist bent. Sweet Action, I think it's called. I read about it in Bust a while back and meant to look it up but never did.
There, my public service announcement of the day.
A very sad day this is. In the spirit of full disclosure, Playgirl was quite pivotal in my own sexual awakening when I discovered my older sister's stash while staying at her house. That's right--Playgirl made me gay.
But I'm not surprised to hear it's closing up shop. It was always a bit too cheesy and, as an editor-type person, I never could quite figure out its "editorial direction."
So if you guys do start a new porn mag, I can totally assume my drag name and pen some articles. Even Beyonce is doing it--Sasha Fierce!
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