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Pornographic magazines or erotic magazines, sometimes known as adult, sex or top-shelf magazines, are
magazines A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination ...
that contain content of an explicitly sexual nature. Publications of this kind may contain images of attractive naked subjects, as is the case in
softcore pornography Softcore pornography or softcore porn, is commercial still photography or film that has a pornographic or erotic component but is less sexually graphic and intrusive than hardcore pornography, defined by a lack of visual sexual penetration. So ...
, and, in the usual case of
hardcore pornography Hardcore pornography, or hardcore porn, is pornography that features detailed depictions of sexual organs or sexual acts such as vaginal, anal or oral intercourse, fingering, anilingus, ejaculation, and fetish play. The term is in contrast wi ...
, depictions of
masturbation Masturbation is the sexual stimulation of one's own genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation may involve hands, fingers, everyday objects, sex toys such as vibrators, or combinat ...
,
oral The word oral may refer to: Relating to the mouth * Relating to the mouth, the first portion of the alimentary canal that primarily receives food and liquid ** Oral administration of medicines ** Oral examination (also known as an oral exam or or ...
,
vaginal In mammals, the vagina is the elastic, muscular part of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vestibule to the cervix. The outer vaginal opening is normally partly covered by a thin layer of mucosal tissue called the hymen. ...
or
anal sex Anal sex or anal intercourse is generally the insertion and thrusting of the erect penis into a person's anus, or anus and rectum, for sexual pleasure.Sepages 270–271for anal sex information, anpage 118for information about the clitoris. ...
. They primarily serve to stimulate
sexual arousal Sexual arousal (also known as sexual excitement) describes the physiological and psychological responses in preparation for sexual intercourse or when exposed to sexual stimuli. A number of physiological responses occur in the body and mind a ...
, and are often used as an aid to masturbation. Some magazines are general in their content, while others may be more specific and focus on a particular pornographic niche, part of the anatomy, or model characteristics. Examples include ''
Asian Babes ''Asian Babes'' was a British softcore pornographic magazine which featured photographs of women of South Asian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and Thai origin. The magazine was launched in March 1992 and initially used only Indian and Pakistani mo ...
'' which focuses on Asian women, or ''
Leg Show ''Leg Show'' was an adult fetish magazine published in the United States which specialized in photographs of women in nylons, corsets, pantyhose, stockings and high heels. The magazine features pinup style photographs and articles geared towards ...
'' which concentrates on women's legs. Well-known adult magazines include ''
Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...
'', '' Penthouse'', ''
Playgirl ''Playgirl'' was an American magazine that featured general interest articles, lifestyle and celebrity news, in addition to nude or semi-nude men. In the 1970s and 1980s, the magazine printed monthly and was marketed mainly to women, although ...
'' and ''
Hustler Hustler or hustlers may also refer to: Professions * Hustler, an American slang word, e.g., for a: ** Con man, a practitioner of confidence tricks ** Drug dealer, seller of illegal drugs ** Male prostitute ** Pimp ** Business man, more gener ...
''. Magazines may also carry articles on topics including cars, humor, science, computers, culture and politics. With the continued progression of print media to digital, retailers have also had to adapt. Software such as
Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...
's discontinued Newsstand enabled the downloading and displaying of digital versions of magazines, but did not allow pornographic material. However, there are specific digital newsstands for pornographic magazines.


History

Pornographic magazines form a part of the
history of erotic depictions The history of erotic depictions includes paintings, sculpture, photographs, dramatic arts, music and writings that show scenes of a sexual nature throughout time. They have been created by nearly every civilization, ancient and modern. Early ...
. It is a form for the display and dissemination of these materials. In 1880,
halftone Halftone is the reprographic technique that simulates continuous-tone imagery through the use of dots, varying either in size or in spacing, thus generating a gradient-like effect.Campbell, Alastair. The Designer's Lexicon. ©2000 Chronicle, ...
printing was used to reproduce photographs inexpensively for the first time. The invention of halftone printing took pornography and erotica in new directions at the beginning of the 20th century. The new printing processes allowed photographic images to be reproduced easily in black and white, whereas printers were previously limited to engravings,
woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas tha ...
s and line cuts for illustrations. This was the first format that allowed pornography to become a mass market phenomena, it now being more affordable and more easily acquired than any previous form. First appearing in France, the new magazines featured nude (often,
burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.
actresses were hired as models) and semi-nude photographs on the cover and throughout; while these would now be termed softcore, they were quite shocking for the time. The publications soon either masqueraded as "art magazines" or publications celebrating the new cult of
naturism Naturism is a lifestyle of practising non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms ...
, with titles such as '' Photo Bits'', ''Body in Art'', ''Figure Photography'', ''Nude Living'' and ''Modern Art for Men.'' The British magazine '' Health & Efficiency'' (now ''H&E naturist'', often known simply as ''H&E'') was first published in 1900, and began to include articles about naturism in the late 1920s. Gradually, this material came to dominate - particularly as other magazines were taken over and absorbed. At times in its post-WWII history, ''H&E'' has catered primarily to the soft-porn market. Another early form of pornography were
comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
s known as Tijuana bibles that began appearing in the U.S. in the 1920s and lasted until the publishing of glossy colour men's magazines commenced. These were crude hand drawn scenes often using popular characters from
cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of imag ...
s and culture. In the 1940s, the word "
pinup A pin-up model (known as a pin-up girl for a female and less commonly male pin-up for a male) is a model whose mass-produced pictures see widespread appeal as part of popular culture. Pin-up models were variously glamour models, fashion models ...
" was coined to describe pictures torn from men's magazines and calendars and "pinned up" on the wall by U.S. soldiers in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. While the 1940s images focused mostly on legs, by the 1950s, the emphasis shifted to
breast The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and sec ...
s.
Betty Grable Elizabeth Ruth Grable (December 18, 1916 – July 2, 1973) was an American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer. Her 42 films during the 1930s and 1940s grossed more than $100 million; for 10 consecutive years (1942–1951) she reign ...
and
Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
were two of the most popular pinup
model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...
s. Monroe continued to be a popular model for the men's magazines in the 1950s. The 1950s saw the rise of the first
mass market The term "mass market" refers to a market for goods produced on a large scale for a significant number of end consumers. The mass market differs from the niche market in that the former focuses on consumers with a wide variety of backgrounds wi ...
softcore pornographic magazines: '' Modern Man'' in 1952 and ''
Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...
'' in 1953.Kimmel, p.105
Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles which provoked charges of obsc ...
's ''Playboy'' started a new style of the men's glossy magazine (or girlie magazine). Hefner coined the term
centerfold The centerfold or centrefold of a magazine is the inner pages of the middle sheet, usually containing a portrait, such as a pin-up or a nude. The term can also refer to the model featured in the portrait. In saddle-stitched magazines (as opp ...
, and in the first edition of his ''Playboy'' used a photograph of a nude Monroe, despite her objections. Another term that became popular with ''Playboy'' readers was the "
Playboy Playmate A Playmate is a female model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of ''Playboy'' magazine as Playmate of the Month (PMOTM). The PMOTM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, along with a pictorial biography and the "Play ...
". These new-style magazines featured nude or semi-nude women, sometimes simulating masturbation, although their genitals or
pubic hair Pubic hair is terminal body hair that is found in the genital area of adolescent and adult humans. The hair is located on and around the sex organs and sometimes at the top of the inside of the thighs. In the pubic region around the pubis bon ...
were not actually displayed. In 1963, ''
Lui ''Lui'' (; ) is a French adult-entertainment magazine created in November 1963 by Daniel Filipacchi, a fashion photographer turned publisher, Jacques Lanzmann, a jack of all trades turned novelist, and Frank Ténot, a press agent, pataphys ...
'' started in France to compete against ''Playboy'', while
Bob Guccione Robert Charles Joseph Edward Sabatini Guccione ( ; December 17, 1930 – October 20, 2010) was an American photographer and publisher. He founded the adult magazine '' Penthouse'' in 1965. This was aimed at competing with Hugh Hefner's ''Playboy' ...
did the same in the United Kingdom in 1965 with '' Penthouse''. ''Penthouse's'' style was different to other magazines; with women looking indirectly at the camera, as if they were going about their private idylls. This change of emphasis influenced erotic depictions of women. ''Penthouse'' was also the first magazine to publish pictures that included pubic hair and
full frontal nudity Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...
, both of which were considered beyond the bounds of the erotic and in the realm of pornography at the time. In 1965, ''
Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world ...
'' was launched in the UK in competition to ''Playboy'' and ''Penthouse''. In September 1969 ''Penthouse'' was launched in the U.S., bringing new competition to ''Playboy''. In order to retain its market share ''Playboy'' followed ''Penthouse'' in the display of pubic hair, risking obscenity charges, and launching the " Pubic Wars". As competition between the two magazines escalated, their photos became increasingly more explicit. In the late 1960s, some magazines began to move into more explicit displays often focusing on the
buttocks The buttocks (singular: buttock) are two rounded portions of the exterior anatomy of most mammals, located on the posterior of the pelvic region. In humans, the buttocks are located between the lower back and the perineum. They are composed ...
as standards of what could be legally depicted and what readers wanted to see. By the 1970s magazines containing images of the pubic area became increasingly common. In the UK, Paul Raymond acquired and then relaunched ''
Men Only ''Men Only'' is a British magazine title that originated in 1935 as a pocket-sized men's magazine. It became a standard-sized pin-up magazine in the 1950s and was relaunched in 1971 by Paul Raymond Publications as a soft-core pornographic maga ...
'' in 1971 as a pornographic magazine, and then launched ''
Club International ''Club International'' is a British softcore pornographic magazine published by Paul Raymond Publications that features pictures of nude women. It is a sister magazine of American magazine ''Club''. History and profile ''Club International'' was ...
'' in 1972. ''Playboy'' was the first to clearly show visible pubic hair in January 1971. The first full frontal nude centerfold was ''Playboy's'' Miss January 1972. In 1974,
Larry Flynt Larry Claxton Flynt Jr. (; November 1, 1942 – February 10, 2021) was an American publisher and the president of Larry Flynt Publications (LFP). LFP mainly produces pornographic magazines, such as ''Hustler'', pornographic videos, and three por ...
first published ''
Hustler Hustler or hustlers may also refer to: Professions * Hustler, an American slang word, e.g., for a: ** Con man, a practitioner of confidence tricks ** Drug dealer, seller of illegal drugs ** Male prostitute ** Pimp ** Business man, more gener ...
'' in the US, which contained more explicit material. Some researchers have detected increasingly violent images in magazines like ''Playboy'' and ''Penthouse'' over the course of the 1970s, with them then returning to their more upscale style by the end of the decade.Kimmel, p.98
Paul Raymond Publications Paul Raymond Publications is a British publisher of softcore monthly pornographic magazine titles, including '' Escort'', '' Club International'', ''Mayfair'', '' Men Only'', '' Men's World'' and '' Razzle''. The company's lawyers scrutinise the ...
relaunched '' Escort'' in 1980 in the UK, '' Razzle'' in 1983, and ''
Men's World ''Men's World'' was a British soft-core pornographic magazine founded in 1988. The final issue was Volume 24 issue 13, in December 2012. It was released every four weeks and its content mostly consisted of nude pictorials of well-known erotic ...
'' in 1988. Sales of pornographic magazines in the U.S. have declined significantly since 1979, with a nearly 50% reduction in circulation between 1980 and 1989.Kimmel, p.123 The fact that the U.S. incidence of rape has increased over the same period has cast doubt on any correlation between magazine sales and sex crimes. Studies from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s nearly all confirmed that pornographic magazines contained significantly less violent imagery than pornographic films. In the 1990s, magazines such as ''Hustler'' began to feature more hardcore material such as
sexual penetration Sexual penetration is the insertion of a body part or other object into a body orifice, such as the mouth, vagina or anus, as part of human sexual activity or animal sexual behavior. The term is most commonly used in statute law in the c ...
,
lesbianism A lesbian is a homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with fema ...
and
homosexuality Homosexuality is Romance (love), romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romant ...
,
group sex Group sex is Human sexual activity, sexual behavior involving more than two participants. Participants in group sex can be of any sexual orientation or gender. Any form of Human sexual activity, sexual activity can be adopted to involve more th ...
, masturbation, and fetishes. In the late 1990s and 2000s the pornographic magazines market declined, as they were challenged by new "
lad mags Lad mag was a term principally used in the UK in the 1990s and early 2000s to describe a then-popular type of lifestyle magazine for younger, heterosexual men, focusing on "sex, sport, gadgets and grooming tips". The lad mag was notable as a new ...
" such as ''
FHM ''FHM'' (For Him Magazine) is a British multinational men's lifestyle magazine that was published in several countries. Its master edition contained features such as the ''FHM'' 100 Sexiest Women in the World, which has featured models, actres ...
'' and '' Loaded'', which featured softcore photos. The availability of pornographic DVDs and above all
internet pornography Internet pornography is any pornography that is accessible over the internet, primarily via websites, FTP servers peer-to-peer file sharing, or Usenet newsgroups. The availability of widespread public access to the World Wide Web in late 1990s ...
also led to a decline in magazine sales. Many magazines developed their own websites which also show
pornographic films Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include erotica ...
. Despite falling sales, the top-selling U.S. adult magazines still maintain high circulations compared to most mainstream magazines, and are amongst the top-selling magazines of any type. Paul Raymond Publications dominates the British adult magazine market today, distributing eight of the ten top selling adult magazines in the UK. There were about 100 adult magazine titles in the UK in 2001.


Common features

Several magazines feature photos of "ordinary" women submitted by readers, for example the ''Readers Wives'' sections of several British magazines, and ''
Beaver Hunt ''Beaver Hunt'' is a pornographic magazine aimed at men and published in the United States. It was first published in 1979 by Larry Flynt. It was an offshoot of ''Hustler'' magazines's popular running feature, "Beaver Hunt", which first appeared ...
'' in the US. Many magazines also feature supposed stories of their reader's sexual exploits, many of which are actually written by the magazines' writers. Many magazines contain a high number of advertisements for
phone sex line Phone sex is a conversation between two or more people by means of the telephone which is sexually explicit and is intended to provoke sexual arousal in one or more participants. All parties participate voluntarily; it is typically accompanied b ...
s, which provide them with an important source of revenue.


Gay magazines

An early example of borderline gay pornography was the
physique magazine Physique magazines or beefcake magazines were magazines devoted to physique photography — that is, photographs of muscular "beefcake" men – typically young and attractive – in athletic poses, usually in revealing, minimal clothing. During t ...
, a genre which had wide circulation in the 1950s and 1960s. Physique magazines mostly consisted of photographs of attractive, scantily-clad young men, and occasionally homoerotic illustrations by gay artists like
George Quaintance George Quaintance (June 3, 1902 – November 8, 1957) was an American artist, famous for his "idealized, strongly homoerotic" depictions of men in mid-20th-century physique magazines.Tom of Finland Touko Valio Laaksonen (8 May 1920 – 7 November 1991), pseudonym Tom of Finland, was a Finnish artist who made stylized highly masculinized homoerotic art, and influenced late 20th-century gay culture. He has been called the "most influential ...
. The magazines contained no overt mentions or depictions of homosexuality, and used the pretense of demonstrating bodybuilding techniques or providing photos as visual references for artists, but it was widely understood that they were purchased almost exclusively by gay men. Major examples of the genre include ''
Physique Pictorial ''Physique Pictorial'' is an American magazine, one of the leading beefcake magazines of the mid-20th century. During its run from 1951 to 1990 as a quarterly publication, it exemplified the use of bodybuilding culture and classical art figure pos ...
'' (the first of its kind, debuting in 1951), ''
Tomorrow's Man ''Tomorrow's Man'' was a digest size physique magazine published from 1952 to 1971. It was one of the first physique magazines, debuting a year after Bob Mizer's ''Physique Pictorial''. It was the creation of Irvin ("Irv") Johnson, a Chicago gym ...
'', and ''
Grecian Guild Pictorial ''Grecian Guild Pictorial'' was an American physique magazine published from 1955 until 1968. While ostensibly dedicated to art, health, and exercise, like other physique magazines of the time, it was understood that, in practice, its homoerotic ...
''. Shifts in the judicial interpretation of obscenity in the US and elsewhere led to physique magazines being supplanted in the mid-to-late 1960s by new publications which openly acknowledged a gay audience and featured nudity, and later hardcore sex.


Production, distribution and retail

A successful magazine requires significant investment in production facilities and a distribution network. They require large printing presses and numerous specialized employees, such as graphic designers and typesetters. Today a new magazine start-up can cost as much as $20 million, and magazines are significantly more expensive to produce than pornographic films, and more expensive than internet pornography. Like all magazines, pornographic magazines are dependent on advertising revenue, which may force a magazine to tone down its content. Depending on the laws in each jurisdiction, pornographic magazines may be sold in
convenience stores A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ticke ...
,
newsagents A newsagent's shop or simply newsagent's or paper shop (British English), newsagency (Australian English) or newsstand (American and Canadian English) is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of local ...
and
petrol stations A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasolin ...
. They may need to be sold on the top shelf of a retail display to prevent children reaching them, hence their euphemistic name ''top shelf magazines''. Alternatively it may be necessary to sell them under the counter or in plastic wrappers. Some retail chains and many independent retail outlets do not stock pornographic magazines. They may also be sold in
sex shop A sex shop is a retailer that sells products related to adult sexual or erotic entertainment, such as sex toys, lingerie, pornography, and other related products. An early precursor of the modern sex shop was a chain of stores set up in t ...
s or by
mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing ...
.


See also

*
Fetish magazine A fetish magazine is a type of magazine originating in the late 1940s which is devoted to sexual fetishism. The content is generally aimed at being erotic rather than pornographic. The most well-known early examples are ''Bizarre'' (1946-1959) p ...
*
Glamour photography Glamour photography is a genre of photography in which the subjects are portrayed in erotic poses ranging from fully clothed to nude. The term may be a euphemism for erotic photography. For glamour models, body shape and size are directly relat ...
*
History of erotic depictions The history of erotic depictions includes paintings, sculpture, photographs, dramatic arts, music and writings that show scenes of a sexual nature throughout time. They have been created by nearly every civilization, ancient and modern. Early ...
*
List of pornographic magazines This is a list of pornographic magazines (sometimes called ''erotic magazines'' or ''adult magazines'') — magazines that contain content of a sexual nature and are typically considered to be pornography. For inclusion in this list, pornographic ...
* Pubic Wars


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{Pornography, state=collapsed Magazines Magazine genres