The magazine was successful right out of the gate. In the same interview with the Milwaukee Journal, Milam said that while the Cosmo girl “is desperate without a man,” the Playgirl “is her own person first.” Shots fired. She also believed Playgirl should push the boundaries of female sexuality in ways that Cosmo, then helmed by the famed Helen Gurley Brown, wouldn’t-by including more nudity, yes, but also by being bolder in spirit. Marin Scott Milam believed the magazine had “the potential to be a voice for women of the ‘70s, much the way Cosmo was a magazine of the ‘60s,” she told the Milwaukee Journal in 1976. (Despite what some people think, Playgirl is connected to Playboy in concept only-the magazines have always been owned and operated by different entities.) © Cosmopolitanīurt Reynolds' legendary spread for Cosmopolitan (1972).īut while the magazine’s creator was a man, its first editor was a woman-and one who recognized its promise. Lambert launched Playgirl the following year. His question seemed to be answered in 1972, when Cosmopolitan released its wildly successful centerfold of Burt Reynolds in all his hirsute glory. Twenty years after Hugh Hefner launched the iconic men’s entertainment magazine Playboy, a Los Angeles nightclub owner named Douglas Lambert had an idea: If men wanted Playboy, wouldn’t the sexually liberated women of the 1970s want a nudie/lifestyle magazine of their own ? Instead, the current Playgirl feels no more essential to women than a Chippendales ad buried in the back of a city newspaper. Had the magazine continued on this path, who knows the role it might play in women’s lives today. Four decades ago, Playgirl’s editor dreamed that the magazine would be a feminist, sexually progressive beacon of liberation-an envelope-pusher, where women could indulge in both eye candy and mind candy. The cover of Playgirl's Winter 2016 issue.
When I got my hands on the thin edition, my thoughts progressed from “Is this what’s sexy to women now?” to “Wait, who is the intended audience for this?” to, finally, “WTF, Playgirl still exists?” I write about sexuality for a living and I confess that, until recently, I thought the magazine had gone the way of Sassy-until my editor stumbled on a copy at a Barnes & Noble in midtown Manhattan, buried in the Women’s Interests section. The reason you’ve never held, read, or seen any of these things is because the magazine has all but vanished, both from circulation and cultural consciousness.
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Playgirl spreads are usually full monty.)
And you’ve likely never spent time gazing at photos like this one, part of a spread from a recent issue titled-wait for it-“Cocky Sutra.” Playgirl, Photo Studios 1435įrom Playgirl's Winter 2016 issue. You’ve probably never read any of its articles, either. If you identify as a female who is sexually attracted to men, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you’ve probably never held a copy of the nudie magazine in your hand. And yet, despite this demand and pop culture’s increasing acknowledgment of it, one iconic franchise appears to be missing from the roster of mainstream outlets through which women can feast their eyes on sexy male flesh. In fact, it’s safe to say some women can’t get enough.
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If the success of the Magic Mike and Fifty Shades of Grey franchises have taught us anything, it’s that women ~love~ spending their free time watching nearly nude men perform for the camera.