Magazines

From xyclopedia - the history of pornography and sexual expression

Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy magazine was one of the first to take adult material into the mainstream. In 1953 he obtained a calendar photo of Marilyn Munroe for $500 and featured it in his first issue, selling more than 50,000 copies on the newsstands. The second anniversary issue of Playboy sold 400,000 copies. Many imitators followed, the most notable of which were Penthouse and Hustler. These magazines definitely pushed the envelope for explicit photography and content. They were also sometimes considered misogynistic and degrading to women.

By the mid 60's stars like Jane Fonda, Shirley McLean and Elizabeth Taylor had appeared in Playboy. In 1971 Hefner's worth was pegged at $168 million, and in 1973 Roger Ebert wrote a profile for Esquire Magazine of Hefner's daughter Christie when she became the Chief Executive Officer of the Playboy empire.

Magazines catering to a gay clientele were clearly in evidence by the 1950's. After Dark, published in New York was a glossy entertainment magazine that featured lengthy articles and tastefully revealing photographs on choreographers, dancers and handsome young actors in the early stages of their careers. Robby Benson and Jean Michael Vincent are just two of many who were featured.

On the opposite coast, in Los Angeles, Physique Pictorial also began in the 50's. Muscular young men in "athletic" or playful poses filled its pages. Photographers such as Van Gloeden and William Day published portfolios of frankly erotic photographs. In the 1970s gay pornographic magazines took their places on newsstands. Of course gay men read them only for the articles!