Did Women Ever Read Playgirl?



Okay, now here's a question that has long plagued The Corsair for some time. Did women ever read the now defunct Playgirl magazine? Beyond, say the jokey office lark ("Oh, look what I found") or, better yet, the surprise appearance at a bridal shower. Did women ever, like, subscribe to this magazine or even run down to the local newsstand and brownbag a copy along with the old Us Weekly and People?

Playgirl always seemed more campy, geared towards a certain type of gay man (like the groundbreaking HBO series Oz), even though it was neither hard-core nor erotic. Playgirl was sort of campy, especially when a clearly reluctant Scott Bakula graced the cover (A very Coco in Fame "screen test/breast moment").



From The New York Times:

"NOT long after Nicole Caldwell became editor in chief of Playgirl magazine, she realized that looking at photos of naked men all day was not everything she had imagined it would be. When she would meet them, there was often a curious vapidity to the men, who Ms. Caldwell took to describing as 'mimbos.'

"Readers, Ms. Caldwell decided, deserved more.

"So she and her fellow editors, all women in their 20s and all relative neophytes to the world of magazines — and pornography — resolved to fill Playgirl with something different. They aspired to bring Playgirl back to its roots, back to a time when the magazine covered issues like abortion and equal rights, interspersing sexy shots of men with work from writers like Raymond Carver and Joyce Carol Oates.

"All the while, the editors juggled the demands of the publisher, Blue Horizon Media, which they said pushed to fill Playgirl with even more nudes and fewer words.

"'It always felt like this uphill battle,' said Jessanne Collins, 29, who was Playgirl’s senior editor.

"The women’s dreams crashed when Blue Horizon Media, which also puts out hard-core magazines, announced it was shutting Playgirl. The last issue, dated January/February 2009, recently arrived on newsstands.

"Although the Playgirl Web site is still running, the graphic content is geared more toward gay men. None of the magazine’s editors are involved."

As we thought. Full story here.