Well it was bound to happen. The economy is hurting everybody and the soft core porn industry is no exception. According to an article in the December issue of Business Week, the company that branded themselves as a magazine that worshipped the female body is struggling to stay afloat.
The ironic twist to this however, and to the dismay of many religious groups is, the reason the magazine is struggling is that mainstream publications are becoming its competition! Long gone are the days when Playboy competed with Hustler. Now, Playboy is competing with magazines like Glamour and Rolling Stone for the semi nude covers. Some of the mainstream magazines will even go where Playboy will NEVER tread and that's putting full nude pregnant models on the cover!!
Some people may see a poetic justice in the fact that Hugh Hefner's fight to mainstream the porn industry just might be its undoing. That and the fact that Hugh's girlfriends that endeared themselves to his readers and fans, namely; Holly, Kendra, and ....I forgot the other woman's name (sorry but, I am over 40...), I liked their show, really! Anyway, they left the show all at the same time and quite abruptly.
With that being said, it seems like the magazine was the glue that held the empire together. Now, there is so much mainstream stuff to buy to view sofcore porn and tear out pin-ups, that no one has to buy a skin mag anymore!
The following statement is an incendiary remark that I copied from a popular evangelical blog. While I understand some of it, I am, after all, a capitalist and also a fan of the Playboy empire. I admire anyone who can create an empire and fullfill a need/niche at the same time. It's priceless!!
Here is the Statement: from a blog entitled; reformation 21, an online magazine of the alliance of confessing evangelicals: Posted by Carl Trueman; Jan. 3, 2009
In his article Carl implies that although it is good (in his opinion) that the "sofcore" porn king is in trouble, the fact that he is being silenced because the mainstream magazines are carrying so much sofcore porn, there's no need to buy Playboy magazine anymore, is a sad comment on our society. Read his quote then let us know what you think on the subject.
HE SAYS:
"What does that say about our society."
I understand his concern but, I've always had a problem with this country's taboo regarding nudity and sensuality but I'll touch on that subject another time (pardon the pun).
FUTHERMORE HE SAYS:
"The mainstreaming of pornography, and the rise of amateur web pornography, witnesses not simply to the insatiability of the fallen human appetite for sexual pleasure; it is also an (albeit extreme) piece of evidence that the whole idea of what is public and what is private is being radically reconfigured in our society; indeed, the distinction may, just possibly, be about to be abolished in its entirety. When `reality TV shows' top the viewing polls, when the internet allows anyone to observe my town, my street, my house, by satellite cam, when anybody can post video of themselves doing anything -- from the mundane to the obscene -- online, then the distinction of the public and the private -- and the concomitant notions of decency and decorum upon which the distinction depends-- is rendered meaningless. What is left is little more than a hedonistic wasteland inhabited by exhibitionists and voyeurs, where the tawdry and the trivial must inevitably triumph.
I'd always assumed that learning that a magazine like Playboy was in financial difficulties would be an answer to prayer and a source of rejoicing. Given what it says about society, however, I am perhaps more inclined to mourning and lamentation at this point".
What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree?
Let's talk about this employing the maturity we've worked so hard to earn. And as always remember to stay funky, stay fab!!
The ironic twist to this however, and to the dismay of many religious groups is, the reason the magazine is struggling is that mainstream publications are becoming its competition! Long gone are the days when Playboy competed with Hustler. Now, Playboy is competing with magazines like Glamour and Rolling Stone for the semi nude covers. Some of the mainstream magazines will even go where Playboy will NEVER tread and that's putting full nude pregnant models on the cover!!
Some people may see a poetic justice in the fact that Hugh Hefner's fight to mainstream the porn industry just might be its undoing. That and the fact that Hugh's girlfriends that endeared themselves to his readers and fans, namely; Holly, Kendra, and ....I forgot the other woman's name (sorry but, I am over 40...), I liked their show, really! Anyway, they left the show all at the same time and quite abruptly.
With that being said, it seems like the magazine was the glue that held the empire together. Now, there is so much mainstream stuff to buy to view sofcore porn and tear out pin-ups, that no one has to buy a skin mag anymore!
The following statement is an incendiary remark that I copied from a popular evangelical blog. While I understand some of it, I am, after all, a capitalist and also a fan of the Playboy empire. I admire anyone who can create an empire and fullfill a need/niche at the same time. It's priceless!!
Here is the Statement: from a blog entitled; reformation 21, an online magazine of the alliance of confessing evangelicals: Posted by Carl Trueman; Jan. 3, 2009
In his article Carl implies that although it is good (in his opinion) that the "sofcore" porn king is in trouble, the fact that he is being silenced because the mainstream magazines are carrying so much sofcore porn, there's no need to buy Playboy magazine anymore, is a sad comment on our society. Read his quote then let us know what you think on the subject.
HE SAYS:
"What does that say about our society."
I understand his concern but, I've always had a problem with this country's taboo regarding nudity and sensuality but I'll touch on that subject another time (pardon the pun).
FUTHERMORE HE SAYS:
"The mainstreaming of pornography, and the rise of amateur web pornography, witnesses not simply to the insatiability of the fallen human appetite for sexual pleasure; it is also an (albeit extreme) piece of evidence that the whole idea of what is public and what is private is being radically reconfigured in our society; indeed, the distinction may, just possibly, be about to be abolished in its entirety. When `reality TV shows' top the viewing polls, when the internet allows anyone to observe my town, my street, my house, by satellite cam, when anybody can post video of themselves doing anything -- from the mundane to the obscene -- online, then the distinction of the public and the private -- and the concomitant notions of decency and decorum upon which the distinction depends-- is rendered meaningless. What is left is little more than a hedonistic wasteland inhabited by exhibitionists and voyeurs, where the tawdry and the trivial must inevitably triumph.
I'd always assumed that learning that a magazine like Playboy was in financial difficulties would be an answer to prayer and a source of rejoicing. Given what it says about society, however, I am perhaps more inclined to mourning and lamentation at this point".
What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree?
Let's talk about this employing the maturity we've worked so hard to earn. And as always remember to stay funky, stay fab!!
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