# Is "Playgirl Magazine" really for women, or are gay men really the main audience? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 4, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507 "2004-05-04T19:34:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/1 "2004-05-04T19:34:37Z")
I was reading this news item about Playgirl Magazine’s new launch of a TV network primarily for women, and I wondered about their main intended audience. The focus of the channel seems to be very hetero-woman centric, but I had always assumed (apparently incorrectly) that the main audience for Playgirl Magazine was really gay men. [PLAYGIRL to Launch First Adult Television Network for Women](http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-03-2004/0002165066&EDATE=) ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/2 "2004-05-04T19:49:39Z")
Nah, not really. Maybe in small towns where gay porn is unavailable, but Playgirl’s\*\* photos aren’t aimed at male sensibilities. Playgirl’s photos are coy, showing nude men in romantic poses in fantasy settings. But gay male porn is downbright raunchy with spread buttholes, hard dicks, and plenty of sleaze. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/3 "2004-05-04T19:58:41Z")
Izzat right? Because one of the girls here at work e-mailed a bunch of pictures of beautiful young men to all us goils. One of the goils said she didn’t think we were the intended audience because they were smooth. None of them were nekkid, but they were in their underwear or in the process of taking clothes off. I thought they were pretty hot (if unattainable to an old broad like myself). My girlfriend said they did nothing for her (therefore they must be aimed at gay guys). ---
**Author:** ![misstee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@misstee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misstee)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/4 "2004-05-04T20:02:06Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Nah, not really. Maybe in small towns where gay porn is unavailable, but Playgirl’s\*\* photos aren’t aimed at male sensibilities. Playgirl’s photos are coy, showing nude men in romantic poses in fantasy settings. But gay male porn is downbright raunchy with spread buttholes, hard dicks, and plenty of sleaze. Hmmm, I have never seen gay porn, but I think I am going to look into it. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/5 "2004-05-04T20:12:40Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Izzat right? Because one of the girls here at work e-mailed a bunch of pictures of beautiful young men to all us goils. One of the goils said she didn’t think we were the intended audience because they were smooth. None of them were nekkid, but they were in their underwear or in the process of taking clothes off. I thought they were pretty hot (if unattainable to an old broad like myself). My girlfriend said they did nothing for her (therefore they must be aimed at gay guys). Maybe it was from a twink underwear fetish site. Me, I’m all about the bears. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/6 "2004-05-04T20:19:35Z")
Titan or Colt Learn it, know it, love it. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/7 "2004-05-04T20:20:36Z")
Twink? 'splain, please. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/8 "2004-05-04T20:23:56Z")
I used to write for _Men’s Health_, and my editor (who’s no longer there) once told me, “Of course we know our main readership is gay men, but _we’re not allowed to admit that around the office_.” ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/9 "2004-05-04T20:28:46Z")
Twink - a young, hairless, pretty boy (or “boi” in the vernacular). Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/10 "2004-05-04T20:51:10Z")
**gobear** it may have been a while since you’ve perused a _Playgirl_ but they have full-on erections now and have for a while. Some of the models even have hair on their chests. Still no butthole-spreading through. Of course I only read the magazine for the articles, or if a friend is featured in a layout. In looking at three I happen to have lying about (they sent me a thing for a free trial subscription so what the hell) there’s only one stereotypical “romantic” layout (in the February issue, for Valentine’s Day). The rest are either fairly generic mountains/plains/cowboy type stuff or theme layouts (a supposed teaching assistant in a college classroom and the like). As far as target demographics go, well, they obviously have no compunction about having male purchasers and subscribers. They have to have bought my name from someone and my IRL name is clearly male. The last time I bought an issue at a store (a buddy was featured) the guy behind me in line was very concerned about making sure I knew there were pictures of naked men inside. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/11 "2004-05-04T20:55:20Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > The last time I bought an issue at a store (a buddy was featured) the guy behind me in line was very concerned about making sure I knew there were pictures of naked men inside. And exactly how did _he_ know? Hmmmmmmmm? Heh. Gay porn. I’ve never checked it out. It sounds a little rougher around the edges than het porn. Do they have gay porn for women? Or do they rely on Playboy, et al, for their graphics. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/12 "2004-05-04T20:58:29Z")
> [@plnnr](#): > > Twink - a young, hairless, pretty boy (or “boi” in the vernacular). Mmmmmmmmmm, pretty boys… (the Japanese call them bishonen, very popular with the fangirls 🙂 ) The local Tower Records had an in-store with a Playgirl model a few years ago. The people that showed up were overwhelmingly male and I read in coverage of the event that the majority of Playgirl’s subscribers were male. But I can’t find a cite… ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/13 "2004-05-04T21:09:57Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Heh. Gay porn. I’ve never checked it out. It sounds a little rougher around the edges than het porn. > > Do they have gay porn for women? Or do they rely on Playboy, et al, for their graphics. Does “who” rely on Playboy for their graphics? Women? I’m unclear what you’re asking. I’m not aware of any gay parn made specifically for women but it is popular with some women. Popular enough that “women oriented” sex toy shops like Good Vibrations carry some gay videos. It’s also popular with a lot of the “slash” crowd (slash is basically written gay porn for and by women). In Japan, there’s a genre of comics written by women for women that are all gay love stories, some of them quite explicit. In some of those magazines marketed to women, video makers run ads for live action gay porn. So there is demand for gay porn by women but I don’t think most gay porn videos were produced with women in mind. Does any of this answer your question? ---
**Author:** ![Reloy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Reloy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reloy3)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/14 "2004-05-04T21:15:04Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I used to write for _Men’s Health_, and my editor (who’s no longer there) once told me, “Of course we know our main readership is gay men, but _we’re not allowed to admit that around the office_.” Really? I guess my subscription is the exception. It does suprise me, though, considering the traditional female in her underwear photos that seem to accompany at least three articles an issue. Or all the articles about how to pick up women in bars or how to read their “signals”. Men’s Health is a magazine I really like, but it always seemed more than a little sexist at times (not that there is anything wrong with that 🙂 ). Women’s pictures seem to outnumber pictures of men except in the “how to do the latest weightlifting program” section, and they seem to slip in some spandex clad woman there, too. My Men’s Health seems to have far fewer pictures of spandex clad men than my wife’s “fitness” has of spandex clad women. Men’s Fitness, however . . . ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/15 "2004-05-04T21:20:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Heh. Gay porn. I’ve never checked it out. It sounds a little rougher around the edges than het porn. Actually, I think it’s right on par. It seems gay porn features levels of high arousal, things spread open, etc. That’s pretty much what straight porn (for men) is too. When it comes down to “getting the job done,” I think about as many straight men use Playboy as gay men use Playgirl. (Not many). Both publications are too tame for the raunchy visual stimulation we XYers demand. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/16 "2004-05-04T21:23:11Z")
> [@tremorviolet](#): > > Does “who” rely on Playboy for their graphics? Women? I’m unclear what you’re asking. Do women rely on Playboy to see nekkid goils. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/17 "2004-05-04T21:29:03Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I was reading this news item about Playgirl Magazine’s new launch of a TV network primarily for women, and I wondered about their main intended audience. The focus of the channel seems to be very hetero-woman centric, but I had always assumed (apparently incorrectly) that the main audience for Playgirl Magazine was really gay men. > > [PLAYGIRL to Launch First Adult Television Network for Women](http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-03-2004/0002165066&EDATE=) I think it was about ten years ago that Playgirl gave up the pretense of appealing just to women. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/18 "2004-05-04T21:45:00Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Do women rely on Playboy to see nekkid goils. Oh, _lesbian_ porn. Now I get it. (I was mentally substituting Playgirl for Playboy even when I typed it) There is some lesbian porn, I see it at the previously mentioned sex toy shop but a lot of it seems to be originally for men ([link](http://www.goodvibes.com/cgi-bin/sgsh0102.exe?FNM=36&UID=2004050414393109&SKW=LE15) - not work safe). But that’s videos. Most of my lesbian friends don’t like the type of girls in Playboy, they’re too fake. Plus, I think with lesbian porn you run into the same problem Playgirl does: women in general aren’t as turned on my visual images as men. Which is why Playgirl’s circulation is far below Playboy’s and a good percentage of it is to guys. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/19 "2004-05-04T22:48:27Z")
> [@Reloy3](#): > > Really? I guess my subscription is the exception. It does suprise me, though, considering the traditional female in her underwear photos that seem to accompany at least three articles an issue. . . . I haven’t written for _Men’s Health_ since the mid-'90s, so it may have changed a good deal since then. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/20 "2004-05-04T23:01:57Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Do women rely on Playboy to see nekkid goils. My husband has a subscription to _Playboy_, and I can tell you this: if a guy says he only reads it for the articles, he probably does. \*Playboy \* is \*Maxim \* with bared breasts and pubic areas. Though I guess that since \*Playboy \* came first, \*Maxim \* is \*Playboy \* \*\*without \*\* bared breasts and pubic areas. And \*Playboy \* has some of the best, most intelligently-written articles I’ve ever read in a magazine. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507.md?page=2)