# 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:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/41 "2013-07-17T15:13:57Z")
I think no matter how hard visual porn is designed for straight women, gay men will always be the actual bulk of consumers. ---
**Author:** ![biggie902](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@biggie902](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biggie902)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/42 "2014-07-14T20:12:40Z")
Women who view naked pictures of men or express their sexual interests in men are labeled “sluts” so it’s no wonder that the majority of readers were gay men. Plus when the editors in the magazine were all women the female audience was predominantly female: “It’s ‘Entertainment for Women’ because there’s no other magazine out there that caters to women in the way we do”, she said. But she went on adding: “We love our gay readers as well, and the gay readership [of the magazine] is about 30%.”[7] When the magazine ceased production gay men took over and now its no longer geared towards females. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/43 "2014-07-14T20:48:44Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > if it had been “Physical Culture”, I would have purchased them because I’ve never seen actual copies of that magazine anywhere else. If this piqued anyone’s curiosity, they might be interested in learning more about [Bernard McFadden](http://www.esquire.com/_mobile/blogs/news/strange-tale-historic-fitness-guru-bernarr-macfadden), one of the greatest zanies of American history. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/44 "2014-07-15T02:05:41Z")
Gay zombies. They want to eat your… Okay, still brains, but they’d better be fabulous. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/45 "2014-07-15T23:03:19Z")
> [@biggie902](#): > > Women who view naked pictures of men or express their sexual interests in men are labeled “sluts” Silly me, I thought they were labelled “primarily heterosexual,” and that we all stopped using the word “slut” in high school or before when it dawned on us that a woman who is fun like that is likely to be fun in a lot of other ways, too, and is good dating and even marriage material. But what do I know; I’ve just been around the block a few times and stopped being negatively judgemental, or presuming negative judgement, a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/46 "2014-07-15T23:20:34Z")
No, we really do label them as “sluts.” If all you’ve got is a laser printer, Mactac with crack and peel backer is your best bet, with the Tyvek stock as your most durable choice. If you have a great many sluts and a healthy budget, then a Videojet dot matrix ink gun is the way to go, as is used to mark expiration dates on food and drug packaging (ho ho, as if there’s any expiration on slutdom. In your dreams, Hester Prynne). I suppose if you really want to cover all contingencies, you’d use those labels that go on apples, because they’re edible and you wouldn’t want to be sued by cannibals. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507/47 "2014-07-16T22:03:10Z")
> [@biggie902](#): > > Women who view naked pictures of men or express their sexual interests in men are labeled “sluts” so it’s no wonder that the majority of readers were gay men. 1960 called. You know the rest. It’s pretty gay these days, but I guess it’s because women prefer spending their money on women’s fashion magazines that destroy their self esteem and make them overeat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-playgirl-magazine-really-for-women-or-are-gay-men-really-the-main-audience/243507.md?page=2)