# USA Playboy is Boring !? Other countries ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 29, 2003, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328 "2003-10-29T22:18:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rashak\_Mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328/1 "2003-10-29T22:18:20Z")
Just read that Shannen Doherty is on the cover of this month’s US edition Playboy magazine… and that she doesn’t much show anything but tops ! Come on ! I have noticed that the US edition rarely put celebrities and when they do its pretty boring. Speaking of which… the playmates all seem artificial… I know there is alot of digital photo editing… but the US edition goes pretty far sometimes. The way skin shines and looks is absurdly false. To be fair our playboy here is doing the same thing… looks very wierd sometimes… they have kept it more limited due to criticism. ``` Well I want to nickpick on the celebrity issue. Brazilian Playboy puts on celebrities practically in every edition... showing up on the magazine means a lot of media attention and is considered a career booster. Married actresses have shown up quite frequently and we even had the original "Garota de Ipanema" posing with her daughter too. How is the Playboy in other countries as local celebrities go ? Am I wrong in calling the US Playboy boring ? Why the lack of celebrities ? (There must be a lot of actresses needing renewed attention) Or like me do you read it only for the articles ? ``` ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328/2 "2003-10-29T22:30:59Z")
For many years, I’ve felt the best thing in Playboy is the cartoons… The editors are trying too hard to please the core market – and thus the models are nearly always blonde and caucasian. The interviews still kick ass, tho’! Give 'em credit for doing something right! Trinopus ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328/3 "2003-10-29T23:47:02Z")
I’m not a big fan of how Playboy (and Maxim and FHM for that matter) use so much airbrushing or Photoshoping on their pictorials. The girls all end up looking like plastic Barbie dolls, which I find kinda creepy. IIRC, Penthouse has a little more “natural” look (as natural as a naked chick riding a horse or tearing off her business suit to reveal sexy lingerie is, I guess). ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328/4 "2003-10-30T00:59:58Z")
Isn’t topless sunbathing pretty common in Brazil? That seems relevant somehow. ---
**Author:** ![robertliguori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@robertliguori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robertliguori)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328/5 "2003-10-30T01:09:07Z")
Well, well. People with interent access still buy porn. Will wonders never cease. I agree with the OP. OTOH, you can probably guess why I thought it was boring. Isn’t this more of an IMHO? ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328/6 "2003-10-30T01:27:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Trinopus \* > For many years, I’ve felt the best thing in Playboy is the cartoons… and the way they airbrush, that now includes the models themselves!!! > [@](#): > > The editors are trying too hard to please the core market – and thus the models are nearly always blonde and caucasian. exactly, that is why i no longer get it. Hef needs to get over his blonde thing. Boooooring. > [@](#): > > The interviews still kick ass, tho’! Give 'em credit for doing something right! > \*\* yes, i have bought issues solely for an interview (the first one being Jesse Ventura’s interview). The problem is now the swing seems to be towards Maxin and Stuff and the ilk, which show even less, and are full of articles i could care less about. Porn as a print media is dying. The internet will cure all. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328/7 "2003-10-30T01:32:32Z")
I never liked the women in PB. I think the pictures in Rolling Stones are usually sexier. I always thought they should stop the skin shots, and reduce the price. They have had some great short stories and science fiction. ---
**Author:** ![MusicJunkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@MusicJunkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MusicJunkie)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328/8 "2003-10-30T01:36:54Z")
Unfortunately topless sunbathing isnt anywhere near common in Brazil. If it was I’d be going to the beach every weekend. ---
**Author:** ![jimbino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9bcb4/32.png) [@jimbino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbino)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328/9 "2003-10-30T01:38:49Z")
Playboy stopped being interesting when they eliminated the wide-open beaver. Americans are certified prudes, but in some ways the Brazilians are worse. There are numerous nude beaches throughout the USSA, and here in Austin, Texas we even have a government-run nude beach, but all of Brazil has only about a dozen; the modern naturist movement there was started by Celso Rossi around 1988. See www.naturis.com.br for info & links. Brazilian males are still suffering from severe machismo that expresses itself in numerous ways. One of them is that they won’t take off their clothes (a requirement there to enter a nude beach!). They would much rather stand at the gate and stare all day long! ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328/10 "2003-10-30T01:49:40Z")
I never liked the women in PB. I think the pictures in Rolling Stones are usually sexier. I always thought they should stop the skin shots, and reduce the price. They have had some great short stories and science fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Eolbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@Eolbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eolbo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328/11 "2003-10-30T06:49:42Z")
As much as its a joke to say “I only read it for the articles” thats really the only reason I’d even consider it reading it. The women are boring, plastic and samey. I had a brief moment of envy when hearing that Hugh Hefner at 77 has a harem of seven young women in their 20s. I say brief because it turned to pity on seeing him in a picture with all seven of them. Cant find pic with all seven now but did find this one with him plus five of them: [Pathetic old fool](http://www.goldenglobes2001.homestead.com/closeups_1.html) (scroll down to bottom of page) The missing two girlfriends are exactly the same as well. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328/12 "2003-10-30T06:59:07Z")
To me, porn, including skin mags such as _Playboy_, is boring. You see it once, you see them all. Why is this in GD? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328/13 "2003-10-30T07:45:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eolbo \* > \*\*As much as its a joke to say “I only read it for the articles” thats really the only reason I’d even consider it reading it. The women are boring, plastic and samey. > > I had a brief moment of envy when hearing that Hugh Hefner at 77 has a harem of seven young women in their 20s. I say brief because it turned to pity on seeing him in a picture with all seven of them. Cant find pic with all seven now but did find this one with him plus five of them: > > [Pathetic old fool](http://www.goldenglobes2001.homestead.com/closeups_1.html) > > (scroll down to bottom of page) > > The missing two girlfriends are exactly the same as well. \*\* Oh come on, you wouldn’t kick 'em out of bed, cookiecutter-samey or not 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Eolbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@Eolbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eolbo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328/14 "2003-10-30T07:50:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dutchboy208 \* > \*\*Oh come on, you wouldn’t kick 'em out of bed, cookiecutter-samey or not 😉 \*\* Would too! I have an allergic reaction to silicone and peroxide. ---
**Author:** ![Rashak\_Mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328/15 "2003-10-30T11:04:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jimbino \* > \*\*Playboy stopped being interesting when they eliminated the wide-open beaver. Americans are certified prudes, but in some ways the Brazilians are worse. > > There are numerous nude beaches throughout the USSA, and here in Austin, Texas we even have a government-run nude beach, but all of Brazil has only about a dozen; the modern naturist movement there was started by Celso Rossi around 1988. See www.naturis.com.br for info & links. > > Brazilian males are still suffering from severe machismo that expresses itself in numerous ways. One of them is that they won’t take off their clothes (a requirement there to enter a nude beach!). They would much rather stand at the gate and stare all day long! \*\* In fact nude/nudism beaches are still illegal… most of them being either agreements with local authorities or just plain defiance of the law… so in that sense we’re conservative. Topless was never normal here. NOW where Playboy is involved we are way ahead 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328/16 "2003-10-30T12:24:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jimbino \* > \*\*Playboy stopped being interesting when they eliminated the wide-open beaver. Americans are certified prudes, but in some ways the Brazilians are worse. > \*\* I don’t think Playboy in America ever had wide open shots. I don’t even think they showed pubic hair until the 70’s and magazines like Hustler and Penthouse started to seriously compete with them. Marc ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328/17 "2003-10-30T12:33:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rashak Mani \* > \*\* > I have noticed that the US edition rarely put celebrities and when they do its pretty boring. \*\* Most of the celebrities who pose in Playboy are either experiencing a career slump, getting a little long in the tooth, or were never really big stars to begin with. Do really big stars in Brazil pose for Playboy? Also, just because a celebrity chooses to pose for Playboy doesn’t mean they’re planning on showing the whole kit’n kaboodle. > [@](#): > > \*\* > Speaking of which… the playmates all seem artificial… I know there is alot of digital photo editing… but the US edition goes pretty far sometimes. \*\* During the 50’s and through the 60’s most of the women in Playboy looked like the girl next door. Well, maybe not my next door neighbor but they actually looked like women you could meet on the streets. I don’t know exactly when all this changed but I imagine it started when plastic surgery became so cheap and reliable. > [@](#): > > \*\* > Well I want to nickpick on the celebrity issue. Brazilian Playboy puts on celebrities practically in every edition… showing up on the magazine means a lot of media attention and is considered a career booster. \*\* I don’t believe it is really a career booster. Shannon Doherty has actually appeared in Playboy before and it didn’t seem to do much for her. As I said earlier we don’t get celebrities in their prime to pose for Playboy. Farah Fawcett didn’t pose until she was well past the height of her popularity, Latoya Jackson was never really all that big a star, and the same goes for those chicks from Survivor. Marc PS: I’m sure this will be moved to the Cafe at any time. ---
**Author:** ![Rashak\_Mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328/18 "2003-10-30T13:34:32Z")
Well the least you would expect from a playboy appearance is some pubic hair… not saying they need to show their uterus. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328/19 "2003-10-30T14:24:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MGibson \* > \*\*During the 50’s and through the 60’s most of the women in Playboy looked like the girl next door. Well, maybe not my next door neighbor but they actually looked like women you could meet on the streets. I don’t know exactly when all this changed but I imagine it started when plastic surgery became so cheap and reliable. \*\* I’ve heard the theory that the downfall of the “Girl Next Door” Playmate was when Hef moved permanently from Chicago to LA. Because then the GNDs became all part of LA’s army of aspiring starlets. However, Hef does have an, um, unsettling penchant for identical-looking multiples. The Dahm Triplets probably were as close as this planet could provide to his ideal woman. The sad part of it is that in, for instance, the various “The Girls Of \_\_\_\_\_” features, where you’d expect some variety, they ALSO aim for a particular pattern (as in: if we relied on Playboy, we’d cponclude there is not ONE 20-something woman in America WITHOUT a navel piercing). Anyway, the trend among celebs is to appear in Maxim/FHM or some other such “lad mag” where th eeditorial content is lightweight (i.e. no chance of being across the page from an exposé on Haliburton) and the pictorial can be just simi-nude. Because, American “major” or “serious” actresses/singers do NOT want to do “full” nudity. It’s considered “bad” for their careers, or a symptom of being in desperate straits. (And PB is having some sort of schizoid thing going, unsure as to whether it’s mature or adolescent when it comes to the sex content. They do retain the Advisor and some great articles, but at the same time they HAVE been copying the “lad mags” on some things like layouts and lifestyle “Sex on Campus” features. Plus they now have the “Playmates on Sex” page, where former centerfolds write about their blowjob techniques or things like that.) ---
**Author:** ![DaveX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/96bed5/32.png) [@DaveX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveX)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328/20 "2003-10-30T15:00:39Z")
I, unfortunately, still have a subscription, bought one a couple of years ago and got one as a gift, so it’s still running out. I can’t wait for that to happen fast enough. I used to especially enjoy the college issues, but even those seem to have gone down hill the last 2 or 3 years. And, yes I did read it for the articles. Or used to. Where they used to have interviews with interesting people (Mohammad Ali, Jesse Ventura, the Chechnyan (sp) leader whose name eludes me at the moment, etc.), now we get a vapid parade of Will Smith’s and Mike Piazza’s. Oh, and I’ve noticed that they have recently switched to a very low grade paper, without (obviously) lowering the price. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-playboy-is-boring-other-countries/210328.md?page=2)