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Playboy Magazine Content As Barometer of American Male Intellect?
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mojo2
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Aug 24, 2006, 08:33 AM
 
Playboy Magazine Content As Barometer of American Male Intellect?

I've found a treasure of a site.

Playboy Entertainment for Men Adult Magazine Back Issues <?php echo "$year"; ?>

By looking at the covers of the various issues of Playboy Magazine through the years you get a real feel for the sense of fashion and an idea of what things were like at that period in time.

By looking at the descriptions of the content beside each issue you get an idea of what stimulated our intellects at that period of time.

Compare the latest issues of Playboy today with those from the 90's, 80's, 70's, 60's or 50's and you'll see some interesting differences.

Do you think that today's males are less intellectual than those of bygone eras?

The covers from yesteryear are really enjoyable to browse through.



Playboy Magazine
January 1963

Gala Holiday Issue
Quantity:
Grade Definitions Playmate of the Month
Judi Monterey photographed by Peter Gowland.

Features
"A Conservative's View" by William F. Buckley Jr.
"A Liberal's View" by Norman Mailer.
" The Millionaire Mentality" by J. Paul Getty.
"Championship Boxing and the Liston-Patterson Fight" (Battleground) by Gerald Kersh. (Background) by Budd Schulberg.
"The Career Woman" by Philip Wylie.
"Sahl on Playboy" by Mort Sahl.
"A Man's Credo" by Earnest Hemingway.
"Meeting with Hemingway" by Evgeny Evtushenko.
"Liz as Cleo (Cleopatra, film)"
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

Playboy's Playmate Review
Laura Young (cover), Pamela Gordon, Kari Knudsen (cover), Avis Kimble (cover), Merissa Mathes (cover), Jan Roberts, Marya Carter, Mickey Winters,
Unne Terjesen, Merle Pertile (cover), June Cochran.
Give petty people just a little bit of power and watch how they misuse it! You can't silence the self doubt, can you?
     
Dakar
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Aug 24, 2006, 08:38 AM
 
Define what you mean by intellectual.
     
mojo2  (op)
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Aug 24, 2006, 08:43 AM
 
Originally Posted by Dakar
Define what you mean by intellectual.
I just can't imagine the average guy today being interested in reading the articles or stories in the Jan. 1963 issue posted above, for example. But back then the stories and articles and content spelled what it was like to be a "Playboy guy," I guess. And it was partly the sex, but the sex was within a context of being enlightened and worldly and cool.

Whereas now I see guys with the Bunny logo jewelry and it means he likes to have sex. The descriptions next to the more recent issues seem to dwell on nothing but the sexual aspects of the magazine and I don't know what that means.
Give petty people just a little bit of power and watch how they misuse it! You can't silence the self doubt, can you?
     
Dakar
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Aug 24, 2006, 08:47 AM
 
I'm not sure I agree. I maintain a subscription and those article titles have a familiar ring to them. What may be true, however, is that content such as above has been shortened or pared down to allow for more popular content.

I'd be curious to know if the length of the magazine has changed much in the past 40.
     
Dakar
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Aug 24, 2006, 08:48 AM
 
Avis Kimble
     
starman
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Aug 24, 2006, 09:03 AM
 
We all read it for the articles

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osiris
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Aug 24, 2006, 09:12 AM
 
Originally Posted by starman
We all read it for the articles
Of course we do.
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mojo2  (op)
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Aug 24, 2006, 09:36 AM
 
Originally Posted by Dakar
I'm not sure I agree. I maintain a subscription and those article titles have a familiar ring to them. What may be true, however, is that content such as above has been shortened or pared down to allow for more popular content.

I'd be curious to know if the length of the magazine has changed much in the past 40.
Those 1963 titles have a ring??? How old are you?
Give petty people just a little bit of power and watch how they misuse it! You can't silence the self doubt, can you?
     
Dakar
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Aug 24, 2006, 09:39 AM
 
Originally Posted by mojo2
Those 1963 titles have a ring??? How old are you?
Familiar ring in the sense that their subject matter (politics, sports, art) and title phrasing haven't much changed in 40 years. Such is Playboy's charm.
     
mojo2  (op)
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Aug 24, 2006, 05:21 PM
 
Ah. Well, they kept that sensibility in titling articles as well as retaining that other sensibility thing they are known for, I guess.
Give petty people just a little bit of power and watch how they misuse it! You can't silence the self doubt, can you?
     
MOTHERWELL
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Aug 24, 2006, 09:14 PM
 
i like teh booobs


am I an intelluctual?
     
ghporter
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Aug 24, 2006, 09:24 PM
 
No, Playboy is not a "barometer of American Male Intellect." It's a barometer of what a certain group of young males with disposable income think is "stylish" (I haven't understood the fashion articles for years now-I can't get past "stubble" going with dress clothes...), and are interested in.

Way back, the magazine catered to an older crowd, and the articles and stories reflected that. Today, they aim at the "demographic" rather than the reader. I still subscribe (about 25 years and counting), but far less of the "trend" and "style" content interests me. Note that I put those terms in quotes-I do not agree with their ideas of what constitutes a trend, because their writing on the subject makes it look slanted at well-off men between 23 and 29, rather than an overall broader demographic. And as I stated, their ideas of style are not in tune with my own.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
   
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