On The Death Of Playgirl

Playgirl, it is rumored -- but not confirmed, officially bites the dust, or at least will have the sheet pulled over it's non-seeing eyes.

I feel badly about it, actually. I know Playgirl wasn't really, effectively, a women's mag, and as a gay man's mag, it certainly had a lot to learn; proving that Hefner's (especially later-day, modern Playboy) cookie-cutter approach of selling mags to men couldn't translate to any real knowledge of sex. Sorry, Hef, but that's the damn truth of it. (And, if I may say so, the last seven times I've seen you, you didn't just look tired &/or old; you looked miserably unhappy -- are you sick & tired of playing the corporate icon role?)

Gracie (of many, many sites) & I spent an hour or more on the phone discussing the comatose status of Playgirl a few weeks ago -- before we knew the life support was pulled. Perhaps we'll have to elaborate on the many ways Playgirl missed it's mark (hetero women) and any other mark (gay men) with their poor aim and bland Marks. Its failure is rather complicated in the details.


And for the record, yeah, I've bought copies. Gracie too. And we've read them. They just didn't inspire much of anything, let alone to purchase issues more than a handful of times. Mainly we just mocked it, page by page. (Best when done with your gal-pals, by the way; otherwise, you just get angry that you bought it & that they published such a bad magazine.) It also made a great gag gift; right up there with inflatable penis hats, crossword puzzle toilet paper, and blow-up sheep dolls... Come to think of it, I've given more of those sheep away than any other novelty. But I digress.

With all that is wrong with Playgirl, I sill feel a loss at it's (probable) passing.

It's not just "one less dirty magazine", but an example of how the business of arousal requires some sense of intelligence -- something I'd been wishing Playgirl would have matured into, finally offering a real publication for women. Or at least admitting they were for men, and going for that. Either way, some smarts would be nice -- and likely ensure its survival. More smut, to me, is a good thing; more intelligent smut is a great thing.

Maybe Playgirl's death is just a mean rumor. In that case, I hope they're reading here and learning something.