I wonder where he gets his hair done...
One of the most articulate pieces from the editors at now-defunct Playgirl magazine appeared this week on TheAwl.com. Jessanne Collins begins the piece addressing controversy over the softcore subscription website operating under the Playgirl name's decision to feature Levi Johnston (Sarah Palin's would-be son in law). That part is boring, but what Collins really is interested in is defending attackers of Playgirl who allege the magainze's editorial staff was out of touch with women's desires, and furthermore ignored its much more loyal gay audience.
According to Collins, the editors of Playgirl didn't actually have control over the publication. Its parent company Trans Digital Media, had a stranglehold on the content, and THEY were the ones out of touch:
The men in the boardroom had no idea how to market or appeal to either women or gay men—never mind to both at the same time, an unattainable magic act, in my opinion, but one the company insisted on attempting for years. The tragicomedy of Playgirl's particular aesthetic failure starts to make a lot of sense if you consider that it wasn't constructed by anyone who professed actual physical interest in the male physique. If would-be Fabios were standard, that's because "musclebound with a ridiculous mane" is a comfortable caricature of what women find sexually attractive as doodled in the minds of out-of-touch old dudes.
Collins bemoans all that Playgirl could have been, if only the editors had had the freedom to explore female sexual desire.
My colleagues and I wished we could've made something relevant and fresh out of the troubled, tousled remnants of what had once been one of the world's most unique and successful magazines for women. I don't know if we would have succeeded—we never got the chance to find out—but in its last few months, despite the brewing recession, Playgirl was actually seeing an increase in newsstand sales.
The piece didn't strike me as scapegoating. Collins has a plausible argument, and seems to have a firm grasp on the potential of the magazine. Given the behind the scenes dynamics, I'm glad Playgirl folded; now we need a new generation to fill the void with a kick-ass "mainstream" publication (online or otherwise) which fulfills the original Playgirl mission.
via www.theawl.com
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