History Magazine / Playboy

TropeNamer for IReadItForTheArticles. This was a legitimate justification as late as the 90s. Literary greats published in the magazine include [[Literature/Catch22 Joseph Heller]], Creator/RoaldDahl, Creator/IanFleming, Creator/GabrielGarciaMarquez, Creator/MargaretAtwood, John Updike, Creator/HarukiMurakami, Creator/NormanMailer, and Creator/RayBradbury.

Despite seeming like a SpearCounterpart, the magazine ''Playgirl'' has no affiliation with ''Playboy''.

[[quoteright:265:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/playboy_december_1985.jpg]]

The magazine is known for its nude photos (including celebrity photos) and articles, creating a content paradox, as far as articles (most notably during its 1950s-1980s heyday) being a draw towards readers equal to the naked pictures of women (or so men say, when caught by wives and girlfriends). Sadly, though, those days are long gone, as the magazine mostly serves as a porno version of ''Magazine/{{Maxim}}'', which is ironic given that ''Maxim'' is essentially a swimsuit version of ''Playboy''. It can be a little jarring to realize that in its heyday this magazine was credible enough to interview people like JimmyCarter (in which Carter made his infamous "lust in my heart" comment) and [[http://www.playboy.com/magazine/playboy-interview-martin-luther-king Martin Luther King Jr.]]

''Playboy'', the magazine synonymous with beautiful, naked women, and 12-year-old boys [[PornStash getting caught reading them]].

The magazine is known for its nude photos (including celebrity photos) and articles, creating a content paradox, as far as articles (most notably during its 1950s-1980s heyday) being a draw towards readers equal to the naked pictures of women (or so men say, when caught by wives and girlfriends). Sadly, though, those days are long gone, as the magazine mostly serves as a porno version of ''Magazine/{{Maxim}}'', which is ironic given that ''Maxim'' is essentially a swimsuit version of ''Playboy''. It can be a little jarring to realize that in its heyday this magazine was credible enough to interview people like JimmyCarter (in which Carter made his infamous "lust in my heart" comment) and [[http://www.playboy.com/magazine/playboy-interview-martin-luther-king Martin Luther King Jr.]]

''Playgirl'' (which is not/has never been tied to Playboy in any official manner) unashamedly treats men just as much like a meat parade. Hey, equality is equality. However, it doesn't attempt to run any of the non-erotic content that made ''Playboy'' special.

The magazine is known for its nude photos (including celebrity photos) and articles, creating a content paradox, as far as articles (most notably during its 1950s-1980s heyday) being a draw towards readers equal to the naked pictures of women (or so men say, when caught by wives and girlfriends). Sadly, though, those days are long gone, as the magazine mostly serves as a porno version of ''{{Maxim}}'', which is ironic given that ''Maxim'' is essentially a swimsuit version of ''Playboy''. It can be a little jarring to realize that in its heyday this magazine was credible enough to interview people like JimmyCarter (in which Carter made his infamous "lust in my heart" comment) and [[http://www.playboy.com/magazine/playboy-interview-martin-luther-king Martin Luther King Jr.]]

''Playgirl'' (which is not/has never been tied to Playboy in any official manner) unashamedly treats men just as much like a meat parade. Hey, equality is equality. But it doesn't attempt to run any of the non-erotic content that made ''Playboy'' special.

%% No examples, please.

Has nothing to do with the trope MillionairePlayboy (although Hef is one).
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!!This publication and company provides examples of:
* EightiesHair: In that decade, models liked their hair as poofy as possible when they did shoots (see the cover pictured).
* ADateWithRosiePalms: About 99% of jokes about ''Playboy'' involve either the phrase "pages stuck together" or the word "laminated".
* FollowTheLeader: ''{{Penthouse}}'' and ''Magazine/{{Hustler}}'' are two of the most successful [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/penthouse_dec_90_cover_1410.jpg copycat]] magazines to ride Playboy's coattails. Both pushed the envelope way harder than even ''Playboy'' did when it was the only game in town, causing the magazine to follow suit in order to keep up with its rivals. See [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pubic_Wars The Other Wiki's article]] about (ahem) the Pubic Wars.
** During the 1990s, both ''Penthouse'' and ''Hustler'' started showing explicit sexual activity in their pictorials, something that ''Playboy'' has never yet done, so this trope has been inverted in that regard.
* GenderFlip: ''Playgirl'', even though it's more popular among gay men than straight women. The magazine recently went under and is now solely a subscription website.
* GoshDangItToHeck: The magazine is ''ridiculously'' mild by today's standards.
* IReadItForTheArticles: [[http://coldcrashpictures.blogspot.com/2010/11/playboy-has-words-in-it-too.html Some people really do.]] See also PeripheryDemographic.
** In TheEighties, the U.S. government attempted to slash funding to have ''Playboy'' published in braille, effectively getting rid of the one segment of the population that ''really did'' read it for the articles.
* MoralGuardians: As noted below, ''Playboy'' has long been a favorite target for both fundamentalists and feminists. The magazine has returned the favor by sniping at them in its articles and editorials over the decades. (In one early 1980s issue, Playboy ran a rather {{Anvilicious}} parody of itself as it might look under fundamentalist editorship.)
* NudityTropes: Basically most of them.
* OverTheShoulderPose: In many spreads and covers.
* PlayboyBunny: The TropeMaker. And TropeNamer.
* PornStash: A common part of one, especially in the days before video. Finding your dad's or older brother's old ''Playboy''s is a common [[StealthPun coming]] of age trope in its own right.
* PrettyInMink: A few models and playmates wear a fur in their pictures.
** NakedInMink: Usually just the covers (like the one pictured), since within the magazine it's not to cover up.
* TheRuleOfFirstAdopters: One of the pictures widely used for early image compression algorithms was the centerfold from the November 1972 issue, Lena Söderberg.
* SensualSlavs: [[http://s11.bdbphotos.com/images/orig/e/a/ealewknspxqbkwsa.jpg The "Women of Russia" issue.]]
* StrangeBedfellows: Fundamentalists and feminists hate the magazine, for entirely different reasons. Fundamentalists hate it because they think it's obscene and ungodly, while feminists hate it due to what they feel is the exploitation of women, and the way the clubs would treat the women working in them. This alliance of convenience also extends to pornography in general.
** Funnily enough, back in the 1970s when feminists were hating on it most was also when it was most classy.
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* FollowTheLeader: ''{{Penthouse}}'' and ''Magazine/{{Hustler}}'' are two of the most successful copycat magazines to ride Playboy's coattails. Both pushed the envelope way harder than even ''Playboy'' did when it was the only game in town, causing the magazine to follow suit in order to keep up with its rivals. See [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pubic_Wars The Other Wiki's article]] about (ahem) the Pubic Wars.

The magazine is known for its nude photos (including celebrity photos) and articles, creating a content paradox, as far as articles (most notably during its 1950s-1980s heyday) being a draw towards readers equal to the naked pictures of women (or so men say, when caught by wives and girlfriends). Sadly, though, those days are long gone, as the magazine mostly serves as a porno version of ''{{Maxim}}'', which is ironic given that ''Maxim'' is essentially a swimsuit version of ''Playboy''. It can be a little jarring to realize that in its heyday this magazine was credible enough to interview people like [[http://www.playboy.com/articles/jimmy-carter-interview/index.html?page=2 Jimmy Carter]] (in which Carter made his infamous "lust in my heart" comment) and [[http://www.playboy.com/arts-entertainment/features/mlk/index.html Martin Luther King Jr.]]