Collapsing car companies and financial institutions might cover the front pages, but another industry is squirming under pressure—erotic magazines. Playgirl folded at the beginning of the year, and Playboy Enterprises Inc.’s brand-new CEO faces an uphill battle to get the brand back on top.
In the face of all this, a different type of skin magazine has arisen. The British Filament Magazine, which published its first issue this month, thinks it’s found the key to women’s erotica: combining academic articles with photographs of faintly androgynous, brooding, half-naked guys. The quarterly publication rounds out at 72 pages and 7 pounds (about $11.50).
Marketing their magazine as “the thinking woman’s crumpet,” Filament’s staff members claim to have done research—including forming a LiveJournal community—that shows women prefer men who are not muscle-bound and have feminine, attractive faces.
Although the first issue’s men are all partially clothed, full nudity is on the table in the future. Some scholarly articles and short fiction accompany the photos, but the employees vehemently want to avoid the stereotypical appearance-based fluff of many women’s magazines. The one sample piece online is a dry examination of societal judgment on hard-core vs. soft-core porn. Filament deserves respect for its different take on women’s erotica, but it’s going to have to be careful not to descend into intellectual dreck illustrated with the occasional photo of a pouting, effeminate man—who just happens to be naked.
Photo by Gerard Harvey
