Pajamas Media

24 Comments

1. Roland:

You guys have the “stunt” editor with Colbert wrong. While Newsweek does have a problem on their hands, Colbert being a guest editor will not be one of those. In case you missed it (very possible, considering you pronounced the word report in the title with a hard T), Colbert is visiting in Iraq right now with the USO. The upcoming issue (releasing this upcoming week as well) is focused on the war in Iraq. Colbert has always been in support of our troops, and has stated that he wanted to do this to bring back attention to the men and women overseas.

I expect for this release of Newsweek to be flying off of the magazine racks very quickly.

Jun 6, 2009 - 1:22 am 2. Pajamas Media » PJM Political: What Sort Of Man Still Reads Playboy?:

[...] Listen to podcast here. [...]

Jun 6, 2009 - 1:22 am 3. Ed Driscoll » PJM Political: What Sort Of Man Still Reads Playboy?:

[...] Tune in here to listen. Filed under: Bobos In Paradise, Ed On The Radio, Liberal Fascism, Oh, That Liberal Media!, Run To Daylight [...]

Jun 6, 2009 - 1:44 am 4. Meryl:

“What sort of man still reads playboy?”

The kind of man who:

…supports abortion
…can’t read words with more than 4 letters;
…who says they are “reading” playboy?
…doesn’t actually have normal relationships with any women (mother, sisters, daughters, wife, friends)
…doesn’t know where the local public library is and doesn’t have a library card
…based on their marketing, would enjoy the “hate sex” article
…can’t get a real job and hold it
…doesn’t think there is a God who loves him who is also holy

And there IS that other mysterious group of men: those are willing to use perfectly good time thinking and writing about what kind of men read playboy and support the idea of hate sex.

Good grief! Change jobs. Repaint the garage. Weed the garden. Google Diego Garcia. Brush the dog. Check on some baseball scores. Make waffles. Plow the lost 40.

Jun 6, 2009 - 2:36 am 5. MarkD:

I have to imagine the controversy is good for them. The paid circulation must be around 500. Judging by his appearances in the tabloids, Hefner is never going to be a synonym for dignified.

It’s poetic justice. The man who tried to make a self-indulgent and immoral lifestyle look cool has become a joke. I’ll take my family over his lifestyle, “girlfriends” and mansion anyday.

Jun 6, 2009 - 4:57 am 6. Sebastian Shaw:

Straight men “read” Playboy.

Jun 6, 2009 - 6:11 am 7. Ms. Attitude:

“What sort of man still reads playboy?”

There are men that still read playboy? Why? Just go to the local gym or the public pool or the beach/lake. There’s plenty of half naked women you can gawk at. And they aren’t airbrushed!

There’s plenty of women who’d lift their shirt for some attention or “beads”. Heck, some would even show all of their stuff for free!!

Jun 6, 2009 - 6:38 am 8. zero1:

real men don’t and never did!

Jun 6, 2009 - 10:50 am 9. Donna V.:

I expect for this release of Newsweek to be flying off of the magazine racks very quickly

Roland, it’s been a long time since Newsweek flew off the shelves. It’s been losing market share for years, just like the other old media dinosaurs.

It serves a purpose – it’s what you read in the dentist’s waiting room while you’re waiting for your name to be called.

Jun 6, 2009 - 11:47 am 10. zero1:

So, my original comment is awaiting moderation!?! NOW WHAT? Be what?

Jun 6, 2009 - 11:50 am 11. Ed Driscoll:

Zero1,

The comment filter works in mysterious and mystical ways occasionally. Your original comment is online now.

Ed

Jun 6, 2009 - 12:34 pm 12. Emily Rehder:

My father-in-law was still reading it about 5 years ago. Don’t know if he still does.

The question is not who still reads it, but what do the people who love them think of the consumption of Playboy? What’s been missing in the dialogue all along is doing what’s best for others in their lives instead of self.

Hey, I’m pretty darn conservative and don’t consider myself a feminist. My mother-in-law is a-okay with pa-in-law’s “reading material”, so that’s between them. But it creeps me out and our children will be kept from their influence as long as we are responsible for guarding the innocence of our children. My mother-in-law says I’m a feminist, but she doesn’t see what we see from the outside of her marriage. The insecurity and pain, no matter how well-hidden seeps thru the cracks.

It’s not about feminism or even ultimately about sex. The issue with Playboy has always been about respect. . . whether it’s “hatef**k” threats or men indulging the ever voracious self. Women can convince themselves that it’s normal and try to divorce themselves from how their man’s (or any man’s) consumption of it makes them feel. . . but there will always be something inside that aching because of such disrespect.

Jun 6, 2009 - 12:48 pm 13. Teacher in Texas:

have always been amused at Playboy’s leftist political slant. I read it in college during the mid 80’s and the Mag was very anti-Reagan. I feel that is mostly due to Ed Meese and the war on porn, and, on that point I will see their side. As a free market entity that espoused a certain lifestyle (sexual freedom and variety) I can see them being against limitations on that lifestyle.

But what amazed me was how by doing that, they fell in political lock step with the people that would censor, control, regulate and destroy the rest of that image and other aspects of the Playboy lifestyle.

Fine Cigars? Naaah, smoking is evil.

Fine liquor and wine? Naaaaah, don’t want to tick of the MADD Mothers and the other anti-alcohol Fascists.

Fast Cars? The President they worship wants us all to drive little carbon safe boxes that go 35 MPH

Marbled Steaks and fine food? Nope! Gotta eat all that tofu, gotta start regulating what Americans eat so they don’t over-tax the coming socialized health care system

And in general, I think Playboy has long been past its prime, and not just because of the ready availability of naked women on the net and cable TV.

Hef’s magazine originally was aimed at a 20-30 something single male professional, a guy that wore a tie to work and out for the evening. A guy that hustled to earn money for a good stereo system, a fine apartment, a classy ride and who also was able to talk about art and literature in his attempts to be nubile young women.

About two years ago, I took a flier and got a sixteen issue subscription for about a buck an issue. Sadly, that is what it was worth.

It has been dumbed down to the lowest common denominator like everything else in today’s society. The movie reviews are now bullet points, the interviews feature MTV/American Idol types rather than the Kissingers and Norman Mailers of days gone by, and the articles are aimed at the arrested adolescent frat boy in his mid 20s living in an apartment with his buds, playing X box all night, and meeting chicks by playing World of War craft. (There was actually an article about how the Hulk has been portrayed in various comic books. No kidding!)

As for the women? Yeah, when I can click a mouse and see the naked female form, the monthly nudes just don’t hold the same allure. And, as others have pointed out, it’s all silicone and shaved bare “down there.” Boring.

Playboy is a dinosaur, just like its pathetic Viagra-propped up, at death’s door founder.

Jun 6, 2009 - 1:11 pm 14. myth buster:

The title implies that Playboy was ever something a decent man would read. It never was.

Jun 6, 2009 - 2:50 pm 15. Bill Perron:

Playboy ? Is it still being published ? What about it’s even more infantile imitator Penthouse, is it still around ? … Allah Akbar.

Jun 6, 2009 - 4:34 pm 16. Roland:

Donna V,

I said this issue/release. It will be a one time spike, but the young adults who like that show will be curious and will purchase a copy when it first comes out.

Jun 6, 2009 - 5:34 pm 17. IB Bill:

I used to read Playboy throughout the 80s, and read some back issues from the 70s, too. The magazine really changed. Before Reagan was elected, it had a great sense of humor and the models were truly “girl next door” types. As the 80s progressed, the magazine became more and more shrill, political, and repetitive. (At times, the magazine could be positively vicious.) The girls also became less girl next door and more like archetypes — they seemed to have blondes about two-thirds of the time, and made them look the same. They seemed more unattainable. It really lost its sense of fun.

I think two things came into play —

1. The fundamental “Playboy philosophy” was demonstrating itself to be self-contradictory nonsense. Before that happened, the hedonistic and “good life” revolution was enormously fun and seemed harmless. But throughout the 80s, it was showing itself to be anything but harmelss, sparking a counter-revolution. And Playboy’s editors couldn’t admit it.

2. They had an editors who seemed less confident and less honest. They went into a formulaic mode. (Apparently, a lot of the editors were women, btw.) They seemed out of touch, and less interested in freedom (the initial philosophy, if libertine) and more PC in many areas, while viciously defending its turf in others (sexual license).

In the end, the magazine proved itself to be for children who couldn’t hear “no” without freaking out.

Jun 7, 2009 - 6:16 am 18. Sebastian Shaw:

When Hugh Hefner passes away, will Playboy live on? I am certain it will live a good decade perhaps, but not much longer given the internet & other sources. Playboy has to be revamped completely to survive.

Jun 7, 2009 - 9:42 am 19. Paul -Indiana:

I read it for the articles.

Jun 8, 2009 - 8:36 am 20. Ms. Attitude:

19. Paul -Indiana:

LOL…that was funny!

Jun 8, 2009 - 7:25 pm 21. Berlet98:

Rape, Abortion, and Bonnie Erbe’–Part One

Know Thy Source, Especially Thy “Liberal” SourcePublished in June 8th, 2009 | EditPosted by Berlet98 in ABORTION, AMERICAN CULTURE TODAYLet’s face it: Anyone with a computer can get “published” today, even the present writer. That reality of internet life makes it critical to establish the credentials of the person or persons who author articles read on the web before buying into his or her philosophies and theses.

With that in mind, I felt it judicious to delve into the world of Bonnie Erbe’ after reading her provocatively-titled piece, “Abortion Is Not a Tragedy,” http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/42197. One thing I discovered was that Ms. Bonnie is anything but “bonnie.”

For those such as I who must live sheltered existences and who are ignorant of who Ms. Erbe’ is, here’s the straight poop on her curriculum vitae: Aged 56, though her available photos such as this lop off at least 10 of her years, Erbe’ is a NYC-born graduate of Barnard College, (1974), Columbia (M.S. in journalism, 1975), and Georgetown Law (1987).

She is described by Wikipedia as “an American journalist and television host based in the Washington, D.C. area who has covered national politics since 1975,” which means, pretty impressively, that she has been so covering since she was 22.

Wikipedia goes on to say that Erbe’ is host and Chief Exec of the PBS program, “To the Contrary,” is a contributing (blog) editor at US News and World Report, and, oddly, serves as advisor to an immigration reduction organization, The Federation for American Immigration Reform.

Again, pretty impressive even if that’s the extent of Erbe’s Wikipedia entry. Further research turns up other interesting details about Erbe’, including the factoid that her PBS show is the first in the nation to exclusively feature women discussing the news: http://www.pbs.org/ttc/about_host.html.

As they say, the plot, Erbe’s pro-abortion plot, thickens.

For those not Playboy aficionados as I was up to 30 years ago, (I read it for the articles!), when I caught my 5 year old son thumbing through its pages whilst sitting on the potty and I was forced by discretion and my wife to cancel my subscription, that much-changed publication recently ran an online article on who deserved to be raped.

It turns out, go figure!, that all those chosen fantasy-rape victims in the Playboy piece,. . .
(Read the rest at http://genelalor.com)

Jun 8, 2009 - 10:14 pm 22. Berlet98:

Rape, Abortion, and Bonnie Erbe’–Part Two

Part One of this very mini series dealt primarily with the necessity of verifying sources before one believes anything read on the internet. Another focus was Ms. Bonnie Erbe’s background and studied indifference as to the recent Playboy filth promoting the “hate-f***ing” of a number of prominent conservative women: http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1048.

Erbe’ is relatively prominent herself and I was attempting to determine what makes her tick in light of the view expressed in her article, published by ScrippsNews.com, that “Abortion Is Not a Tragedy.”

Her non-reaction to the Playboy piece went a long way in clarifying her ticking.

She argued in “Abortion Is Not a Tragedy” that America’s current hard economic times are driving women to abortionists as they try to make do with less money. As with “hate-f***ing” (conservative) women, Erbe’ adopts a blase’ attitude of, “So what!” or, as she writes, “The media have also been rife with stories portraying this trend as something of a tragedy. Let me propose a counter view: it is not.”

She supports her counter-proposal by offering the example of an unwed mother of three whose live-in significant other had lost his job. The mother had weighed all her options and decided to abort her fourth child: ”It’s actually a fact-based, rational decision that in the end benefits the three children they already have and society as well. . . It’s no tragedy: it’s a good decision.”

Erbe’ is a perfect representative of a liberal moral relativist, an obtuse, ignorant relativist, suggesting as she does that since times are tough and babies are expensive, why not just kill Number Four and all will be good for that mom, her boyfriend, and their progeny? After all, then the loving couple will be better able to tend to their brood and will be less likely to have “to rely on scarce public resources to raise their children.”

What an awesome perspective!

She goes on to say, based on something or other, that, “Abortion was not viewed as a tragic event in the early days after the Supreme Court handed down its Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion on a national scale.” The tragic essence of murdering a pre-born human being only gained tragic status after “the poster child” for pro-life, and the “Roe” in Roe v. Wade, became an advocate for life.

To make things even worse, ”the media [has] become a trumpet for the pro-life message that abortion is always a tragedy.”

I understand Bonnie Erbe’ was born in New York City but on which planet she now resides is something of a mystery. I have a slew of questions for her which, depending on her responses, will help establish whether she is or ever has been a bonafide Earthling:
(Read the rest at http://genelalor.com)

Jun 8, 2009 - 10:16 pm 23. deguello:

What sort of Man “reads” Playboy? A pointless,macro egoistic,terminally hedonistic,disposable personality suffering from impotent satyriasis: Hugh Heffner.Which is to say:not a man at all!

Jun 9, 2009 - 6:19 am 24. BettyBlue:

Doesn’t Hugh Hefner hang around with the skanks—er, girls next door these days?

How the mighty have fallen. It’s sad. Kind’ve.

Jun 10, 2009 - 8:16 am

Write a Comment

Name:	(required, displayed)
Email:	(required, not publicized)
URL:	(optional, displayed)
Comments: