Pornographic magazines, sometimes known as adult magazines or sex magazines are magazines that contain content of a sexual nature, typically regarded as pornography. Such publications provide photographs or other illustrations of nudity and sexual activities, including oral sex, sexual intercourse, anal sex, and other various forms of such activities. Most often, these magazines contain photographs of attractive women and/or men. These magazines primarily serve to stimulate sexual thoughts and emotions. Some magazines are very general in their variety of illustrations, while others may be more specific and focus on particular activities, fetishes, or parts of the anatomy. Adult magazines are mainly aimed towards men, as males populate the vast majority of the market.

Well-known adult magazines include Playboy, Penthouse, and Hustler.

History

Pornographic comic books known as Tijuana bibles began appearing in the U.S. in the 1920s.

The first issue of Playboy.

In the second half of the 20th century, pornography in the United States evolved from the so-called "men's magazines" such as Playboy and Modern Man of the 1950s. These magazines featured nude or semi-nude women, sometimes apparently engaging in the act of masturbation, although their genitals or pubic hair were not actually displayed. By the late 1960s, however, these magazines, which now included Penthouse, began to evolve into more explicit displays, eventually, by the 1990s, featuring sexual penetration, lesbianism and homosexuality, group sex, and fetishes.

See also

• Fetish magazine
• Gay pornographic magazines
• Glamor photography