For Men Only.The titles alone read like a 21st-century gay porn catalog: Climax; For Men Only; Man to Man; Rugged; Sir! But these and more than 100 other glossy monthly mags from the '50s, '60s, and '70s--also known as "armpit arm·pit n. The hollow under the upper part of the arm below the shoulder joint, bounded by the pectoralis major, the latissimus dorsi, the anterior serratus muscles, and the humerus, and containing the axillary artery and vein, the infraclavicular part slicks," sold then on newsstands coast to coast from a quarter on up, some with circulation topping 2 million--were created by and for the red-blooded heterosexual American male. Articles taught guys how to land jobs, bed girls (but avoid VD), and conquer their unnatural homosexual tendencies. Ads peddled ache pills, trusses and fat-concealing girdles, and emergency road flares. All this plus "incredible true" tales of men fighting wild beasts, deadly storms, or fellow men. But then, as now, the covers are what reeled readers in. "Men's adventure Men's adventure is a genre of magazines that had its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s. Catering to a male audience, these magazines featured pinup photography and lurid tales of adventure that typically featured wartime feats of daring, exotic travel, or conflict with wild animals. magazines are not known for their writing," states Adam Parfrey in It's a Man's World: Men's Adventure Magazines, the Postwar Pulps (Feral House, $29.95), his kaleidoscopic ka·lei·do·scope n. 1. A tube-shaped optical instrument that is rotated to produce a succession of symmetrical designs by means of mirrors reflecting the constantly changing patterns made by bits of colored glass at one end of the tube. ode to these popular periodicals and their pinups for gentlemen. "They're best remembered for their sensational figurative fig·u·ra·tive adj. 1. a. Based on or making use of figures of speech; metaphorical: figurative language. b. Containing many figures of speech; ornate. 2. illustrations." Parfrey has gathered more than 500 such images and supplemented them with commentary by and about many of the best writers, illustrators, editors, and publishers in the biz. "Most heterosexuals today would not he comfortable purchasing a magazine illustrating the adventures of manly men," concludes Parfrey, explaining the genre's ultimate demise. Judging from the bold, beautiful, brawny brawn·y adj. 1. Strong and muscular. 2. Hardened; calloused. beefcake beef·cake n. Informal 1. Images, especially photographs, of minimally attired men with muscular physiques. 2. Attractive men with muscular physiques, such as those in these images. gracing its pages--much of which is undeniably campy now--It's a Man's World may fit best on the contemporary queer's bookshelf. |
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