Now you can only be turned off by Penthouse’s flesh parade online
Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek has argued that the problem with hardcore pornography is that it risks no longer seducing you, because no one actually wants to see everything. Pornography is erotic right up until the moment when the camera zooms in a little too closely, and suddenly it goes from alluring to appalling. Unfortunately, no one ever told Penthouse magazine, which has made a 51-year career out of convincing men with bad taste that what they really want to see is the idea of “sexy” as conceived by dudes akin to Larry Flynt. And now, that parade of flesh that’s usually been left out in the sun a little too long is closing up shop—in print format, anyway. CNBC reports the company is shuttering its printed edition and switching to solely digital, with all subscriptions transferred to the Penthouse Magazine website.