Maxim (1995- ) is the best-selling men’s magazine in the world, even though in Britain, where it started, it is still far behind FHM. People tend to love it or look down on it.
Maxim appeared in America in 1997. It has done so well there that it has spread to countries in Latin America, Europe and East Asia.
Maxim is different from country to country. Not even the British and American ones are the same. The British Maxim, for example, shows bare breasts, the American one does not.
But wherever you go the cover will have a hot (or supposed-to-be-hot) picture of a singer or actress who is well-known in that country. Inside you can find more such pictures of her and those of a few other lesser-known women.
In between the pictures of women and the many advertisements are short, light-hearted articles on cars, women, film, music, food, sex and so on. Nothing heavy.
Maxim is, in effect, Cosmopolitan for men.
The industry calls it a lifestyle magazine. Women love them, but they did not catch on with men till the 1990s, starting in Britain. Some say it is because before then men did not have the self-doubt that such magazines feed on.
The American Maxim is aimed at white, single Anglo-American men in their 20s and 30s.
Its women are white, Anglo, thin and almost girl-like. Almost none of them are black. Maxim has a reputation for having large-breasted women, like the kind you see in beer ads, but in fact most are nothing like that. Most are so thin that they almost lack a clear, female figure. They are more Vogue than Budweiser.
It is not as good as it used to be: the women are fewer, the Photoshopping is shakier, the articles are less serious and more of the magazine is given over to advertising. It got noticeably worse in early 2006.
Wal-Mart stopped selling Maxim in 2003. In general the store does not sell anything that a mother would object to her ten-year-old looking at.
The older men’s magazines in America, like GQ and Esquire, are much more upscale and serious. When Maxim appeared on the scene they thought little of it. Maxim‘s success came as a shock to them.
Stuff and Blender are put out by the same company.
King is the black counterpart to Maxim. It is put out by a different (white) company. King‘s founders modelled it on Maxim, but say it is more street, that it lacks Maxim‘s white-boy sense of things. Even so, King and Maxim are running neck and neck among black readers.
The writing is in bits and pieces. It is rare to see a stretch of writing of more than 200 words. Common forms of writing:
- Question and answers
- Lists
- Pictures with bits of writing
This cuts up the writing and makes it easy to read here and there, whatever you like.
See also:
- magazine
- King magazine
- black and white ideas of beauty
- advertisement
- article
- The most beautiful white women
- Megan Fox
sexy sexy sexy lady
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please sexy pic top clip…
tanks
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i think women’s figures in maxim’s magazines look fine to me. they aren’t that thin looking and plus it’s called photo shopped.
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To me most of them are too thin, but that is a matter of taste. The regular readers of Maxim would agree with you, no doubt. It is a shame about the Photoshopping.
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the only reason why most look so thin because of the photo shopped. hell half of them don’t look that thin in person and they make them look fake.
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FHM is still a lot better.
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i love this magazine and i always have a deep respect for maxim which covers exclusively upon sex gadgets beer gizmos and fashion. it is really captivatinng
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@ proudchocolategirl
If they went strictly by percentage of U.S. population, they should have had 12 Black women.
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@King
That’s the thing. For the people that feel the media’s alleged exclusion of black women as, for lack of a better term, sex symbols, would 12 girls out of 100 really make a difference? Wouldn’t we still be unsatisfied? If the media is truly brainwashing black society’s view of beauty wouldn’t our minority status prevent us(or black women I guess) from ever receiving the same exposure as whites?
I think this is a perfect example of where the only alternative is a black owned company where the ppl in positions of power have an Afrocentric mindset that can counteract the Eurocentric or even the Affirmative Action/Tokenism mindset.
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Well Cynic, I guess to be fair, many media sources are not reflective of the entire country, based on raw population percentages. I mean, if media presented America with Americans, as they are statistically, most TV shows would be about average-looking, overweight people who didn’t go to college.
Most American media focuses on a vastly more urban, better educated, wealthier, more fashionable, and more fit version of America. I suppose that presenting a more equally integrated version goes along with that trend.
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@King
I thought you said you didn’t watch much tv? I disagree with your demographic profile of American media, but I will do agree on the people on tv, movies, etc. being more fashionable, fit, and attractive part. However, that makes plenty of economic sense. Most Americans, even the average-looking and overweight, would rather see beautiful people in their media. Attractive people are simply nice to look at. If people demand them, you can only expect the entertainment industry to provide a supply.
I don’t think your argument(?) is comparable. I was more-so talking about people who want a fairer representation of Blacks in the media.
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I don’t.
I looked at some sources that have to do education, health, and per-capita earnings and compared that to the kind of people that I remember from TV shows. If you are referring to “Reality T.V.” then, I agree, that those people reflect the “Average American” much more closely.
What I was pointing out is that American media creates it’s own “reality” about America, based on many flattering fictions. I’m just saying that integration is part of that feel-good vision about America that makes us all feel better about ourselves.
Besides, the representative demographics in media often are localized to the scope of the story. If you are depicting an emergency unit in a fictional Chicago hospital, then the number of Black people who pass through, are going to be significantly higher than the 12 to 13 percent (taking the national demographic figure).
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“I don’t.
-Well I mean it’s pretty much a given that you agree with what you said, right or wrong.
“If you are referring to “Reality T.V.” then, I agree, that those people reflect the “Average American” much more closely.”
-I disagree with this also. Mob Wives, Basketball Wives, The Kardashians, Son of a Gun(Rapper Cory Gunz’s show), The Real Housewives of ____, The Apprentice(Donald Trump’s show). Dr. 90210, every reality show featuring a celebrity(like half or more of them) etc.
The reality tv genre is nowhere close to the actual reality of America. If they were, nobody would watch. The only way they are like the general populace is that they are less attractive than the casts of scripted shows.
Anyways, we are veering off of what I was initially attempting to convey. Even with the “fair” representation of blacks in the media(in terms of proportion of the population) that many black beauty advocates want, they still wouldn’t have the amount of representation that would accomplish(assuming the American media is brainwashing ppl to believe whites look better) what they want.
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