Hustler
Hustler is a monthly
pornographic magazine aimed at men and published in the
United States. It was first published in 1974 by
Larry Flynt. It was a step forward from the
Hustler Newsletter which was cheap
advertising for his strip club businesses at the time. The magazine grew from a shaky start to a peak circulation of around 3 million . The magazine was one of the first major men's magazines in the United States to break the taboo that existed in the early seventies by showing much more explicit views of the female genitalia than other popular magazines of the time such as the relatively modest
Playboy is an American [i] adult [i] entertainment [i] magazine [i], fo ...
.
Encyclopedia
Hustler is a monthly
pornographic magazine aimed at men and published in the
United States. It was first published in 1974 by
Larry Flynt. It was a step forward from the
Hustler Newsletter which was cheap
advertising for his strip club businesses at the time. The magazine grew from a shaky start to a peak circulation of around 3 million . The magazine was one of the first major men's magazines in the United States to break the taboo that existed in the early seventies by showing much more explicit views of the female genitalia than other popular magazines of the time such as the relatively modest
Playboy is an American [i] adult [i] entertainment [i] magazine [i], fo ...
.
Today,
Hustler is still considered more explicit than such well known competitors as
Playboy is an American [i] adult [i] entertainment [i] magazine [i], fo ...
and
Penthouse. It frequently depicts
hardcore themes, such as the use of
sex toys,
penetration and
group sex.
Larry Flynt's
Hustler empire also owns the Hustler
casino in
Gardena, California, as well as a chain of Hustler stores that sells adult-oriented videos, clothing, magazines and sex toys. The chain's flagship store is on
Sunset Boulevard in
West Hollywood.
Regular features
Of particular infamy are Hustlers
cartoons, which have often featured blatantly violent and misogynistic themes. Gang
rape, botched
abortions,
incest, pedophilia and
racism have all been featured at one time or another as recurring motifs in the cartoons. One long-running cartoon, "Chester the Molester", presented the ongoing misadventures of a pedophile in his attempts to coerce young children into sexual activity with him. While such material has earned
Hustler much criticism from
feminists and other critics, Flynt and his supporters defend the cartoons as bawdy social
satire. Similar defenses have been advanced on
Hustler's behalf by more scholarly writers, most notably Laura Kipnis in her essay
Desire and Disgust, published in 1993.
Another feature of
Hustler is a column called "Asshole of the Month." In every monthly issue of the magazine, some public figure is selected for severe criticism as that month's asshole. An illustration showing a photograph of the criticized person's head emerging from the anus of a cartoon donkey is shown alongside the article.
In the 1970s, Hustler ran a comic strip feature entitled "Honey Hooker". In each installment, Honey would have graphic sexual encounters with any male she ran across. She might be in American colonial times one month or in a Super-Bowl locker room the next. This feature was designed to compete against
Playboy's
Little Annie Fanny and Penthouse's
Wicked Wanda. In keeping with Hustler's focus on the seamier and less romantic aspects of sexuality, Honey Hooker, unlike Fanny and Wanda, was explicitly portrayed as being a prostitute.
Political stance
Hustler has long had a left-wing editorial policy on
economics, foreign policy, and social issues. This distinguishes it somewhat from other pornographic magazines, which embrace
liberal ideas about
free speech or so-called morality issues, but remain
conservative or neutral on other matters such as economics. Throughout the
1980s, Flynt used his magazine as a podium with which to launch vitriolic, obscenity-laden attacks on the
Reagan Administration, and even published a short-lived political magazine called
Rebel. During the controversy surrounding
Bill Clinton's
impeachment, Flynt publicly announced his sympathy for Clinton, and offered cash rewards to anyone with information regarding sexual impropriety on the part of the president's critics. In 2003, Flynt ran unsuccessfully for the office of Governor of
California during that state's
recall election.
Every month's
Hustler is mailed, uninvited and for free, to the office of each member of the
United States Congress. This practice began at some point between 1974 and 1983, and it continues
as of 2006. In an interview, Flynt explained, "I felt that they should be informed with what's going on in the rest of the world ... Some of them didn't appreciate it much. I haven't had any plans to quit."
In a 1983 parody of an advertisement for
Campari,
Hustler described the then-prominent fundamentalist Protestant minister
Jerry Falwell having a drunken,
incestuous encounter with his mother in an outhouse. Falwell sued Flynt, alleging libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The case was ultimately decided by the
Supreme Court in Flynt's favor. The decision strengthened
free speech rights in relation to parodies of public figures.
See Hustler Magazine v. FalwellPublisher
Hustler is officially published by LFP, Inc, which is presumably controlled by Flynt. The abbreviation "L.F.P." originally stood for "Larry Flynt Publications."
A Canadian version of
Hustler is published by a Quebec-based firm. This magazine is not owned by Larry Flynt, but is licensed to publish material from the American version. In general, Canadian
Hustler imitates the appearance and tone of its American counterpart, with Canadian content added. In 1999, the magazine created a minor controversy in Canada by inviting readers to submit sexually explicit stories about
Sheila Copps, a left-leaning member of the Liberal cabinet.
Related magazines
LFP, Inc. publishes several other magazines that use the
Hustler brand:
- Hustler's Taboo, which specializes in fetishistic material, such as the depiction of sexual bondage and urolagnia.
- Barely Legal, a primarily softcore magazine focusing on models between 18 and 23
- Asian Fever, focusing on Asian models
- Hustler XXX, a more generic hardcore offering
Websites
The LFP Internet Group, LLC, operates Hustler.com and a number of related sites, where it sells pictures and videos with content similar to that in its magazines.
See also
External links
