ABSTRACT
This chapter moves to scrutinise more closely the model of heterosexuality shaped by the magazines. The chapter approaches this task through the lens of pornification, arguing that the growing influence of pornography and the sex industry is visible within the magazine content, most notably in the early 21st century. Sensationalist articles about the sex industry, such as “I made a million dollars a year starring in porn videos” (1993) and “Behind the G-string: the secret life of strippers” (2003) intermingle with exhortations to give your boyfriend “all the thrills of having his own lapdancer [sic]” (2003), working to both glorify the sex industry and bring it into the bedroom. Alongside the normalisation of the sex industry between the 1970s and the early 2000s, a concomitant discourse emerges within the magazines surrounding the importance of satisfying male desires, in conjunction with an upsurge in explicit, male-dominant and aggressive sexual content, suggesting a potential association between pornification and the model of heterosexuality displayed in the magazines. This chapter shows readers how the endpoint of these interrelated shifts is the erasure of women’s sexual pleasure and the reassertion of male power.
