Pubic Wars

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Pubic Wars, a pun on the Punic Wars, is the name given to the rivalry between the pornographic magazines Playboy and Penthouse during the 1960s and 1970s. Each magazine strove to show just a little bit more than the other, without crossing the "line of decency" generally accepted at the time.

In the 1950's it was generally agreed that nude photographs were not pornographic unless they showed pubic hair or, even worse, genitals. Respectable photography was careful to come close to, but not cross over, this line.

Penthouse published pictorials featuring visible female pubic hair almost from its inception in 1965. Playboy, however, showed a first slight glimpse of any pubic hair on Joanne Arnold' centerfold (Miss May 1954), 1 year after the magazine's introduction. With Playmates it was usually the case that the pubic area would be obscured by an item of clothing, a leg, or a piece of furniture. The first appearance of pubic hair in Playboy actually occurred in August 1969 in a pictorial featuring dancer/actress Paula Kelly. A few more glimpses of pubic hair appeared in some pictorials and centerfolds, but it wasn't until January 1971 when Liv Lindeland showed clearly visible pubic hair in her pictorial. The first Playmate to clearly have the first full frontal nude centerfold was Miss January 1972, Marilyn Cole. Ironically they both went on to become Playmate of the Year, respectively 1972 & 1973.

Eventually, the two magazines would move their content in opposite directions. Playboy positioned itself as the less explicit softcore alternative to be "read for the articles". Penthouse gravitated towards raunchier images, ultimately arriving at hardcore pornography and photographs of women urinating, in the late 1990s. Under new ownership in 2005, Penthouse began to steer toward a more softcore direction as well.