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Just bought a copy of High Society from a local high street shop down under and was pleasently surprised to find that it contains actual penetrative hardcore shots! Is this the same the world over now or is it just a local phenomenon? According to someone I was speaking to recently, this year's copies are all alike in that respect, though the thought of buying such a magazine in the UK is a bit weird...

Not familiar with that particular title Matt. But my local asian newsagent sells mags with full penetration. Theres no laws to regulate where they are sold unlike videos which are subject to the VRA 1984.

In the US, Penthouse is hardcore. Not particularly strong by Euro standards, but full penetration to cumshot including occassional anal. Recent issue featured a good set featuring Nadia shagging Mark Davis - it's in the edition with French starlet Clara Morgane on the cover.

I notice that they edit out the cumshots for the Canadian version - which is otherwise hard core.

The hard-core magazine market in the UK is pretty much decided by the distributors. If they're willing to take a gamble and handle hard-core mags, then they run the risk of being prosecuted, same as someone selling uncertificated videos.

So far, there hasn't been a test case, probably because police and CPS don't want to waste the resources bringing it before a magistrate who is likely to throw it out on the grounds that the material is generally considered 'acceptable' within the grounds of public morality. Canada has always had pretty strict rules about what's allowed, hence the removal of cum shots.

The morality thing is also why so far, you haven't seen anal in the mags printed here in the UK. A few did it early on, but then changed on the advice of counsel, just to be on the safe side.

The majority of American mags went hardcore a few years ago and were being imported without much hitches before the new R18 was allowed being on video.

Penthouse USA and Hustler as always continue to lead the way as far as pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable in a newstand/high street magazine with the other mags usually following their leads.

The very few Brit h/c mags I've seen recently did have a bit of anal, mostly (or all?) in illustrations to stories, or adverts.

Playbirds 256 has a nice hardcore shoot of Nikki Kennedy from 1997 in black stockings. No anal!!!

If we're talking about the likes of British Sex etc. etc, which are only distributed through sex shops, then it seems ludicrously cautious to withhold anal sets out of fear of prosecution. After all, no legal action has been taken against Private, or their UK distributors, despite the fact that they have been selling magazines containing anal sex in the UK for several years. Basically, it would be hard to claim that a British publisher was offending public morality by distributing anal mags through sex shops, when others have been allowed to get away with it for so long.

It's a considerably riskier game if you're talking about hardcore magazines being distributed by regular newsagents. THe equivalent of the shift in strength made by the US mags would be if, say, Mayfair was to go hardcore.

There is no law against this method of distribution *as such*. It is illegal to sell material which would be considered grossly offensive to public morality by the man in the street (I paraphrase), but it is up to the producer and retailer to decide where they think the line lies. And therein we find the gamble that few are willing to take. Technically, of course, it is the content of the material which determines whether it is oibscene, and not the manner of its distribution - but it is a matter of common sense to conclude that selling hardcore/anal mags through newsagents frequented by children and families is considerably more likely to attract 'heat' from the authorities than distribution through age-restricted premises.

Personally, I'm not sure that hardcore magazines SHOULD be available in your friendly family newsagent. I like porn, but that doesn't mean I think it should be sold everywhere. On the other hand, the present system does place enormous power in the hands of those few sex shops, hence the high price of quality porn in the UK.

Blimey. A cogent and well-stated argument on BGAFD!

FWIW, my local newsagents have e.g Hustler XXX, Taboo etc. which contain anal, DP and, even, a small amount of W/S.