Club International

Club International is a United Kingdom-based magazine^[1] that depicts softcore pornographic pictures of women. It is a sister magazine of American magazine Club.^[2] Club International was founded in 1972^[1][3][4] and is published every four weeks, making thirteen issues per year. Each edition consists of one hundred printed pages and is staple-bound, with the exception of the slightly larger 'special edition', published at the start of each new volume, which has some 120 pages and flat glued binding.

Club International is published by Paul Raymond Publications, which publishes eight of the UK's ten top adult magazines.^[5] Along with Mayfair Magazine, Club International is considered the most upmarket of Raymond's top shelf productions, with the photo spreads generally featuring more attractive models shot by experienced photographers.^[1]

Each edition of Club International features ten photosets, with the exception of the slightly larger 'special edition' which features between twelve and thirteen sets. The photosets are usually single-girl shoots but there are also lesbian scenes. The shoots are generally softcore, and as such do not feature any sort of penetration or oral-genital contact. However some photoshoots feature the occasional 'pink' shot, where a model exposes her vaginal lips. During the early to mid-1980s, a regular feature was 'Club Event', a picture sequence involving a group of models (usually about half a dozen) performing a form of striptease around a central theme such as a Christmas party, or whilst wearing (and removing) various types of uniforms.

The magazine has featured a number of well-known models and pornstars, such as Monica Sweet, Zsanett Égerházi, Sandra Shine, Peaches, Silvia Saint, Stephanie Swift, and popular Hungarian model Sophie Moone (often credited as 'Stella'). Also among the girls featured is the "Reader's Girlfriend", presumably an amateur model who is the girlfriend of a Club International reader.

Long-running features in Club International include its regular readers' letters page, "Talkin' Blue", where 'readers' share tales of their sexual experiences, and "Peaches", a feature that covers anal sex (although the writing is far more explicit than the images that accompany the feature). As with a number of similar men's magazines, there are the regular automotive, editorials, video and book reviews, as well as a jokes page. Starting in 2008, a free DVD has been bundled with every issue.^[6]

See also

• Outline of British pornography

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Channel 4: The Real Paul Raymond". http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/R/real_lives/raymond.html. 
2. ^ "Official Site". http://www.clubonline.com/. 
3. ^ John Pratt, "Pornography and Everyday Life", Theory, Culture & Society 3 65-78 (1986). doi:10.1177/0263276486003001006
4. ^ Marcus Collins, "The Pornography of Permissiveness", History Workshop Journal 1999(47):99-120 doi:10.1093/hwj/1999.47.99
5. ^ Top Shelf Gathers Dust - The Observer
6. ^ (pdf) Club Magazines mediaPACK, Paul Raymond Publications, 2009/2010, http://backmagazines.com/adult_magazine_full_year.php?magid=272&volume=7, retrieved 2009-10-21