It’s already been reported at Gawker, Xbiz, Media Bistro and Dlisted and it’s all true, Playgirl Magazine, at least the print version, is being laid down to rest as of January 2009 (the last issue is Jan/Feb 2009). I know, because I’ve been writing my sex advice column for them (it’s called Sex.ed) since January of 2002, and last month I submitted a column (knowing Playgirl was coming to it’s end, but not knowing exactly when) when my editor emailed me upon receipt of said column with the words, “This is your last one!!”

I’m not happy that Playgirl is folding. Not because I’m losing a job, I mean it sucks to go from writing a regular advice column to not writing it, but more because I think that Playgirl, had it listened to some much needed advice since I’ve been part of their pages, could have been something beautiful. There is so much potential for a magazine that appeals to women (and men who like looking at men, and reading about women), but for some reason, in the United States we can’t seem to execute the formula of naked men + intelligent sexual conversation + interesting topics that appeal to women = happy magazine.

It’s like going to a strip club. Going to see a male strip club (which doesn’t really exist except for “special nights”) is always way different than going to a “regular” strip club. When it’s a male club, it’s generally more of a male revue, and one must sit through a show that allows a few semi-clad men, wearing pants that generally rip off, to prance around on a stage surrounded by screaming, drunk women who are grabbing for penis and other body parts. When you go to a club where the dancers are female, nobody is screaming, or even grabbing or touching. The customers are sitting casually, at tables, drinking important drinks and talking, whether it be amongst themselves, with a few dancers, or on their cell phone (although the music is often to loud for the latter). It never feels like a show, rather it feels like a club, one that usually serves some type of dinner and drinks, and one that happens to have semi-clad dancers that perform both on stage and in your laps (You can’t serve alcohol and be all nude in NY last time I checked).

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