Editing Pubic Wars (section)

==History==
''Penthouse'' originated in 1965 in Britain and was initially distributed in Europe.<ref name=Landrum/> In September 1969, it was launched in the U.S., bringing new competition to ''Playboy,'' which had dominated the niche since its 1953 debut.<ref name=Landrum/> Due to more liberal European attitudes to nudity, ''Penthouse'' was already displaying pubic hair at the time of its U.S. launch.<ref name=Landrum/> According to Penthouse magazine's owner [[Bob Guccione]], "We began to show pubic hair, which was a big breakthrough."<ref name=winter/>

In order to retain its market share, ''Playboy'' followed suit, risking obscenity charges, and launching the "Pubic Wars".<ref name=Landrum/> ''Playboy'' started showing wisps of pubic hair about nine months after ''Penthouse'' (June 1970).<ref name=winter/> As competition between the two magazines escalated, their photo shoots became increasingly explicit.<ref name=Landrum/> ''Playboy'', however, had actually first showed a very slight glimpse of any pubic hair on [[Melodye Prentiss]]' [[centerfold]] (Miss July 1968), some 15 years after the magazine's introduction. With [[Playboy Playmate]]s, 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 real pubic hair in ''Playboy'' actually occurred in August 1969 in a pictorial featuring dancer/actress [[Paula Kelly (actress)|Paula Kelly]]. A few more glimpses of pubic hair appeared in some later pictorials and centerfolds, but it was not 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]]. Both went on to become Playmate of the Year, respectively 1972 and 1973. When ''[[Hustler (magazine)|Hustler]]'' was launched in 1974, it outdid both ''Playboy'' and ''Penthouse'' in explicitness by showing more graphic photos of the female sex organs.<ref name=Landrum/>

Eventually, the two magazines moved their content in opposite directions. ''Playboy'' positioned itself as the less explicit [[softcore pornography|softcore]] alternative to be "read for the articles".<ref name=Landrum/> ''Penthouse'' gravitated towards raunchier images, ultimately arriving at [[hardcore pornography]] and [[urolagnia|photographs of women urinating]], in the mid-1990s.<ref name=winter/> Under new ownership since 2004, ''Penthouse'' began to steer toward a more softcore direction as well.<ref name=winter/>