A content analysis of sexually explicit magazines sold in an adult bookstore

What is the content of sexually explicit magazines sold in adult bookstores? Although there have been content analyses of sexually oriented paperback fiction for the general public (Smith, 1976) and of soft-core general magazines (Malamuth & Spinner, 1980), no comparable analysis of the "stronger" hardcore magazines sold in adult bookstores has been reported. These materials are more explicit and represent a different kind of publication, addressed to a different audience. A content analysis of these magazines could identify the outer dimensions or "limits of candor" of permissible sex content in magazines today. Although the New York Times estimate of 20,000 U.S. adult bookstores is probably high ("Sex Industries," 1981), there certainly is a large number of establishments which sell explicit magazines.