In an interesting bit of timing, given the Air Force Chief of Staff’s recent health and welfare inspection, Maxim magazine was covered by the New York Times in a story highlighting its ubiquity within the military.

Why?  Basically, troops can’t get racy magazines like Playboy or Penthouse shipped to the war zone overseas — but Maxim, while it may skirt the line, doesn’t cross it:

Maxim, a testosterone-fueled magazine featuring adolescent humor and plenty of scantily clad actresses, has become for today’s Army what Esquire was to soldiers fighting in World War II and Playboy was during the Vietnam War…

The sale of “explicit” magazines on military bases comes up in the news every few years.  At one point, Lifeway publishers was attempting to create a Christian alternative to the popular magazines.  For now, the rules actually “benefit” Maxim: 

Maxim also benefits from military rules that prohibit the sale of sexually explicit materials. While Playboy and Penthouse have an exception and are sold at most military base exchanges, they are not available in the Middle East, making Maxim one of the raciest publications sold in combat zones.

One of the interviewed Marines described the result, saying

Maxim was “the most common magazine hanging around” during his eight deployments.

Apparently ignoring current events, the article noted

Maxim still lags behind Men’s Health, the fitness bible, which was the top-selling magazine year to date at Army and Air Force exchanges…

Of course, Men’s Health (along with Cosmopolitan) was specifically cited as “contraband” by the Air Force Times following the recent Air Force inspections.  (Presumably, Maxim would have been policed up as well.)

Anu Bhagwati of the Service Women’s Action Network — the same group that joined with the ACLU to sue over the “right” for females to be in combat — isn’t amused:

“The idea that our boys are just looking at pictures of models and pretty women in bikinis is scratching the surface of a much deeper problem,” Ms. Bhagwati said. She added, “From Day 1, men in the military are indoctrinated in institutional sexism.”

Some readers of the magazine might object, claiming they get Maxim for the articles.  An AFSOC operator had this to say about the reason people like the magazine:

“When you’re overseas, you’re not around for the pop culture, clothing, vehicles, anything that guys pay attention to,” he said. “There’s hot chicks in it. Don’t forget that. Week one, I probably read the articles. Month three or four, it’s the girls.”

The presence of Maxim in the military culture has been used as an example here before of things deemed “acceptable” because they don’t cross a line — even if they seem to dance along it.  Bhagwati had one detail correct:  the prevalence of Maxim is a symptom of the culture.  The question is whether the root cause is addressed.

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