Sumith Prasad
Set in Los Angeles, HBO Max’s comedy series ‘Minx’ centers around Joyce, who aspires to launch a radical feminist magazine. When Joyce’s attempts to find a publisher for her endeavor come to a dead-end, Doug Renetti, a pornography publisher, identifies her potential. He offers financial backing to Joyce if she agrees to include pornography for women in her magazine concept.
Even though she hesitates at first, Joyce eventually embraces Doug’s vision to publish ‘Minx.’ As the series progresses through Joyce and Doug’s attempts to establish Minx and its consequences, one must be wondering whether the erotic magazine for women is real. Let’s find out!
Is Minx a Real Erotic Magazine?
No, Minx is not a real erotic magazine. The magazine is conceived by creator Ellen Rapoport exclusively for the show. However, Minx is heavily inspired by numerous erotic magazines launched in the 1970s for women readers. “I read something about one of these magazines and it struck me immediately: these magazines in the 1970s were feminist magazines, which I’d had no idea about. It was a workplace that was populated by feminists and pornographers,” Rapoport said to THR. The creator incorporated the essence of these real-life magazines to conceive Minx for the show.
Among the several erotic magazines of the ‘70s, Minx resembles ‘Viva’ the most. Published by the founder of ‘Penthouse’ Bob Guccione and his wife Kathy Keeton, ‘Viva’ celebrated pornography for women and feminist vision at the same time. Guccione and Keeton welcomed numerous renowned women office-bearers, writers, and contributors to offer a truly feminist erotic magazine.
Along with pornography, the magazine promoted sexual independence, open marriages, bisexuality, etc. The magazine even published a survey conducted among victims of rape to address their concerns. Guccione balanced the emphasis on feminist concerns with pornography to sell his magazine. Coincidentally or not, ‘Viva’ is apparently more or less the blueprint of ‘Minx.’ Joyce and Doug introduce Minx as a new magazine for the modern feminist.
Doug, like Guccione done with ‘Viva’ for his writers, gives Joyce a stage to address the feminist issues in return for the erotic photographs and features that will help him sell the magazine. The first volume of ‘Minx’ addresses marital rape along with a centerfold photograph of a naked firefighter. The volume also demands wages for housemaker mothers and bursts the myth around vaginal orgasm. Advertisements of sex toys for sexual independence also find space in the magazine.
Like ‘Viva,’ ‘Minx’ also tries to promote a feminist revolution by including eroticism in the mix. Even though similarities between ‘Viva’ and ‘Minx’ are incredible, Rapoport’s research didn’t stop with just ‘Viva.’ Other erotic magazines like ‘Playgirl’ were also part of her preparation for the show. Thus, Minx can be seen as a medley of several erotic magazines of the ‘70s, published for women.
Read More: Is Minx Based on a True Story?
