Not Just For Him (FHM)

Name: Wolfie1974

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Product:	FHM
Date:	20/10/02 (2157 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: something foe everyone

Disadvantages: too much gore

~ Introduction ~

One of the main reasons for purchasing this magazine was because of a cheap subscription method that would get it delivered to my door, rather than having to buy each months issue at the newsagents. I first became aware of this magazine after seeing a friend’s copy around three years ago, I had a quick read and it became an instant hit.

So how did I get it cheaper? I hear you say! Well, it was simply a visit to www.fhm.com - the offer at the time of subscribing, was 12 issues for £31, instead of the £37.20 if I purchased monthly from the newsagents, and this works out to be a 16% saving. I have just had a quick look at their website and have seen that they are currently offering “6 Speedo Protek Performance Products Worth £23 for FREE” if you sign up for a six month subscription at the price of £15.50, so still working out to be £31 a year. If you do however fancy, picking up the current month’s magazine, then you can find this in most newsagents at the price of £3.10.

Emap Consumer Media Ltd have been publishing “For Him Magazine” (FHM) since January 1990, this is a monthly magazine with the current issue – November 2002 being issue number 155. Until writing this review, I was not aware of how many countries that they actual publish for. To my astonishment they deliver to a total of 247 countries, so they cater for nearly the whole of the world.

FHM would be best described as a men’s magazine that covers many topics of interest such as reporter, sex confidential, numerous features, men’s fashion, hardware, grooming, weekenders, reviews, problems and true stories – all of which, I will elaborate on in the following sections.


~ Reporter ~

The reporter section consistently has the following sub-sections that I will describe as the bizarre, gore and honeys.

This section is bizarre; within this section they detail weird
and wonderful stories/facts/gadgets/objects from both the past and present. Some of these are from letters sent in from FHM readers and to give you one example, they had a section a little while showing pictures of animal’s with strange proportioned genetalia and one in particular springs to mind is that of a bat who’s member was half the size of his body.

Then we come to what I call the gore part of the magazine, this shows people with particularly shocking disabilities/injuries and one page they seem to consistently have each month are pictures of gruesome injuries and they ask the question “shark or surgery?” Personally, I think that this somewhat spoils the magazine, but each to their own, I suppose!

FHM magazine are currently running a competition to find the top 100 most sexiest students – readers are asking for guys to send in snaps of their girlfriends or indeed for the ladies to send in their own snaps with the winning entry winning £2000 – these snaps show these attractive ladies either bare breasted or in their underwear.


~ Sex Confidential ~

This section seems to be aimed at enlightening us gentleman on sex related issues. The majority of the information or articles are supposedly written by women or are the results of interviewing them to get their issues on particular subjects.

A fairly recent addition to the magazine is “Jenna’s Sex Lessons” – Jenna Jameson is apparently very well know in the porn industry and according to the June edition is “the worlds highest paid porn star!” Anyway Jenna’s articles detail ways, positions and places to have sex – need I say any more!

There is a ladies confessions article that usually makes me chuckle or bring a smile to my face – each month they publish a confession that they have been selected to be the most entertaining and indeed are they entertaining! Let me t
ell you that I had no idea that women could find another practical use for an electric toothbrush (think about it).

The “Girls On The Sofa” article is compulsive reading in my point of view – the idea behind this is quote “Stick five ladies on a settee and you get enough nattering to sink a battleship. But ply them with a few bottles of white wine and it turns into a torrent of filth!” Indeed this appears to be very true – they selective five 20 something’s to answer 9 or 10 questions on their previous sexual encounters. These ladies (some of respectable professions) seem all too willing to share their juicy gossip and I find this to be somewhat entertaining and often raise the eyebrows.


~ Features ~

This is usually what I jump to first when reading this magazine, consisting primarily of photo shoots and interviews with famous women from the world of music and super-models although they do interview men such as radio DJ’s and those that have starred alongside the famous and beautiful women.

The photo shoots are very tasteful allowing the interviewees to look their most glamorous whilst not revealing too much of their bodies, typically dressed in bikini’s or sexy lingerie. The questions asked are sometimes very provoking and indeed quite funny at times.


~ Men’s Fashion ~

This is typically around a 40-page section of the magazine, including casual wear, suits and jewellery. Generally the clothing in the section looks very good, however there are some items that I wouldn’t be seen dead – must be a sign that I am getting old!


~ Hardware ~

This is the section for reading about big boys toys – in each issue your eyes will feast upon the brand new super car adorned with all the bells and whistles, typically with a price tag that is six or seven digits long. They detail all the technical specifications of
the car. Not really something that interests me but I am sure that most of us guys are stereotyped as those who like to ogle at women and cars.

This section is only small at around 5 pages, but you will also typically find a diverse range of gadgets and gizmo’s including sports gear, gym equipment, guns, entertainment systems, etc..


~ Grooming ~

Another small section of around 5 pages, detailing men’s products such as razors, aftershave, deodorants, hair gels, soaps and other toiletries – a good section showing the latest and popular products on the market and I was very surprise to see my current favourite shower gel range (original source) get a mention, they seem to be becoming very well known.


~ Weekenders ~

Something for the weekend sir? A good section for the pubbers and clubbers! Each month they detail the best pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants to visit. The articles are usually written with a little humour and I can believe that they had great fun whilst carrying out their research.


~ Reviews ~

The review sections give short reviews on the latest films, DVD/video’s, music, books, TV, games consoles and computer games. Not particularly a section that I read every month, however a good read if you want to get the “head up” on what is hot and what is not!


~ Problems ~

So now we are back to gore and this is certainly cringe-worthy stuff, FHM readers send in their questions and pictures of bodily complaint that they have, some are just general medical problems and some are somewhat laughable. Often a section that I skip past purely because some of the pictures that are sent in, I have seen many disgusting things such as a severely ulcerated tongue (cringe factor of 1), maggots supposedly healing wounds (cringe factor of 3) and laser treatment being performed on someone’s eye (cringe factor of 5).


~ True
Stories ~

The last page of the magazine, with the funniest true stories, that have been sent in by FHM readers. Some of these are very funny indeed and one of the stories in this months magazine made me chuckle. Some guy was trying to impress some ladies on the beech, he was playing it rather cool, put a cigarette in his mouth and thought that it would be a good idea to light his cigarette with a blow torch – wrong! He ended up in hospital with serious burns.


~ Specials ~

Every now and again there is a special item that they give away with the magazine, this varies from posters, booklets and calendars. They give a calendar away every Christmas with 12 beautiful ladies (one for each month) and this goes down a treat in the office. The booklets that they give away are usually at intervals of 4 or 5 months and range from the 100 hottest high street babes to the most grotesque pictures (needless to say that this went straight in the bin).


~ Summary ~

This is a great men’s magazine, with 300 to 400 pages each month. It is packed with a good selection of articles and there is something for everyone in this magazine. Many people complain about the amount of advertising (84 pages in the latest issue) and although sounds a little excessive, I don’t think it is – the advertising is placed at appropriate points in the magazine and it usually has some relevance to the articles in the preceding pages. Although this magazine is written for men, by no means should it only be read by men – my female cousin picked up one of my magazine some time ago and every now again borrows a copy. This magazine almost warrants a 5 star from myself, however it’s only let down is the amount of gore, I am not really the most squeamish person, but some of it is a little too much, so 4 stars it is!

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