FHM, an acronym for For Him Magazine (or For Horny Men, as the Philippines edition has it), is a monthly men's magazine (of a type known as a lads' mag). The magazine was first published in 1994 in the United Kingdom but has subsequently expanded internationally. As of July 2004, it publishes 27 editions per month including editions in the United States, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, France, Taiwan, and the Philippines.
FHM, produced by the consumer media division of publishing giant EMAP, was launched as a response to the success of Loaded, launched by IPC Magazines the previous year. Like Loaded, FHM relies heavily on the appeal of photographs of scantily-clad women. Unlike traditional pornographic magazines however, FHM prints photographs of women already famous for reasons other than their beauty - such as actresses and pop singers. Also unlike in Playboy and its ilk, their genitals and nipples are hidden by underwear or props. This is for two reasons: Firstly the women they feature are sufficiently famous to be able to make demands as to the degree(s) of nudity of the photos; Secondly it lends the magazine a more respectable air. Thus FHM is typically stocked in the lifestyle rather than adult section on newsstands.
The magazine is printed on high-quality glossy paper and the photography is of high technical quality. The format allowed FHM to become the best-selling magazine in Britain during the mid to late 1990s - selling 700,000 copies per month. Towards the end of the decade the lads' culture in which the magazine thrived had begun to die off and publishers turned to celebrity-oriented titles to boost overall sales. Heat overtook FHM as the UK's biggest selling magazine.
As well as the photo shoots, the magazine contains articles on a wide variety of topics, including profiles of sports stars, movie, music, technology and book reviews, gossip, men's fashion shoots, the "bar scene" in a variety of locations, and extensive discussion of sexual techniques. The magazine is written in a notably "laddish" bar-room discussion style, by comparison to the more literary style of Playboy.
Other magazines in a somewhat similar style include Maxim and Ralph (Australia).
100 sexiest women
Since 1995 FHM has run a poll to find the "100 sexiest woman in the World". In 2005 it was won by Angelina Jolie, while Jennifer Lopez has won it twice. Although the results are not statistically significant, they are an indication of the popularity of particular women in the FHM-buying world. Different countries run different polls. See the lists at Category:FHM lists.
Only two women have appeared on the list every year: Pamela Anderson and Kylie Minogue. However in a poll of previous polls published in the UK edition of the magazine in the July 2004, Louise Redknapp won the mantle of Sexiest Woman of the Decade.
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