Pornographic materials first arrived in the Philippines in 1946, in the form of pornographic magazines imported from the United States. During the 1960s, magazines for women in the Philippines featured literary articles featuring topics on contraception, sexual health, marriage, erotica and sexual liberation with the purpose of improving marital relationship, and not as an impediment or replacement to romantic or appropriate natural and normal human sexuality. Also in this decade, pornography became accessible to interested affluent adult men and women who are in a mature relationship that can be viewed through eight-millimeter portable film projectors, before the introduction of the more affordable videocassettes. Although illegal, local video rental shops and newsstands became the primary channel of for-sale and rented pornographic materials. Locally produced pornographic and erotic media in the Philippines became available in the forms of published materials and pre-recorded and live sex shows. The first soft-core pornographic Philippine-made movie appeared in the 1970s, entitled Uhaw, a film wherein the lead female role was portrayed by a former Philippine beauty pageant queen, Merle Fernandez, older sister of the action star Rudy Fernandez. Production of homemade and poor quality hardcore sexually-oriented films also appeared later on, prior to the arrival of CDs, VCDs, DVDs, cable television, mail-order services and Internet-accessible visuals and information on sexual activity.
In general, there are three major categories of erotic publications in the Philippines. Long after the publication of the Tik-Tik, Sakdal, and Playboy Scenes magazines in the Philippines, a Filipino edition of Playboy, named Playboy Philippines, was initiated in the country on March 15, 2008. Its first issue was released in April 2008. There was a difference in the presentation for its Filipino audience and readership in order not to go against Filipino business, cultural, and social values. Among these characteristic differences from its Western or typically racy counterparts are the non-display of frontal nudity and human genitalia, although it features Filipino women as "playmates".
Survey
An informal consumption survey was conducted by a Filipino medical practitioner, revealed that modern-day Filipino men and women have different purposes for viewing or reading erotic and sexually related materials. Based on the study, female consumers evolves around the "couple context" or relationship context, while male patrons do so in relation to solitary sexual activity. Leyson's study also found out that there is a continuous rise in preferences among “educated, sophisticated, and professional” men and women who are engaged in an intimate relationship for so-called "clean" or "softcore" versions of sexually-oriented resources.
