‘Penthouse’ Ruled Tolerable (Press, 16 October 1982)

The Indecent Publications Tribunal in New Zealand ruled on 16 October 1982 that most of the United States magazine "Penthouse" is tolerable in today’s environment, but it raised concerns regarding the magazine's increasing use of multiple models in its photographic scenes. The tribunal declined a request from the Comptroller of Customs for a two-year restriction order to replace a previous blanket decision that had deemed all issues of "Penthouse" indecent for individuals under 18, a decision that had expired on 21 December 1981. The Customs Department sought this new order to avoid the need to individually classify each issue of the magazine further. The tribunal concluded that the September and October 1981 issues were indecent for persons under 18, while the November 1981 issue was deemed unconditionally indecent. The concerns centred around a portfolio of photographs in the November issue, which the tribunal described as presenting a “prurient and salacious view of sex likely to affect even adult readers.” The content was considered offensive and tasteless, with the mix of sex and violence depicted causing injury to the public good due to its excessive use of models, alongside the portrayal of lesbian and prurient sexual aspects. Officials from Customs argued for a blanket restriction based on the similarity between the current issues and earlier ones classified as indecent. However, the tribunal pointed out important differences; while the general format of "Penthouse" had been similar in 1979, the 1981 issues displayed explicit genital detail and included pictorial sections with multiple models—a departure from the single-model format of the past. The tribunal noted that the articles within "Penthouse" vary widely, from sensible discussions on relevant topics to content that is objectionable. They acknowledged that, despite the variations in photographic content, the written articles of social and literary merit have not significantly deteriorated. Yet, they indicated that some sections of the magazine, particularly "Forum" and “Call Me Madam”, had a limited scope for further deterioration. In summary, while the tribunal found that most of "Penthouse" is acceptable by contemporary standards, it highlighted serious concerns regarding certain content, particularly in the November issue, which it classified as unconditionally indecent. The conclusion reached was that while the magazine has sections that are tolerable, aspects of its evolving content require close scrutiny.

The text on this page is created, in the most part, using Generative AI and so may contain errors or omissions. It is supplied to you without guarantee or warranty of correctness. If you find an error or would like to make a content suggestion please get in contact

The text on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand