About Us

PLAYTHING is a Melbourne based entertainment magazine for the intellectually and sexually curious. It is here to encourage healthy representations of sex and focus on open exploration of a diverse spectrum of genders and sexualities.

We need more forums where we can engage with others, where fitting in and feeling normal is not for the privileged few, but for everyone. A place where we can all see ourselves depicted. A reassurance that our positionality is legitimate.

By pairing intelligent writing that is diverse and sex-positive with emotive and explicit art, photography, poetry, and short fiction, Plaything aims to bring sex out of the shadows and provide a physical space in which to explore, discuss and celebrate our intellectual-and-sexual-selves in a way that is safe and enjoyable.

Online is fine, but we want Plaything to bridge the gap between our digital and real-life selves. Providing a tangible representation of our lived experiences which encourages you to touch and connect; not only with the authors but with the people around you. This is why Plaything is solely a print magazine, rather than digital.

Celebrating diversity is our goal. We want to acknowledge that media representations of humans and their sexuality only represent a small section of us. The saturation of sex-related imagery in popular media is so narrow, heteronormative and abstract that it’s hard to know what sex looks like anymore, even as we’re doing it.

We hope you like our very first issue and have a super cute time reading it!

<3 Eric Butler & Lisa Divissi

PLAYTHING from Xanthe Dobbie on Vimeo.