While social and sexual relations may be depicted 'directly' in pornographic men's magazines they are most often (also) somehow inflected through existing institutions of work, education, the family and-not least-consumption. As such men's magazines constitute an important lens through which the development of American society and masculinities can be studied. This special issue contains four articles on American men's magazines situated in different times from the 1920s to the 1990s. Placed within their specific contexts the examination of these magazines reveals not only different constructions of masculinity but also how these-as well as their mediation-are inscribed within larger societal developments.