The middle pages of a magazine that are printed on one large sheet and fold out, often featuring a large photograph or special content.
From 'centre' + 'fold' (a crease created by bending). Originated with magazine printing in the 20th century as a design feature that took advantage of how publications are bound and folded.
Famous magazines used centrefolds to create a 'wow' moment when readers opened the magazine—it's a clever piece of print design that uses the physical structure of the magazine itself as part of the reading experience!
Centrefold historically featured nude women in magazines; the term became synonymous with objectified female bodies as commercial commodities, cementing visual female objectification in popular culture from the 1950s onward.
Use 'center spread' or 'feature spread' as neutral alternatives; if discussing the history of magazines, acknowledge the gendered harm and objectification inherent in this tradition.
["center spread","feature spread","full-page feature"]
Women photographers and editors like Diane Arbus and later feminist photographers reclaimed visual representation, countering the objectifying male gaze embedded in centrefold culture.
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