Lads' mags - what do we think?

Thanks When for all that - showing the link between the mags and online porn reinforces the arguments against the mags in the first place and their easy availability

Not just they Jingle. Many women have watched the deterioration of lads mags into a gateway to porn, free videos of women dressed like schoolgirls, adverts that lead you into hardcore porn, and as is mentioned in the body of the article, it's a billion dollar industry. Pity you didn't persevere and read the article in full. I looked at several Nuts websites before copying that link. They all listed previous mags' contents, which, if you click on them, bring up access to porn videos on line. I didn't think it appropriate to put a Nuts porn video link on here!

The back pages of these mags provide numbers for sex chat lines. Women in parts of Africa and the Caribbean are employed by results, to talk online or on the phone, whilst men use them to get sexual gratification. Hands up any parent who can't wait for their children to take up this (poorly paid) career!

If we don't want it for children and women in our families, why are we ok with people we don't know doing it? Exploitation is exploitation, no matter how you dress it up.

though not thought. Soz

You mean they think that when. Doesn't make it necessarily set in stone. Haven't read much of the link. Lol thought that it is by a journo who made her career on a lad's mag!

The views of some female editors of lads mags, now they don't work on those mags. Interesting to read that, not only do they distort views of women, but they don't do men any favours, either.

www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/apr/22/nuts-magazine-lads-mags-women

No, you're rght Lilygran GN shoudn't be about controlling others, but neither shoud it be a forum where collusion to put people down happens. I, personally, will choose to give an opinion if I see nastiness or extreme putdowns, because I don't want there to be any assumption that it's ok with me. It's not about taking sides - I abhor cliques and gangs - but it is my freedom and choice to say if I agree or don't agree with someone.

At least with the mags on sale we know exactly what is being issued - whether on the 'top shelf' or at a mucky book shop. We should be far more concerned with the Internet, it is virtually unmanageable as when one site is closed down another is opened. Men have resorted to dirty literature for millennia, it's almost a right of passage for young men and to be honest harmless in its mildest form.
Banning the magazines wont stop them, many types of magazines are illegal but it hasn't stopped them being issued.
It is something women don't understand, this need to look at nude women. There used to be Playgirl with naked men. It soon closed down for lack of interest. When women go to male strip shows like the Chippendales, the women shout and shriek and roar with laughter no silent lusting like the men in strip clubs. It's a different outlook altogether.
Sadly a lot of girls hanker to be 'glamour models' [where is the glamour?] and magazines like FHM employ them. The girl make money and so does the publication. It doesn't worry me. It's the other horrible publications that I would and do worry about.

And JessM - the rise in labiaplasty in recent years is related to depilation as the latter exposes the labia much more.Grumpa - the campaign isn't about banning or censoring, it's about where such magazines are displayed and made available. I agree about the issues with magazines aimed at young girls and women but for a campaign to be successful, it's better to be sharply focused. And who knows, if young men aren't so exposed to these lads mags, magazines for girls could eventually change! Sigh -yes I know it's a bit of a long shot !! Not sure what's going on under the surface with my post but hey ho!

What do you suggest, Lilygran? I think allegations of 'things going on under the surface' are exactly the kind of posts that fester unhappiness.
I can't see any posts on this thread that would justify your comments.
Some of us think even so-called 'soft porn' can be damaging to the images of women and sex that men and boys develop. Others think that banning it might lead to greater use of harder types. Nobody has attacked anybody else - we have just stated our opinions.

There are discussions on GN that remind me so forcefully of being in the Fourth Form all over again. It isn't the level of debate that drags me back to my girlhood but the eagerness with which posters leap to the defence of individuals they feel are being unfairly treated. It seems to me that if a poster keeps coming back for more he or she, being an adult, probably feels s/he can cope with whatever ensues. The other thing that reminds me of those happy days of long ago is the feeling of something going on under the surface. This kind of 'debate' obviously completely puts off some posters and temporarily silences others. Should GN be about controlling other people's ideas and ways of expression?

Yes the Sun and the Star have a lot to answer for, in terms of normalising the topless model as suitable for family entertainment.
I looked at the Star once. The number of pairs of breasts in it was astounding. And they were all the same off-the-shelf breasts. You would swear that they had been photo-shopped. But perhaps they were all from the same page in the plastic surgeon's catalogue. All the same size and curvature. Not the vast variation you would see in the average women's changing room that's for sure.
The normalisation of depilated female genitalia is another way that the porn industry has insinuated itself into the sex lives of many people.

Am I mistaken in thinking that one of these "lads' mags" offered the prize of a "boob job for your girlfriend" for some competition a short while ago? If so, I think it is very worrying.

Just because something has been around for decades or longer doesn't make it right or even acceptable. That there is something worse doesn't make it right or even acceptable either.

I doubt whether high street newsagents would put genuine hardcore magazines on display (I haven't looked, so I don't know!). Of course, that does not mean that the magazines on display do not treat women as objects, but are they more damaging than magazines for young women that set standards of "beauty" that for most of them are unattainable, or only attainable at severe physical and/or mental cost, and condone drunken and sluttish behaviour?

Effective legislation to curb printed matter would be very difficult without moving into censorship, and would do nothing to curb what can be found on the internet.

I admit the problem, but I don't know what the answer is.

And to follow on from Sel's point about these magazines that have been around for decades...haven't most of us women seen them anyway? The majority are not 'hardcore' but the images that can be found on the Internet are truly shocking. If these magazines are banned then could young men turn to something much worse?

I must be missing something - have these magazines suddenly become hardcore? Given they've been around for decades what's the big fuss now? The danger is from the internet, not grubby magazines. Lots of children now have smartphones and tablets and can access the internet well away from adult eyes or control.

When my daughter was in her teens, she used to sometimes buy More magazine, aimed at younger teens. (I think it has now folded.) I was quite shocked by a regular feature Position of the Fortnight, graphically illustrated and giving an indepth look at the pros and cons in terms of gratification. Quite apart from the fact that many of these positions were news to me, who had lived through the swinging 60s, I had fondly imagined the magazine to be full of fashion and pop stars etc! She didn't have a boyfriend at the time, as she was only 13 or so, and I was horrified to think she would consider this the norm.

It is not clear what is meant by "lads mags" and perhaps we need some clarification on this. Are we taking FHM and the likes? Or are we talking about the magazines disguised as "sport" magazines with girls draped over cars and motorbikes etc. Or are we talking straight forward pornography? There is a difference.

Personally I think young men have always looked at "naughty" pictures it is part of the curiosity of growing up. I remember being in the junior school and a magazine being passed around by some silly boys behind the bike sheds. I don't think for one minute anyone was harmed as a result . The women who pose for these trashy magazines know exactly what they are doing and are no doubt well paid for their trouble. I cannot see the point of banning them as surely this will just encourage more use of Internet porn which is where the real trouble probably lies not in some silly "booby" magazine drooled over by teenage boys and dirty old men.

My instinct is to say ban them, but will it make much difference when there is such appalling stuff available on line. I suppose that what boys really need is a mature, stable male role model to instill the idea that women are people and should be treated with respect. Sadly many don't have this. Of course there are also girls whose view of men will be warped by their man hating mothers.

I think jingl's point about young men's developmental curiosity is exactly why these mags should be banned. When my sons (and daughters) were developing their views on sex and sexuality I certainly didn't want them 'learning' from magazines that objectify women or view sex as a commodity.

Perhaps they should be treated like cigarettes - stored behind closed doors so that customers have to ask for them by name. Maybe they should even have a government health warning - may cause an unrealistic idea of women and may cause women to dislike you.

Thank you, Frank, for reminding us that not all men think these magazines (and places like Spearmint Rhino) are not just a laugh and do contribute to a lack of respect and understanding between the sexes. I agree that banter among people who know each other can be fun and does no harm.

I also agree that getting rid of, or at least covering up, the "soft porn" magazines in shops is a cause that Gransnet could support. (Can't really get worked up about the needs of young men in fertility clinics, as I'm sure the clinics can arrange for anything necessary to be supplied.)

As a man I don't know how you will stop porn etc as it comes in on the internet from abroad.
When I was working in London a night out was organised at Spearmint Rhino which I kept away from.
As a father of 2 girls at the time and now a grandfather of 4 granddaughters I felt things like porn magazines and going to places like Spearmint Rhino does not show any respect for women.
Really I think these men would do better spending the money on their girl friends / wives.
Take them to a restaurant for example which neither of them has tried before.
There is some banter between the women and men in the aerobics classes which I think does no harm.

mollie

I presume these girls who pose are doing it for money.

Frank

If the girls didnt pose there wouldn't be any lads mags. We need to address the message the girls and young women get from such stuff ... It gets translated into street behaviour etc thats pretty sad and demeaning.

Returning from the tangent... if you talk to people who support young women in the field of sexual health it is alarming how early they are pressured by boys into engaging in sexual acts including things we never thought of (filming with mobile phones and sending to "friends"). It seems likely that the "soft" end of the porn industry influences young people in this area.

Brown paper wrappers are reasonable in a newsagents. In the US I think they had to be wrapped with the front cover turned back. Don't know if that is still so.