Aren’t lads mags just a bit of harmless fun?
Lads’ mags provide sexual stimulation by portraying women as sexual objects who are always sexually available and whose purpose is to fulfil the sexual fantasies of men. They are directly linked to hardcore pornography and prostitution through their advertising and they constantly trivialise or make fun of issues like rape, trafficking and prostituting women. This is especially alarming when we consider that 66% of children and young people say that they find out about sex, love and relationships through the media (Institute of Education 2003). Do we want young people who are shaping their sexual identities to be learning about sexuality from magazines like Maxim (2006) who advised male readers that “most women fantasize about being raped” and that “it’s a myth that women like soft sex”? But this isn’t only a question of protecting children from these harmful messages. Lads’ mags promote a warped view of how women are supposed to look and behave sexually which is damaging for us all, a
