A few weeks into its launch UKFeminista and Object are revving up their 'Lose the Lads' Mags' campaign. Equating the old office ‘girly calendars’ of yesteryear with the lads’ mags that line supermarket magazine shelves today the campaigners are asking the shops to lose the lads’ mags.
According to the campaign, supported by; Women’s Aid, the End Violence Against Women Coalition, the National Alliance of Women’s Organisations, Equals? and No More Page 3, believes it has a legal argument. Legal advice they have obtained shows that shops selling lads’ mags might be in breach of equality legislation. The displayed magazines could potentially constitute sex discrimination or sexual harassment under the Equality Act.
Sophie Bennett, Object’s campaign officer, said: “Lads’ mags dehumanise and objectify women…It’s time we saw an end to Lads’ mags in shops and the very real harms to women that result!”
Another campaign that is reaching panicked heights is the quest for the bikini body. It’s only feeling intermittently like it is June in the UK, but your body should be waxed, buffed and taut enough by now to qualify for bikini body status.
If you think donning a bikini on your body whatever your size/hair to skin ratio/tan progress makes it a bikini body then we have a host of women’s magazines you need to read – urgently.
While you’re working on your bikini body the least you can do is learn some tricks on how to please your man. That’s if you have a man, otherwise please wait until your bikini body has been obtained. All women’s magazines have great tips which involve little preparation. You can pick up most of the required items, ice cubes, whipped cream, swing, on the big shop!
Funny Women founder Lynne Parker who began her career in women's magazines at IPC Media and NatMags over 30 years ago says: "Ironically in an age where women have the luxury to self publish, we torture ourselves with images of unattainable beauty."
Women’s magazines with their hetero-normative sexually servile content – the onus being on the woman to gain pleasure only by giving pleasure – worship of one body type, achieved at almost any cost are enough to make anybody want to sue. Or certainly feel dehumanised.
Which is why it is peculiar to not just target purely Lads’ Mags, but litigiously rid them from the shop shelves on the basis of equality and damage to women. Thus a situation in which men, violent, sexist or neither, cannot choose whether or not to give their money to ‘Nuts’ or ‘Loaded’. The campaign also implies there is such a thing as good female nudity – high fashion for example and bad – a ‘Nuts’ front cover perhaps.
Both lads’ mags and women’s mags are guilty of little diversity and both present unrealistic images of women. Only one explicitly perpetuates the idea to women that they should live up to such images. Whatever their profession, actress, comedian, model, women on the cover of a magazine are usually trussed up to look unrecognisable from their usual selves.
The campaign has chosen to focus on the Lads’ Mags because they believe they are linked to violent behavior against women. Blogger Gemma Ahearne points out: “Abuse to women happens by all kinds of men. It is not possible to safely distance ourselves by their sexual consumption habits.”
The latest development of the campaign has seen Tesco chairman Sir Richard Broadbent, commenting at the Tesco AGM: “I bought one of these lads' mags recently. I was startled at what I saw. But I think we should be thoughtful in our response. I don’t immediately know what the answer should be. But I am willing to look at changes.”
Of course there’s also the notion this campaign is a little late, as the magazine industry is gradually turning digital. Someone has likened the 'Lose the Lads’ Mags' campaign to rallying against carrier pigeons. And online no-one can see you peruse ‘sexist’ content.
Squeamish Kate is the editor of feminist blog SqueamishBikini.com you can follow her on twitter @SqueamishBikini and like the blog on Facebook
