Are lads mags to blame for irresponsible behaviour?

A leading Tory is to attack lads mags for encouraging irresponsible behaviour among young men and promoting a negative image of women.

Shadow education secretary Michael Gove is expected to link titles such as Nuts and Zoo to relationship breakdown and fatherless children in a high-profile speech.

"Titles such as Nuts and Zoo paint a picture of women as permanently, lasciviously, uncomplicatedly available," his speech says.

Does he have a point? Do you read lads mags? Do you think they encourage irresponsible behaviour? Do these magazines disrespect women or give them a platform?

Lads mags aren't responsible for the behaviour of young men but they are pathetic and disrespectful to women so at least he's highlighting that.

Gove is over-simplifying a complex issue to get a Daily Mail headline. He knows it will work little needles into the 'outrage' gland of Britain's small-minded minority. As for whether they are disrespectful of women or exploit them... Well I can see why a majority of women don't like them. But modern 'glamour' models aren't as dumb as they're painted. If you know the rules of the game, are you being exploited?

Absolutely not. The lads mags reflect the nature of reader - they do not drive it. This is not 1960! 

I would imagine that 24 hour drinking is more to blame. Women's magazine's don't exactly keep their male subjects covered up either. Any debate about exploitation of the sexes is always going to get the (desired) publicity.

I think magazines, as well as most medias have come heavily into the firing line in recent years. It's easy to shift the blame for indecent behaviour/thinking onto magazines.

 

 

 

Where to start?

It's interesting that the media has chosen to latch on to these paragraphs in Gove's pretty long speech (you can read the whole lot at http://www.ippr.org/uploadedFiles/events/gove.pdf).

Gove's right in one way - plastering a mag full of topless women does send a message to lads. Whether it's good or bad I'll leave it to others to debate.

Where he and I part company is the effect this may have. It's a massive leap from Nuts and Zoo's topless pics to feckless fathers and the breakdown of society. There's far more going on here than two relatively new mags with a high nipple count. As has been said above Page 3, for example, has been around for years.

Take the lack of decent sex education. The Daily Mail may bang on about kids as young as four being taught about the birds and the bees (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1031837/Children-given-compulsory-sex-education-age-four.html) but the reality is totally different. Sex education isn't compulsory in our schools - it's down to governors and the result is patchy at best.

Running two online men's mags I've seen the result of this woeful policy first hand. Grown men have asked our experts really basic questions about their bodies and those of the opposite sex. If Mr Gove wants to sort out society then giving guys the knowledge to form successful relationships would be a good start.

Rather than taking a side swipe at an easy target - What's Mr Gove going to do about Nuts? Ban it? - he should get with the programme. It's about time politicians faced up to the realities of our society rather than going after cheap headlines.

These mags are the Spearmint Rhino of the publishing world. They exist because men like to behave badly, not the other way round.

Nikki Sandison:

Lads mags aren't responsible for the behaviour of young men but they are pathetic and disrespectful to women so at least he's highlighting that.

 

Surely they HONOUR women by idolising them & worshiping their glamour & femininty, don't they ?

Surely there are countless pretty girls who LOVE to "put out the goods" who are making a handsome living out of them, aren't there?

Surely these publications have made the Jordans & the Jodies of this world Famous, wealthy & happy, haven't they ?

Surely this is a vehicle that EMPOWERS a lot of women, is it not ?

 

 

Gabriel Miller:

These mags are the Spearmint Rhino of the publishing world. They exist because men like to behave badly, not the other way round.

 

 

Having had my pockets rapidly emptied by the highly astute "Staff" of Spearmint & Stringfellows on occaision I would seek to reassure you that the bad beaviour in these places is usually perpetrated by the staff against the mug punter who walks in the valley of the shadow of big muscular bouncers who collude with all the "Girls" scams

I don't think a single medium like a lads mag is responsible for how lads behave. Lad culture itself is to blame and the makings of it. If you want lads to be responsible, there has to be a clear lifestyle choice. Boys will be boys and that won't change - has it over the last 20/30 yrs?

Hurrah for the scapegoat culture! I think the media shouldn't take people's minds for granted like that- maybe these are targeted to a specific demographic instead of a brainwashing device that were are helpless to form our own opinions on! Were cavemen gracious when they dragged us women back to their caves by their hair? Or did they read Uggs magazine and that could be the only reason?

Err..in a word...No.

Irresponsible people are to blame for irresponsible behaviour.

Richard Edwards:

Err..in a word...No.

Irresponsible people are to blame for irresponsible behaviour.

 

 

Irresponsible parents are to blame for irresponsible people