'Lads' mags' use same rhetoric as sex offenders, researchers say
'Lads' mags', magazines aimed specifically at young heterosexual men, have long been controversial; their portrayal of women is often a subject of debate that raises concerns in many quarters. Now researchers from the United Kingdom have carried out a study that backs up these concerns, showing that the language used in these magazines shares characteristics with language used by sex offenders, and contributes to the objectification of women. While much work has been done to investigate the effect these magazines have on children, with many shops moving them to the 'top shelf' out of immediate sight, little attention has been paid to how the messages in the magazines affect their target audience as well as women themselves - the main subject of the magazines' content. Lead researcher Dr Miranda Horvath from Middlesex University explains: 'A lot of debate around the regulation of lads' mags has been to do with how they affect children but less has been said about the influence they have on their intended audience of young men and the women with whom those men socialise.' The team, made up of researchers from Middlesex University and the University of Surrey presented their study subjects with descriptions of women taken from the four lads' mags with the highest circulation in the United Kingdom and comments about women made by convicted rapists. Most people who took part in the study could not distinguish between the quotes from the magazines and the quotes from the convicted rapists. Worryingly, these findings suggest that sexism and the objectification of women become normalised if they appear in popular widely available magazines. Published in the British Journal of Psychology, the findings reveal that out of the men who took part in the study, a random sample of 96 individuals between the ages of 18 and 46 identified more with the comments made by rapists than with the quotes from lads' mags. The researchers also asked a separate group of women and men aged between 19 and 30 to rank the quotes on how derogatory they were, and to try to identify the source of the quotes. Both men and women rated the quotes from lads' mags as more derogatory, but in general they struggled to accurately determine from which group the quotes came. Dr Horvath comments: 'We were surprised that participants identified more with the rapists' quotes, and we are concerned that the legitimisation strategies that rapists deploy when they talk about women are more familiar to these young men than we had anticipated. These magazines support the legitimisation of sexist attitudes and behaviours and need to be more responsible about their portrayal of women, both in words and images. They give the appearance that sexism is acceptable and normal - when really it should be rejected and challenged. Rapists try to justify their actions, suggesting that women lead men on, or want sex even when they say no. There is clearly something wrong when people feel the sort of language used in a lads' mag could have come from a convicted rapist.' Another study author, Dr Peter Hegarty from the University of Surrey, says: 'There is a fundamental concern that the content of such magazines normalises the treatment of women as sexual objects. We are not killjoys or prudes who think that there should be no sexual information and media for young people. But are teenage boys and young men best prepared for fulfilling love and sex when they normalise views about women that are disturbingly close to those mirrored in the language of sexual offenders?' The study highlights the importance of educating young people about sex so that they don't have to rely on the skewed and glossy image of sex created by lads' mags editors. The study is a warning call to the industry to act responsibly and clean up its act. Anna van Heeswijk, campaigns manager for OBJECT, a human rights campaign group that opposes the objectification of women, suggests that amid the current climate of press scrutiny in the United Kingdom there has never been a more fitting time for this to happen. She explains: 'If we are serious about wanting an end to discrimination and violence against women and girls, we must tackle the associated attitudes and behaviours. This means tackling the publications which peddle them. The Leveson Inquiry is currently looking into the culture and ethics of the press. These disturbing findings unequivocally demonstrate the need for the portrayal of women to be included in the remit of this inquiry. Now is the time for action.'For more information, please visit: British Psychological Society (BPS): http://www.bps.org.uk/
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