Cover up
This morning on the BBC — modesty bags for lads' mags! Brilliant. The Co op is asking the people who publish Loaded , Nuts and the other boys' peep show titles to put bags over their product, to protect the innocence of children coming into the shops. Feminista wants to go further, campaigning for an outright ban on these magazines. Their argument is that the Co op is still aiming to make money out of lads' mag culture — the fig leaf of a plastic bag is just a way to get around the profit hit it would otherwise take. What's the real problem, of which lads' mags are the pathetic symptom? Girls are sent the message, "sex is dirty and you are dirty if you do it — aren't you?", while boys are sent the message, "sex is dirty and girls are dirty if they do it — here, have a little look". Queen Victoria would have been proud. Seems to me that putting a doggy bag over a soft porn mag is a bit like men telling women they have to wear burkhas ...