A Zoo
Conservative education spokesman Michael Gove has accused "lad mags", such as Zoo and Nuts, of contributing to family breakdown by encouraging young men to view women as sex objects.
"Titles such as Nuts and Zoo paint a picture of women as permanently, lasciviously, uncomplicatedly available," Gove said in his speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research in London.
"The images they use and project reinforce a very narrow conception of beauty and a shallow approach towards women. They celebrate thrill-seeking and instant gratification without ever allowing any thought of responsibility towards others, or commitment, to intrude."
Wow!
He said that politicians needed to ask "tough questions about the instant-hit hedonism celebrated by the modern men's magazines targeted at younger males". Gove said the issue was important because men who fathered children had to accept their responsibilities. That was because "the costs of relationship breakdown, of children left fatherless, of 'men behaving badly', are borne by us all.
Finally.
Yup Michael. Depends what questions you ask and how you go about this though. But since noone else bothers and the media define our culture, you should ask the bloody question.
Unfortunately you have the internet to contend with. To where "Zoo" and "Nuts" are haemoraging readers. The internet can go one better than Zoo etc because.. well, it can. Various mainstream porn sites casually refer to women in any sexual context as "bitches" and "sluts" (because of course women still cannot enjoy sex in any other capacity apparently), sexuality is all one sided and geered towards servicing men. They put out faux rape, force and abuse content, where you cannot always tell if there is consent but regardless which portray women simply as fuck toys. It is not even viewed as extreme content but as unabashed mainstream regular run of the mill porn.
Verrrrry lovely.
But thanks Mike, for finally shifting some much needed focus onto this issue and men's responsibilities, actions and prevailing attitudes in the sexual arena. Where up til now "murderous" women who abort, "single mums", "feminists", "Bridgets" and "ladettes" had been the sole arbiter of the "demise" of the family apparently. It's all wimmin's fault! Lest we forget
Lately you could be forgiven for thinking men were all hard done by hapless, sad, feminised muppets regularly beaten down by evil feminists in government. Instead they are individuals making their own decisions and responsible for their own lives like anyone else. And with a vast array of macho endorsing 'product' at their disposal.
Certainly there are issues where the balance needs to be more on an even keel legally for both men and women. But the constant bloggermale freak outs over rape and domestic abuse law proposals, when they are mute about the status quo which has always favoured them, the freaking out over 'wimmin' generally, the moronics from yet more weirdo American blowhards over feminism is just plain ridiculous. As though feminism (no more or less an imperfect philosophy than anything else) were never a response to anything major, eh?
Some seem ever more determined not to balance sexual politics out finally for all our benefits - so much as put the clock back a few hundred years to the "good old days". I never thought about feminism until I started blogging. But the prevailing attitudes are that far screwy and the woman-hating over anything and everything so strong, it would be remiss of me not to call bullshit when I see it.
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