Gilberts' Fridge

On the phenomenon of “Lads Mags”

So I know that growing up in rural Utah is like being raised in a plastic bubble. You are completely cut off from mainstream popular culture. But I moved away at an early age; saw the world, experienced life, etc. I wouldn’t say that I was completely sheltered (despite my parents’ best efforts). I have come across something in England that shocked me at first, but now just disgusts me. It’s the infamous “Lad Mag.”

The “Lad Mag” is a semi-reputable publication, either a newspaper or a magazine, which caters to an audience of 16-35 year olds. The news is gossipy and fun—the literary equivalent of a Big Mac opposed to a 3 course sit down meal. The articles are mostly about various sports or the newest cars, and are generously broken up by pictures of half naked women.

The page three girl, a regular feature of the less reputable newspapers, is practically an institution over here. Remember the pop star Samantha Fox from the mid-80’s? She got her start as a page three girl. There are loads of quasi-celebrities over here that are famous for their appearances on page three of The Star, The Sport, or equally “classy” papers. These girls, like Zoe, 24, London, are famous just for taking their tops off and appearing nearly naked in a national newspaper. One paper even lets the girl show off how clever she is, by printing one of her comments on a little news snippet called “the news in briefs.” Clever play on words, but still disgusting, and the magazines are worse. Page after page of topless girls is briefly broken up by some stupid story about the latest antics of some football club’s manager. And where can one buy these magazines? Anywhere! They’re not even put on the top shelf so young children can’t reach them. They aren’t even covered up, like Cosmopolitan in most Utah grocery stores. You can walk into any supermarket and be greeted by a bevy of bare breasts.

You can almost forgive the “lads” who buy the magazines. I know the whole “boys will be boys” argument is a pathetic excuse, but it’s still socially acceptable. It’s all the married or otherwise attached men who buy them that really bother me. They sit in the cafeteria during their breaks and ogle the pictures of scantily clad young women, commenting lewdly on their bodies with no consideration for their female colleagues sitting next to them. They sit there with their pasty pale faces and sagging beer bellies critiquing the figures (never faces—funny, that) which would be the envy of most women. And then they go home to their wives or girlfriends, who will never look like the page three girl, and don’t even think twice about how degrading their actions at work are to the women they profess to love. People say that women set an unrealistic standard of beauty for themselves, but I think it’s mostly the men.

I think perhaps one of the worst things about this casual nudity is that it becomes normal after a while. Even the most sensitive person still reads the story on page two, seeing the picture of Zoe, 24, London, on page three but not really noticing it. And maybe that’s the worst part. These women are exposing their bodies to the world, and most of the world glances at them without really seeing them. This shocking display goes completely unnoticed, and that girl’s desperate bid for attention is, in the end, a waste of time.