Jul 30 - Co-op Calls for Censorship of 'Lads' Mags'

Written by YGTV Team on 30 July 2013.

This week, UK supermarket chain, The Co-Operative has pledged to censor top shelf magazines, by hiding them behind opaque panelling.

Censorship of the media has been a hot topic since the phone hacking scandal sparked a full-blown inquiry into the ethics of the press fronted by Justice Leveson. Now, one can argue that censorship of top shelf magazines does not filter into the same category as the strict press regulation that is set to hit the bustling world of UK media, next month, but it’s bound to cause more of a stir.

‘Lads’ mags’ have always sparked controversy, ever since the first pornographic magazines surfaced in France in 1880. During the 1900s the popularity spread to the US who, in the 1970s, revamped the less smutty pinup style that rose to fame during the introduction of ‘Playboy’. The introduction of UK ‘lads’ mags,’ including FHM and Nuts in early 2000, brought back a more soft-core image to the industry.

A BBC report on the matter claims that the outlet retailer is responding to concerns by its members, customers and colleagues who have objected to their children being able to ‘see overt sexual images’ in stores.

Co-op policy manager, Cathryn Higgs told BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme that the group were in contact with the magazine publishers and they hoped that they would take the responsible approach and put the magazines in a bag. The Daily Sports newspaper is the first publication to have agreed to follow the supermarket’s policy.

Institutions such as the Professional Publishers Association have disagreed with the policy, insisting that publishers support a set of guidelines on the appropriate display of men’s lifestyle magazines, which is endorsed by the Home Office. UK Equality rights groups such as UK Feminista and Object launched a campaign to ‘lose the lads’ mags’ earlier in the year.

The report has sparked a debate online with many individuals stating that if such magazines are banned, high fashion publications that also regularly feature scantily clad women should be given the same treatment.

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