Feminists need a more positive approach

Targeting supermarket sales of lads’ mags is the wrong strategy in the war on sexism, writes Lori Anderson

in fact you do sell pornographic magazines, because that is what these are.”

Today, Nuts sells less than 60,000 copies, a drop of 30 per cent in the past year, while Zoo has lost 20 per cent of sales in the past 12 months and sells around 35,000 copies. The magazines’ nadir came three years ago when Danny Dyer, an actor famed for his wide-boy roles as hoodlums and football casuals was hired by Zoo as an Agony Uncle and offered the following advice to “Alex from Manchester”, who had recently been dumped by his girlfriend: “You’ve got nothing to worry about, son. I’d suggest going out on a rampage with the boys, getting on the booze, smashing anything that moves.

“Then, when some bird falls for you, you can turn the tables and break her heart. Of course, the other option is to cut your ex’s face, and then no-one will want her.”

When the government commissioned a review on the Sexualisation of Young People it found that lads’ mags “promote an idea of male sexuality as based on power and aggression, depicting women as sex objects and including articles that feature strategies for manipulating women.

“The evidence gathered in the review suggests a clear link between consumption of sexualised images, a tendency to view women as objects and the acceptance of aggressive

Yet is there a downside to Tesco toppling Nuts and Zoo from its shelves, two magazines with a dwindling circulation? By capitulating to a protest group, could the supermarket chain be opening itself up to further aggressive lobbying by a whole host of single-issue groups?

There are those who disapprove of leisure pursuits such as fishing and shooting and Tesco currently stocks magazines dedicated to both of these – should they also be banned from the supermarket shelves?

Fashion magazines featuring size-zero models on the cover can do reprehensible damage to self-esteem according to some women, why not ban them, too?

One could argue that the man or “lad” who purchases a copy of Nuts or Zoo at Tesco, or anywhere else, is already a lost cause. Why not concentrate instead on protecting the fragile self-esteem of young girls by policing what they read?

The answer is that fashion magazines may elevate the beautiful and svelte but they don’t, like Nuts and Zoo, denigrate and belittle women.

The reason that Romola Garai has taken on this new role is for the sake of her young daughter, born earlier this year.

Garai wants her daughter to grow up in a society where she “can enjoy the experience of living as a human being rather than being purely defined by her gender at every turn”.

It is a noble dream worth fighting for, but Nuts and Zoo are only paper targets.