{"id":122427,"date":"2016-10-14T03:25:31","date_gmt":"2016-10-14T03:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/gentlemens-mags-normalize-sexist-jokes-say-researchers\/"},"modified":"2016-10-14T03:25:31","modified_gmt":"2016-10-14T03:25:31","slug":"gentlemens-mags-normalize-sexist-jokes-say-researchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/gentlemens-mags-normalize-sexist-jokes-say-researchers\/","title":{"rendered":"Gentlemen’s Mags "Normalize" Sexist Jokes, Say Researchers"},"content":{"rendered":"
Gentlemen’s magazines are well known for their liberal usage of sexist humor and a masculine take on subject matter. A group of studies released this week demonstrate the extent to which these magazines normalize sexism.<\/header>\n

\"[Man
Researchers uncover the sexism in gentlemen’s magazines in a series of new studies.<\/em><\/p>\n

\nMagazines such as FHM<\/em> and GQ<\/em> have always argued that their brand of sexist humor is harmless.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe magazines hold this view because, they claim, their readers see the humor as ironic.\n<\/p>\n

\nA trio of studies, published this week in the journal Psychology of Men and Masculinities<\/em>, puts this old way of thinking to bed.\n<\/p>\n

\nThese latest three studies<\/a> on the topic are a joint effort between social psychologists at the University of Surrey, Clark University, University of Ghent and Middlesex University London, all in the United Kingdom.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe present studies build on findings from previous research<\/a> carried out by the University of Surrey. Results from their earlier work sparked renewed public debate about whether gentlemen’s magazines help to normalize sexist attitudes in society at large.\n<\/p>\n

\nIn 2012, a series of studies found that men could not distinguish between quotations from gentlemen’s magazines and convicted rapists. Also, the participants were shown to identify more with the quote (whichever source it came from) if they were told that it had been taken from a magazine, rather than a criminal.\n<\/p>\n

\nThis research helped firm up a government decision to put gentlemen’s magazines in black wrappers on supermarket shelves in the U.K.\n<\/p>\n

\n

“Sales of [gentlemen’s magazines] have declined significantly in recent years, with several ceasing publication, but ‘lad culture’ and the normalization of sexism is still a major concern, particularly on university campuses and online.”<\/p>\n

Prof. Peter Hegarty, lead author, University of Surrey<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Three studies on sexism in gentlemen’s magazines<\/h2>\n

\nIn the first of the three studies, 81 men aged 18-50 were presented with sexist jokes, either in or out of the context of a gentlemen’s magazine. Younger men, especially those who scored lower on sexism measures, found the jokes less hostile in the context of a gentlemen’s magazine – but not more ironic or funnier.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe second study involved 423 men from the U.K., aged 18-30. In this study, the researchers set out to look for a correlation between sexism and the consumption of gentlemen’s magazines. They found that men who displayed ambivalent sexism were more likely to consume gentlemen’s magazines than other men. However, they were not more likely to participate in other forms of more direct sexual consumption, such as strip clubs or paying for sex.\n<\/p>\n

\nIn the third and final experiment, 274 undergraduate students in the United States were used as participants. This study required the participants to sort quotations taken from gentlemen’s magazines and convicted rapists. Only half of the quotations were correctly identified, and, once the participants were made aware of this, they viewed the magazines as less legitimate.\n<\/p>\n

\n

“These latest studies demonstrate how a concrete source of social influence [gentlemen’s magazines] can shape the expression of a prejudice that is generally considered unacceptable in an egalitarian society.\n<\/p>\n

\nHowever, in a microcosm of what we have seen in the [gentlemen’s magazine] market in recent years when the extreme hostility of the content […] is made obvious, men are more likely to reject these magazines.”<\/p>\n

Prof. Hegarty<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nThese findings could be another nail in the coffin of gentlemen’s magazines. As the evidence rolls in, the significance of the sexist language used in these publications becomes ever clearer. Interviewed in 2011<\/a>, Anna van Heeswijk, campaigns manager for OBJECT, a human rights group which campaigns against the objectification of women, said:\n<\/p>\n

\n“If we are serious about wanting an end to discrimination and violence against women and girls, we must tackle the associated attitudes and behaviors. This means tackling the publications which peddle them.”\n<\/p>\n

\nLearn how female gamers deal with sexual harassment<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gentlemen’s magazines are well known for their liberal usage of sexist humor and a masculine take on subject matter. A group of studies released this week demonstrate the extent to which these magazines normalize sexism. Researchers uncover the sexism in gentlemen’s magazines in a series of new studies. Magazines such as FHM and GQ have Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122427\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}