What a Nutter!
Apologies for the terrible, terrible pun, but the comments by Michael Gove the other day about so called ‘lads mags’ encouraging social breakdown were stunning in their idiocy. I happen to like Michael Gove, he comes across as a slightly odd, yet thoroughly likeable man, and to hear comments such as these come from someone I have that impression of, seemed slightly odd. I’ve read Nuts, and Zoo, and they don’t amuse me in the slightest. Ok, maybe a magazine with more football that you can shake a stick at isn’t such a bad thing, but when it’s pseudo pornographic, and terrible pseudo porn at that, it makes me wonder how much time Mr Gove has on his hands. Somehow I can’t see him nipping down to his local paper shop for a six pack, a twenty deck, and a copy of Nuts.
Whilst his aims are admirable - every party now, except the feminist elements of the Labour Party, are trying to find the elixir of life for Britain - a magical, mystical cure to what is now the ‘in phrase’, of ‘Social Breakdown’. The Conservative’s solution to social breakdown is a mixture of being tough on crime, but being soft on the causes of crime. Or that’s how I see it, even as a member of the party, and a supporter of Cameron, I find myself sometimes wondering what on earth they’re thinking, and what a brilliant idea something is, at the same time. Labour’s solution I’m not really sure of, because whilst they’ve done some good things for the family, tax credits being one (if you can work out the form), they’ve also skewed the tax and benefits system in favour of single parents. Maybe not on purpose, but it’s happened, and nothing appears to be in the pipeline to deal with it. This brings me back to Gove’s criticism of Nuts. What exactly does it have to do with the breakdown in Britain’s society? Surely, Nuts, Zoo, FHM or any other ‘lads mag’ that I can think of, are only the same as the legions of women’s magazines that adorn the shelves of my local newspaper shop. Off the top of my head, I can think of More, Hello!, OK!, Heat, and Closer. All these magazines do is sexualise men, in exactly the same way Nuts et al. do for women. Societies problem isn’t why is this allowed, it is why are men criticised for looking at these magazines, and why is it somehow for women to do what is pretty much the same thing? Women are interested in semi naked men, clothes, and celebrities. Men are interested in semi naked women, football, and stories about explosions/guns/bigger explosions. Why can’t the two be left in peace? Whilst I’m sure Mr Gove has a serious point, and cares about solving Britain’s broken society problem, I suspect a more worthwhile way to launch an assault would be to go after single parents who neglect their responsibilities as a parent, not men who like reading about men things.
This might seem like a trivial post, but it’s not, it’s deadly serious. Britain is undoubtedly on a slippery slope, towards a total breakdown of society, and by this, I mean families are fragmenting. Mr Gove is right to say that the family is the best way to build a fairer, more solid society, but to blame a type of magazine is silly, when absent parents, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, gang culture, and a simple lack of respect seem much more pressing issues.
Anyway, I’m off down the shop for my six pack, twenty deck, and copy of Nuts - before all the fun things in life are made even harder to get.
