Girlie magazines for 14year old boy

Hi Everyone
I'm after some advice on the appropriateness of girlie magazines, for my 14 year old son. I used to buy him Explode magazine, which was aimed at young teenage boys. It had stuff on cars etc, and some pictures of girls, but not really sexual type photos. Unfortunately the magazine is no longer sold. He then asked if he could buy Zoo magazine. This seems like a more explicit magazine. The pictures are more sexual, and the articles are quite explicit.
Do you think he's too young for Zoo? Some of his friends have the magazine, so I think he's probably seeing it anyway, but I worry about letting him buy it, if its not really suitable for him?
Any advice would be appreciated
thanks
Anne
( I must update my ticker!)

TBPH I don't think its appropriate. And its not so much a matter of whether he sees it or not, its moreso that he knows you don't think its appropriate. Hard to explain but I do think there is a difference. I've just checked out the online website and its very tacky. I'm just not sure if he's emotionally old enough (he's your son you know him better ;)) to look at these magazines and not assume that all women are sexual objects. To be quite frank if my son was wanting magazines to masturbate over (although I'm not sure that is what your son wants them for) I'd rather leave out a victoria's secret catalogue at least its somewhat tasteful LOL!

BUT I can't really comment because my son is 14 months LOL not 14 yrs... But I got my hubby's opinion and he thinks its too young and he said he used to read them from 15-16 but even then his parents never bought them for him. He said he read playboy and it was definitely more "tasteful" than the others.

*hugs*
Cailin

Hi Cailin :)
yeah, i know what you mean about me buying it for him - its like its then got my seal of approval. i do sort of think he's too young, i just wasn't sure if i was being a prude/naive or not. He seems alot more interested in cars than girls, but again i'm not sure if he just doesn't confide in me about what he's thinking about girls, or if he's just not into them yet? i also wondered if he wanted Zoo, just because his friends buy it, or if he was really curious about girls?
i would have thought playboy was more explicit?
thanks for your advice.

As the mother of a teenage girl I wouldn't like to think that the boys she is hanging out with are getting magazines like Zoo bought for them by their mothers LOL I agree with the others, if you buy it its giving your seal of aproval which I don't think is appropriate. Mothering teenagers is soooo hard isn't it??

I would believe it's definately not appropriate if it was my son. I haven't had teenagers yet, but through my teenage years, it was the boys that seemed to have these kind of magazines at school that were the ones that sexually harrassed a few of us girls the most and engaged in underage sex. I'm not trying to generalize at all or saying it's all like that, just in my experience the ones that showed off they bought these mags were known to be the ones to steer clear of at school and never to be alone with.

I believe it promotes women as objects, and being a woman yourself and being the authoritive figure as well, to buy them for him you might perhaps be endorsing this way of thinking and giving in as such to the idea that women are just sexual objects.

It must be a hard one, I don't envy you! Good luck with it, it's something I honestly never thought of before with my son, but I guess these kind of things aren't too far away.

ok, thanks girls for your advice - bellybelly never disappoints!

i bought a zoo last week, to check out how explicit it is. i'm not going to give it to him, after reading your responses - you've all confirmed what i was thinking. my son has only asked once for the mag, so i think it might just be because some friends had it.

he does buy car magazines. its just a shame there's not a mag for young teen boys, like a boys dolly or something.

thanks again.:)

Oh Anne.... I completely agree with you there... My son is 13 next week, and he loves magazines... but he now buys guitar ones as he has waaaay outgrown Kzone etc.
My daughter when she gets to that age will obviously have Dolly, Girlfriend etc.
I considered Ralph for James... because hey, he likes to check out girls in Bikinis... but they are women in that mag and I do think the other material in there would be too mature for him.
I haven't read Ralph, Zoo etc, but I do think that they are a bit degrading... we try to let James know that there are more to women than just their looks... He only showed an interest in them because his friends were... now he is away from those friends (at a different school) he has developed his own interest.

My DH buys car mags... and TBH, there are enough girls in there... maybe for the time being that might be enough for him.
IF he is gonna look at girly mags, he will do it with an old, passed around copy of Playboy like the boys I went to school with... I don't think he should have it bought for him by his Mum ;)

:

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My DH buys car mags... and TBH, there are enough girls in there... maybe for the time being that might be enough for him.
IF he is gonna look at girly mags, he will do it with an old, passed around copy of Playboy like the boys I went to school with... I don't think he should have it bought for him by his Mum

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Yeah I agree with that sentiment Lisa totally ;) You put it the way I was trying to LOL!

*hugs*
Cailin

As a mother I am not overly keen on Dolly TBH, it gets pretty explicit sometimes, when we were teenagers it seemed like Dolly readers were assumed to be virgins but not anymore LOL!

Hi Anne,

I don't have a teenage son but I've no doubt there is very little for them out there in the way of magazines. My problem with Zoo and other mags like it (Ralph, FHM etc) is that they not only objectify women but the quality of the writing is so poor, it's embarrassing. The articles are completely lame, aimed at the lowest common denominator and serve only to further perpetuate the myth that all men are over-sexed, sports-mad morons. They feature articles on models who say inane things like "I love taking charge in bed' and "Sex in the outdoors is wild!" which to me, is so predictable and let's face it, only serves to make men think not only is their girlfriend not as hot as the cover model but she obviously isn't as good in the sack either. :rolleyes:

In Playboys defence, the writing is renowned as being awesome. And yes, we all know that no one buys it for the articles but let's say they "use" the magazine for the millionth time and then think "Hey, I'm not tired", they might actually read something and they might actually learn something! :D

So Anne, to summarise (I do go on :rolleyes: ), I do think your son is too young for these mags but he's probably too smart for them too! He deserves better.

Yeah I couldn't agree with you more Lil MG...

*hugs*
Cailin

Anne, I think it's inappropriate. My son is 14 this year (so we have similar age gaps with the kids..lol)...and I'm sure he's seen this mag along with others I also deem inappropriate. He knows what I think, but I think it's like it has been said, once you buy it, you approve. Joshua likes Hot 4's I think it's called, which is a car mag cos he's car mad!! Whilst it does have girls in it, they aren't like playboy etc. so this could be an option for you?

This must be a toughie - there's so little for young teenage boys out there just now.

I hate Zoo. I don;t know how the Aus publication compares but in the UK it's known in the broadsheet press as a RIT mag (rapist in training), it's thought of so badly. Still sells of course... :wall:

I was teaching a year 6 class this morning and some of the boys in that class were reading Skate magazines so if he was into skateboarding they would be good. I know a lot of them read gaming mags or surfing mags at my DD's high school.

hi girls

Cass: yeah, my son is car MAD too(our new baby is named after holden racing car driver cameron mcconville!!)- cars are his life. brad buys a few of the car mags, and has a subscription to Motor. Congratulations on the birth of your son - no drugs - that's great. how are you finding the age gap between your boys - i'm finding it wonderful. brad is besotted with his baby brother, and such a great help.

Hoobley: i take your point re RIT. when i flicked thru Zoo, to see what it was like, i saw a nearly naked girl on all fours, with a dog collar around her neck. very sex-object-ish.

the Explode magazine used to be good (they've stopped printing it), because it was for his age group, and had info about girls in it. i'm sure he's curious about girls, and i thought it would be good for him to be able to read about them, but as you all say, the Zoo's etc aren't suitable. will just have to wait and see if any new mags come out, suitable for his age group.
thanks again for your replies girls

I love the age gap. Sometimes when Oskar has woken up Joshua has just gone and got him for me without even being asked. At first he wouldn't even touch him, but now he comes and talks to him when I'm feeding him and plays with his feet. He won't admit it but I can tell he just loves him and loves how little he is. I also find that I am a lot more patient with Oskar and I'm not sure if it's because Joshua has given me more headaches than a baby ever will...lol. Feel free to email me achoffmann@bigpond.com anytime. Speak soon, Cass.

Cass- I know the feeling, teenagers are harder than any baby LOL Everyone said I was mad going back to having a baby but I said its a walk in the park compared to a teenage girl!
On the plus side I find it so much easier too cause you have a great helper (when the mood takes them)

How very true!! How often does the mood really take also once the novelty has worn off...lol.

My DS1 used to nick my DH's Stuff and Maxim magazines out of our walk-in wardrobe (a bit like Ralph and FHM) and we only found out much much later. My younger son doesn't seem to be the faintest bit interested atm, but I'm sure that will change soon.

I don't think I'd ever buy them anything like that, but I guess I do understand them wanting to have them. I think my boys would rather eat fish eyes than get me, their mum, to buy a mag like that for them, though! Lol!

PMSL @ fish eyes Sushee!! Joshua got caught with a mag at his dads...ahahaha... although he made a valid argument to me when I said something to him...basically he said his dad was being a hypocrite. I had to find a way to tell him that this is true to an extent...that adults do say some things aren't ok but we do them but it's more along the lines of it's only ok for adults. I also told him that I actually don't like that mags at all anyway. Poor kids sometimes must get confused by us!

Cass,

I completely agree. When we found DS's secret stash, we didn't make a big deal of it. I just remember he took all the ones with Pammie Anderson on the cover (OMG! LOLOL!) Couldn't really say he couldn't read them if his stepdad has them, so we just pretended it was all normal and everyday. I'm just thankful DH doesn't read anything 'heavier' than that, though!

ahahaha @ Pammi Anderson... must be a booby boy...pmsl...I wonder sometimes if they have this facination from BF cos in their subconscious it's a comfort?? I dunno, just speaking what popped in my head!

I wonder that too!

Some great point in here!
I was just wondering if you could brief DH, give him your point of view and stress that it is important to you and ask him to have a true, honest and sensitive chat with DS about it and why he wants it.
It would be preferable, if he's going to be looking at these pictures, if he has some sort of mediating factor, like realising that those girls serve a function and that girls in real life will not all be like that. Looking at them with his friends will happen, but it would be good if he was the boy who understands a bit more about it.
It would depend on how comfortable DH and DP are with talking about these things and it would need to be done in a way that minimised the 'me dad is so old-fashioned' factor!
I think it's awesome that DS can come to you about these things, though - I hope to have the same thing with Oscar when he's bigger. My secret goal is to have him be a great feminist! We'll see, all I can do is try ;)

While working at a newsagency I was approched by a 10yo boy about to buy ZOO magazine, I personally didnt think it was appropriate but was told by other staff & mananger that it is allowed because the women in it are clothed (well bathing suited). I also know a few 14 - 15 yo boys who love it not just coz of the girls but apparently it has alot of over entertaining stories & articles etc.

I don't think it's appropriate for a 14 yo boy to buy Zoo...pity there isn't a male equivalent of Dolly....now that'd be a business venture to start!

You would think it would be a great market, but then, whydid they take Explode off the shelves?

I have a 14yo brother who has asked me to buy him Zoo (he's got CP,and in a wheelchair, so doesn't get out without mum or dad much) and you shoud've seen my face :cryinglaugh: I just thought "ok, he just wants to read the articles, just read, thats all!"

I bought one, and flicked through it, and thought "ugh, what is this?". Most of the pictures of the woman are bad enough, but if you actually read the articles - they're poorly written, and completely stupid. Even some of their game reviews are smutty.

In that edition, it says on the cover "Big Brother exclusive! Jamie: 'I've blown $100,000 on booze!', and theres a picture of him inside sitting on a bench around beer bottles with a quote "I just want to get wasted and stuff", and it just makes you wonder about a magazine that thinks that's cool.
Plus 6 pages dedicated to mobile phone and SMS chats and stuff like "Free Kinky Club" or "Free erotic videos"...

Needless to say, my bro didn't get that magazine!

I agree with other BB members, if his friends have those magazines then he's going to see it anyway, but if you buy it it's going to send the message that you agree/condone that kind of material.

I found that "Alpha" wasn't too bad, if your son is into sports.