Sir, - I enclose a copy of the front cover of For Men International, a magazine for "men" which I purchased recently in a sweet shop on Baggot Street, just around the corner from Government Buildings. This was one of a number of such magazines on display and the man in charge assured me that it was legal, on the upper shelf, and in no way affecting children. Adults, he informed me, could decide whether or not to buy it.
It depicts a woman in red underwear in a highly provocative pose with legs elevated to reveal a pubic area barely covered in suggestive red satin. On her thigh in large print is an invitation to "shove it in". This taken overall constitutes, in my opinion, an incitement to rape.
Apart from the fact that the magazine was clearly visible to any child with the ability to look up, I fail to understand why any normal adult would not find this kind of representation of human sexuality offensive. There were a number of young adults, both male and female, working in this shop and they were clearly uncomfortable about selling it. Should young people be exposed to this kind of material in the workplace? Does it bother this society that children, popping in on their way to school to buy something to have with their lunch, are likely to be exposed to it? Is this the kind of distorted image of sexuality our rulers and lawmakers want impressionable children and young adults exposed to, or is it an abusers' charter?
Might I suggest that in the absence of adequate and open education regarding healthy human relationships and sexuality, the insidious messages emanating from this kind of material will unfortunately prevail. The cost of the magazine is £4.26, the receipt for which I will be submitting with my tax returns as expenses incurred for educational materials.
I apologise in advance for any upset caused to readers of this letter. It would appear that the serious attempts made in the past to highlight the offensiveness of this kind of material has fallen on deaf ears. - Yours, etc.,
Mairead Ryan (Reg. Psychol. PsSI), Fitzwilliam Street Lower, Dublin 2.