In February this year Mumsnet succeeded in persuading major supermarkets and petrol stations to place lads mags on the top shelf of their retail spaces. Now, a research study from psychologists at the University of Surrey has shown an overlap between the language used in these magazines (such as Nuts, Zoo and Loaded) and the kinds of things that convicted rapists say when they are justifying sexual violence against women.

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People have worried for a long time about the impact of hard and soft porn on children (see Young People, Sex and the Media for a good summary). Now here’s a slightly different focus about the ways in which lads magazines and hard core porn legitimise, justify and diffuse sexists attitudes and are becoming substitutes for a credible education about sex and relationships.

In Make Love Not Porn Cindy Gallop argues that hardcore porn is shaping and distorting the way that many young men and women think about sex and intimacy and that it’s time to debunk the myths that are routinely propagated by an expanding (online) industry. It’s these myths that constitute the knowledge about sex and which find expression in the lads mags: myths which are subsequently taken on board by young people and which can be damaging and demeaning.