This week Society Spy joined Cambridge Feminist Society for their monthly ‘Feminist Friday’. In the light of the recent ‘Tab Totty’ controversy, it seems timely that the event occurred this week, however in spite of the publicity, Fem Soc has agreed to feature in The Tab. The feminists we met were a friendly and outgoing group of people (boys and girls) committed to ‘promoting feminism as a positive thing within Cambridge’, meeting every week in a social setting to have fun at the same time as providing a forum for discussion. Their views are somewhat like marmite: you either love them or hate them but it is undeniable that they stimulate a strong reaction and the focus of ‘Feminist Friday’ is no exception.
As we approached W. H. Smith we felt slightly nervous. The scene along Market Street looked remarkably normal: an autumnal feel in the air and cyclists weaving in and out of ambling pedestrians. However, we knew that something out of the ordinary was about to occur and this was confirmed when we spotted a congregation of determined looking people armed with petition boards, leaflets and slogans. The well known retailer was the target of their operation due to its massive turnover of ‘lads’ mags’. ‘Feminist Friday’ is a national event, with guidelines on how to join in on the ‘Object’ website. The aim is to raise awareness of the idea that these magazines objectify women and to gain signatures on a petition to encourage Parliament to pass legislation that will regulate how the offending mags can be displayed and sold in shops. The Cambridge feminists were highly enthused when we arrived, having been successful in neighbouring Borders, convincing the manager to consider reshelving stocks of lads’ mags to above eye-level.
After receiving a quick brief we were launched into the offensive on Smith's. Moving en masse into the shop, we made a beeline for the area containing the publications in question and put signs over their front covers with slogans such as ‘Love women, hate sexism’ and ‘This objectifies women’. It was highly amusing to observe one middle-aged porn fan lift the slogan, unfazed, to take a glance at the boobs beneath. At this point, he was engulfed by Fem Soc members. ‘So do you agree with the objectification of women?’ He was, ‘not bothered’, said with a pointedly 'not bothered' shrug before being asked whether he would like to sign the petition. By this point, he was already engrossed in page ten of the racy images, giving rise to a despondent reply of, ‘No…no, not really,’ without even glancing at the person speaking to him. However, signatures had been gathered from other customers in the shop and despite being initially defensive, the assistant manager at least became aware of the issues about having these magazines in close proximity to children’s publications. Moving on to the smaller newsagent on King Street, the feminists decided to use a different technique here. ‘Nuts’ and ‘Zoo’ were removed from the shelf and placed in front of the confused looking proprietor. After having the issue explained to him, the man was not in the mood for moral or political discussion, defiantly retorting, ‘this is not porn,’ before one of his customers launched an aggressive tirade, telling the Fem Soc members to do something even more obscene than ‘ FHM-off,’ and to, ‘get a life.’ Whatever you think about the feminist campaign, you have to commend these people for sticking firmly to their beliefs even in the face of such abuse.
Everybody will have their own opinion as to the merits of ‘Feminist Friday’. We should point out that Fem Soc is not advocating the complete abolition of these magazines. They recognise that this is a multi-million pound industry and provides work for thousands of people. Their real objection is that these lads’ mags are being sold at eye-level and alongside children’s publications. When asked the million dollar question about what they think of ‘Tab Totty’, they replied that they don’t agree with it for reasons apparent from the points made during this week’s campaign. However, one member did put forward an interesting point: perhaps it is better that these kinds of images of women appear on the internet, which people access privately in their own homes rather than be on overt display in public places where people cannot avoid seeing them (this is not to suggest that they shouldn’t be on sale in shops; the point is about the positioning). A move in this direction would give people more choice about whether they view such images or not. The Feminist Society is also focusing on other issues at the moment, including a proposition made by ‘Object’ and ‘Fawcett’ that lap-dancing should be specifically labelled as ‘sex entertainment’ rather than just ‘entertainment’. Their own personal campaign involves raising awareness on the mass advertising of ‘Talk of the Town’; they believe that students ought to be thinking about whether they want to be involved in any way with an organisation that is part of the sex industry. More information is available about Fem Soc on their Facebook group.
As the Fem Soc is now in possession of the telephone numbers of your Society Spies, from now on we will be sticking strictly to ‘The Economist’ and ‘ National Geographic’!
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