Laura Woodhouse of The F-Word Blog takes exception to excuses made to Filament magazine by small-press printers for refusing to do business with them if they include photos of men with erections. Filament, if you haven’t heard is a UK erotica magazine for straight women.

Anyway, the excuse for refusal Woodhouse goggles at? “Reasons given include that printing these images may cause offense to ‘women’s groups’.” Woodhouse’s reaction? (Emphasis mine.)

Offence to women’s groups my arse. It’s ridiculous that the erect male penis is seen as this almost mystical object that must. not. be. shown. in print or on screen. It’s perfectly normal, and it’s perfectly normal and reasonable for straight women to want to look at it. Again, it comes down to women’s bodies being associated with sex and sexualised images of women being so normalised, while men are afforded protection from the gaze and straight women are bizarrely assumed to be uninterested in looking at the object of their desires.

The whole post is pretty great, she said it here.

Hmmm… I could see how printers might balk if they and their employees just felt uncomfortable with the notion of checking color registration with a 6x printer’s loupe. No doubt some feel similar qualms about checking myriad lady parts and yet they somehow manage to soldier on. And remember, they’d not saying it’s illegal to show erect penises (though in some countries it might be) and so they’re not saying they’re worried about legal consequences. And so suddenly waiving hypothetically offended women’s groups about sounds like something between projection and cowardice.

Anyway, Woodhouse closes with an invitation to buy Filament’s first, not-so-erection-y issue to help the editors take their business to a less querulous but more expensive printer.

Since I agree wholeheartedly with the editor’s answer to the question “What’s with the beautiful men then?”...

Representations of women’s bodies far outnumber representations of men’s bodies everywhere: from advertising to art. In erotic image in particular, representations of the male body specifically designed for women are almost non-existent.

The common explanation for why women have sometimes seemed disinterested in images supposedly intended for them – the idea that “women are less visual” – has now been largely disproven by research. Research also shows that women prefer images of men designed quite differently to those usually marketed toward women.

From their highly readable FAQ

... I’ve coughed up whatever nine pounds is in U.S. dollars (maybe around $20?) and bought their first issue. I can’t know if I’d buy the second issue until I’ve seen the first one, but it looks like buying the first issue is the best way to make sure there’s a second issue to decide about.

If you’re an adult you can click here to veiw a mildly NSFW Man Candy Monday entry.