Buying gay magazines

[marshlander]

I buy GT most months. The revamp a while ago promised more than it has delivered, but it is what it is (cue Jerry Herman?).

I used to buy it from WH Smiths, but these days I prefer to patronise a smaller independent newsagent who stocks a few copies each month. Unfortunately, it is always kept on the top shelf, and you know what that means :eek: Today I went in to buy a copy and was surprised not to see it in its usual place. I found it eventually, but it was totally obscured, behind a mag called "Cumming Out" and I had to sort through a stack of porn to find it.

I've no objection to the naked male physique (or, come to that, searching through stacks of gay porn either ), but I prefer not to be made to do it in public. Gay lifestyle magazines are not pornographic publications. I pointed out to the shop assistant that I was uncomfortable with having to hunt through the porn to find GT. I indicated the stack of lad's mags on the second shelf with far more provocative covers (consisting of photographs of barely-covered women trying to stand up despite the gravitational inclination of their unfeasably large breasts) and she agreed with me. She said she'd speak to the manager about finding a more appropriate spot for such titles as GT, Axm reFresh, and so on. We'll see.

I had this discussion in Smiths a few years ago and for a while they kept the gay mags almost at floor level (one extreme to the other). They are back on the top shelf these days, but at least there they don't have to share with the soft porn.

Straight men don't have to search among the Hustlers, Playboys and Asian Babes to find FHM or even Nuts. I don't see why we should have to do the magazine reader's equivalent of running the gauntlet. To be honest, I suspect it is largely ignorance on the part of the shopkeeper who may never have looked inside a gay lifestyle mag.

Please join my campaign to get the gay magazines displayed at or below eye-level, although I suspect it will need a catchier campaign title than that

As a post-script I'm wondering if the manager deliberately put this month's GT behind the rows of naked twinks. The cover does break with recent convention.



How much more Lily Allen do we need?

[joseph]

i never seen gay magazines befor i wish i had one of them.i like magazins and gay ones!mile: what was it in it.

[CardShark]

This is a common topic that you hear about peronally I've never brougt and but if I found it in the porn section I would be very pissed and end up writing a long letter to the manager.

Why should it be with porn when it clearly isn't pornograpic

[marshlander]

i never seen gay magazines befor i wish i had one of them.i like magazins and gay ones!mile: what was it in it.

Joseph,

It has lots of advertising and some news, some information about books, films and music, travel articles and advice pages. A few well-known people write columns about things that have happened to them. There are usually longer interviews with famous people and articles that people have had to research. This month there are articles about relationships, Lily Allen, Boy George, Genesis P Orridge and heavy metal music. There are usually nice photographs of men mile: , although the men in the Australian magazine DNA are usually hotter

If you want to see some of the pictures you can go to the GT website or the DNA website.

If you want to buy a gay magazine you can get them in places like WH Smiths or other newsagents, but you might not be able to reach them if you are too short and they put them on the top shelf!! If you like a magazine you can write to them and send them some money and they will post the magazine to your house.

[marshlander]

As a matter of interest, does anyone read any gay mags that actually treat its readers like grown-ups? Too often the serious articles are tantalisingly short and lacking in depth. GT promises much, but one gets the impression they need the pages for the advertising. I can't afford to buy a range of magazines on a regular enough basis to try them out.

I'll add this as an edit so it doesn't get pushed up the list if no one wants to say anything more!

I've just been reading this latest issue of GT and, despite my earlier comments, this one is the most interesting issue for many months ... I thought it only fair to say so

[princealbertofb]

Marshlander, could we send Joseph one of the older issues of GT so he might make up his mind for himself?

[sweetlad86]

lmao I thought GT was a car mag lol!

I'm not a big fan of any life style mags.

So I haven't really of any opinions of GT sorry guys...

[marshlander]

... I thought GT was a car mag ...

What are you like?! The hunky men dressed only in their pants who usually grace the cover and not even a skid mark (from a car!) didn't give the game away ... not even a little?

Please, somebody have a word with him

[sweetlad86]

Well I think its the same as looking in mags like nuts and zoo, just isn't my cup of tea.

I do look at art mags too BTW!!!

And before some one says "Oh yeah, art mags" don't as I've got there before you

[sweetlad86]

Ok back to your point Marsh.

I think you are right about how the these days it seems that gay mags arnt being put in the same place as the Lads mags, I don't buy any type of life style mags as I find them all boring but I think it would be right to place all these types of mags on the middle shelf instead of the top shelf.