Sex, STIs and Magazines

Introduction

A recent survey  of more than 1300 young people aged 16-18 found that although young people’s knowledge of sexual health and contraception was generally good, there were some significant and worrying gaps. For example:

  • 54% of men and 50% of women (52% overall) thought that chlamydia only affected women 
  • 34% of men and 30% of women (31% overall) thought that sexually transmitted infections could be caught from a toilet seat
  • 60% of men and 42% of women (54% overall) did not know that emergency contraception can be taken up to 72 hours after sex
  • 30% of men and 20-21% of women (25% overall) did not know that sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can be transmitted via oral sex

The survey calculated the knowledge score of each respondent based on the number of questions they answered correctly and found that women’s average score was significantly higher than men’s, with women scoring an average of 13.28 and men scoring an average of 12.19.

Participants in the same survey were asked to name their top three most important sources of information about sexual health. School was found to be the most important source of information on STIs. School, together with parents and friends, was also an important source of information on sex, relationships and contraception.

The next most commonly cited source of information was magazines/books. It was interesting to note that there were significant differences between the proportions of young women and men who put magazines or books in their top three most important sources of sexual health information: 

  • 35% of women, compared with 24% of men said that magazines or books were an important source of information on sex and relationships
  • 35% of women also said that magazines/books were an important source of information on contraception, compared with 18% of men
  • 44% of women, compared with 22% of men said that magazines/books were an important source of information on STIs

As a result of these findings Brook decided to examine the content of some of the most popular magazines read by young women and men to establish what sort of information they provided on sex and relationships. 

We looked at five of the best-selling magazines aimed at young men, five aimed at young women, and five aimed at the female teenage market. Clearly the content of these magazines varies from one issue to the next, so this analysis simply provides a ‘snapshot’ of the sort of information young women and men might be able to access through popular magazines at one particular point in time.

Men’s magazines

In the five men’s magazines we looked at there were:
• 10 articles focusing on sex
• 4 articles focusing on dating/"pulling"/relationships
• 6 features giving advice in response to readers’ letters about dating, sex and relationships
• 2 mentions of sexual health issues

There were also more than 20 articles that could be described as having sexual content, without being explicitly about sex, e.g. pictures of women stripping.

The tone of these magazines tends to be light and jokey. Sex is a major feature of the content and the emphasis tends to be on performance (e.g. Are you crap in bed?) or on sexual fantasies or ‘confessions’.

Where advice is given in response to letters from readers it is most commonly provided either by celebrities, or by people working in the sex industry, or even by ‘the girls in the office’ although there are also some examples of health experts answering such questions.

The two references to sexual health that we found were both about condom use. One was in an article about women’s views of men’s behaviour and asked whether it was acceptable for him to keep a box of condoms on the table next to the bed. The other was in an article about an escort who described herself as a nymphomaniac and said that with certain sex acts she would insist on a condom being used.

Women’s magazines

In the five women’s magazines we looked at there were:
• 13 articles focusing on sex
• 24 articles focusing on dating/"pulling"/relationships
• 7 features giving advice in response to readers’ letters about dating, sex and relationships
• 10 mentions of sexual health issues or sources of sexual health advice

Other sexual content included three articles about sexual violence and a male centrefold poster.

Sex is also a major feature of most of these magazines, and there are a number of articles about sexual techniques, confessions and fantasies. These articles sometimes also include information about sexual health, so for example an article about your sex drive included information and advice about contraception, an article about sex on holiday included information about STIs, an article about drinking included a story about an unplanned pregnancy.

There are also examples of articles focusing exclusively on sexual health, for example one of the magazines included a piece about the things your doctor might not tell you about your sexual health.
Where advice is given in response to readers’ letters it comes from a mixture of people, but is more likely to include those with relevant expertise (e.g. a doctor, a psychotherapist, or professional advice columnist) than is the case in men’s magazines.

These magazines also place a heavy emphasis on relationships and dating, examining questions such as how to interpret male behaviour in dating and relationships scenarios, how to cope with the end of a relationship, or how to meet the right man.

Teenage magazines

In the five teenage magazines we looked at there were:
• 3 articles focusing on sex
• 22 articles focusing on dating/”pulling”/relationships (including relationships  with friends/family)
• 7 features giving advice in response to readers’ letters about dating, sex and relationships
• 7 mentions of sexual health issues or sources of sexual health advice

Other content that could be described as being sexual included three examples of male ‘pin-ups’.

These magazines contained fewer articles about sex, probably due to their much younger readership. The three articles we identified that did focus on sex included one asking whether you can tell who has really had sex, another warning of the risks of having unwanted sex after consuming alcohol, and another asking boys about (among other things) when they had lost their virginity.

There was a strong focus on dating, flirting and relationships including articles such as ‘should you make a move?’, or ‘how to make him laugh’. There was also a lot of analysis of relationships not only with boys but also with friends and family. These tended to look at issues such as jealousy, what kind of friend you are, and how to balance time with friends and with your boyfriend.

All these magazines included pages of advice in response to readers’ letters and lists of other organisations that could offer further help with personal problems, including organisations such as Brook which can advise on sexual health. Problems featured ranged from spots to pregnancy. Advisers included many people with relevant professional expertise, such as health professionals, counsellors and psychotherapists.

Conclusion

This ‘snapshot’ of the content of a range of magazines seems to confirm that while both women’s and men’s magazines include a lot of content focusing on sex, readers’ of women’s and teenage magazines are more likely to be able to glean information and specialist advice about sexual health issues such as contraception and STIs from the articles featured. Readers of women’s and teenage magazines also contain far more analysis of relationship issues.

The differences in the content of these magazines presumably reflect the different interests and priorities of their target audiences. Publishers know their readership well and the success of their products depends on them continuing to hold their readers’ interest.

Sexual health has traditionally been focused on contraception and seen as a women’s issue. As a result men are still less likely to seek advice and information on issues such as contraception and STIs. However, that is slowly changing. As concern grows about the spread of sexually transmitted infections such as chlamydia, more initiatives are now explicitly targeting men and encouraging them to get tested if they are at risk. This is reflected in a growing number of men visiting sexual health services. As sexual health comes to be seen as a real issue for men, demand for reliable information is likely to grow. It is therefore to be hoped that men’s magazines will reflect this change and take the initiative to ensure they meet their readers’ need for information on how to protect their own and their partners’ sexual health.  

In the meantime the differences in the information available through magazines also have implications for health and education professionals working with young people. It is worth noting that magazines intended for people in their late teens or twenties will often be read by younger teenagers.

Magazines are of course only one of many different sources of sexual health information for young people. Some will have received more information about sex and relationships from other sources such as their parents and friends. Nonetheless, health and education professionals should be aware that young women may have had access to more information on subjects such as STIs than their male peers. They may have also had more opportunities to think about and discuss any anxieties about sex and relationships. Young men on the other hand may have been exposed to more explicit sexual imagery but have received less information about how to protect themselves from STIs.

This makes it all the more important that every young person knows about local confidential sexual health services and is guaranteed comprehensive sex and relationships education (SRE) as a part of the national curriculum at school. Local sexual health services should also be publicised in venues where young men and women meet and should be designed with the different needs of young men and women in mind. SRE needs to teach young people how to protect themselves against unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, and tell them about local confidential services where they can get further advice. It should also help them understand and resist peer pressure to have sex before they are ready, and develop the communication and negotiation skills they need to build successful relationships, always taking into account the different needs of young women and men.

NOTES

1. The magazines examined were: FHM, Loaded, Men’s Health, Nuts, Zoo, Company, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Marie Claire, More , Bliss, CosmoGirl, ElleGirl, Mizz and Sugar.

2. The choreography of condom use was carried out on Brook’s behalf by Bethan Hatherall, Nicole Stone, Roger Ingham and Juliet McEachran of the Centre of Sexual Health Research at the University of Southampton, and funded by the Big Lottery Fund. The full report and the summary are available on Brook’s website www.brook.org.uk and on the Southampton University website www.socstats.soton.ac.uk/cshr 

3. There was a 14% increase in the number of men attending family planning clinics in 2003-04, up from 93,000 in 2002-2003 to 106,000. The number of women attending clinics was 1.2 million, about the same as in 2002-03, (NHS Contraceptive Services, England 2003-04, published by the Department of Health, September 2004).

4. The number of male clients under the age of 25 who contacted a Brook Centre went up by 30% in 2003-2004 to 16,885. There was an even more marked increase in the younger age groups, with under 16s increasing by 41% to 6,241 and under 18s increasing by 37% to 11,267. In 1993-94 fewer than 4,000 men under 25 visited a Brook Centre.

Brook
July 2005