image source: salidalliance.orgMen’s and women’s magazines provide different messages about sex to their respective readers. In a study of over 300 students, exposure to such magazines was related to students’ feelings about obtaining sexual consent. Those who read more men’s magazines reported a lower likelihood of requiring consent before having sex; those who read more women’s magazines reported a greater likelihood to refuse unwanted sex. We can’t infer that reading men’s magazines causes these troublesome opinions about sexual consent; however, it does warrant paying greater attention to the messages that men’s magazines send and about those who are inclined to read them.
Hust, S. T., Marett, E., Ren, C., Adams, P. M., Willoughby, J. F., Lei, M., & … Norman, C. (2014). Establishing and adhering to sexual consent: The association between reading magazines and college students’ sexual consent negotiation. Journal of Sex Research, 51(3), 280-290.
