This Blog has moved!

Hey People

This blog has now moved to wordpress.
There are better features at wordpress, such as being able to download activist material.

So check it out!

http://charliegrrl.wordpress.com/

Along with a post about Front promoting sex tourism.

Charlie x

Porn Exposed in WHSmut

A friend called Tom told me he went into WHSmith, and opened up the lads mags on explicit pages and placed them all round the shop, and near the entrance, to expose to customers, the degrading and pornographic content of these magazines. He said one woman went up to one of the opened lads mags, and said, 'I don't like that, I don't like that at all!' and promptly closed it!

This is a great way to draw people's attention to the degrading imagery that WHSmith sell, and can prompt people to complain. It exposes WHSmith for the 'not-so-family-friendly' shop that it is. And also...it's legal!

So I headed off to do the same!

After I took this photo, I turned over all the front covers of the lads mags to the porn adverts.

People walked past the array rather bemused. Men would walk up to the rack, to read the mags, but then walk away! An elderly gentlemen took one off the shelf just to see what magazine it was. This is a great way to expose lads mags for the porn that they are.

I also placed the opened lads mags on a window display, to make the visible connection between WHSmith and porn.

I opened up ZOO on a 'Hunt for a Virgin' article, and placed it next to the queue for the till, so that customers could read about the degrading competition.

Then, I stood next to the lads mags display, and when men came over to read the mags, I took a photo of them. They then asked me what I was doing, to which I replied, 'I am taking a photo of the face a misogynist'. I explained they are being misogynistic because they are reading a lads mag. They were rather embarrassed, and one guy begged me, literally, to delete the photo of him reading FHM.
This idea was inspired by Rebecca who said she used to take photos of men going into sex shops to intimidate them!

But then, a security guard started loitering around the lads mags display, so I moved swiftly on!

Walkabout Bikini Babe Competition 2006

Walkabout bar are hosting a Bikini Babe competition, which is advertised in ZOO, sponsored by Front, WKD and, allegedly, Heat magazine.
The competition involves parading around on a stage in a Front bikini in Walkabout bar, in order to win a holiday in Australia and a photo shoot with Front magazine.

They are holding regional competitions all over the UK...so I decided to check out the one in my local Walkabout...

At the beginning of the night, bar staff, and photographers kept approaching women to persuade them to take part in the Bikini competition because originally there were only two women willing to take part...

Questions the Presenter asked the women on stage:
"Shave or wax..?"
"Are you a virgin..?"
"Have you ever had sex with a woman..?"
"What size are your breasts..?" "Spit or Swallow..?"


Nob Presenter: "Do you take it up the arse?"
Woman: "No"
Crowd: "BOO!"
Nob Presenter: "Oh...she's a good girl..."


I stickered the toilets.
I was chuffed to hear a woman in the next toilet reading a sticker out loud and agreeing...

"If Stripping is so Liberating, why aren't Men doing it...?
Yeah, that's why I'm not doing it, it's not worth it..."

There were the usual hetero-sexist pigs leering and jeering at the women.

I couldn't resist...obviously too pre-occupied to notice!

This guy was a complete nob. He kept constantly gesturing to the women behind me to get up on stage and take part. It was obvious that one woman he kept harassing felt uncomfortable and intimidated.

Overall, this was a painful and bemusing experience. It was clear that some of the women on stage felt awkward and embarassed. There were many women that night in Walkabout bar, but only eight of them took part, six of whom were persuaded. Lads Mags, in their coverage of such 'babe' competitions, make out that women are all for stripping near-naked in front of a crowd of jeering men. But this event indicated the opposite. They use such events as a means to promote their magazines to their intended audience, and gain free photos of women posing half-naked.

Being within such a sexist and laddish environment, in which women clearly are viewed as sex objects to leer at, was a stark reminder of how far we have to go to achieve equality.

Although I did manage to nick a Front bikini as a souvenir...which almost made it worth while...

Unfortunately, such competitions are becoming common and held in clubs and bars throughout the UK. If you would like information of 'babe' competitions in your area for possible action , then email me.

Lads Mags Demo at New Labour Conference

Northwest Feminists, Object and White Ribbon demonstrated at the New Labour Conference this Sunday, to call for Lads Mags and The Sport to be sold on top shelf and for their sale and display to be responsibly regulated.

At present, Lads Mags and The Sport are sold in most newsagents, supermarkets and in many high street shops, such as WHSmith, Woolworths, HMV, Borders...

Most often, they are not sold on the top shelf, and put on prominent display, despite being misogynistc and pornographic. They are often displayed next to children's comics and teenage girls' magazines.

17 people attended the demo. There was a fantastic atmosphere as everyone shouted chants such as:
"WHY SHOULD WE HAVE TO PASS
SHELVES AND SHELVES OF TITS AND ASS!"



People within the G-Mex conference centre sat on the
steps opposite us and listened to what we had to say. The public were very supportive. Tony Blair took time out of the conference to demonstrate how so (un) empowering it is to strip naked for male titillation.


The only trouble we got was from the police...

The police threatened to arrest a demonstrator cos some of the lads mags quotes she was shouting through a megaphone, were too obscene to be said in public...

NW Feminist: "Maxim have come up with variations of 'MILF'...
'DILF'...Daughter I'd Like to Fuck and
'GILF'...Granddaughter I'd Like to Fuck"*

The Police: "You cannot say 'fuck' in public"

They then warned her under the Public Order Act and forced her to give them her full name and address, and threatened to arrest her when she refused.

NW Feminist: "Maxim says, 'How to Seduce a Girl with Pity, because just having a cock and being able to stick it in them often isn't good enough"**

Police: "We have already warned you, you cannot say things like that. A young boy has just walked past with his Dad."

NW Feminist: "That young boy is able to buy Maxim from a shop and read such offensive stuff himself."

So, the content of lads mags is considered too obscene for the public, and shouting them is a public order offence...but they are not considered top shelf material.


Thanks to Stormy, Naomi, Charlie, Sasha, Rebecca, Helen, Kat, Jen, Sue, Alex, Alice, Lou, Michelle, Louise, Chloe, Matthew, Jonny, Aileen and Chris Green from White Ribbon!

See Photos!

*Maxim Sep 06 pg 11

*Maxim Sep 06 pg 27

Are You the Man to 'Pop this Girl's Cherry'..?

The winner of the Kerrang! radio and ZOO's 'Hunt for a Virgin' competition, has decided she wants to lose her virginity...

Virgin Winner: "I was going to wait until I was married, but since I've been in ZOO I've been thinking- what the hell..."

ZOO: "To help her out, we've joined forces with Kerrang! DJ Tim Shaw to find a willing volunteer. To be in with a "shot", send us a photo, plus 100 words on why you should be the lucky man. Be successful, and Kerrang! radio will put you both up in accommodation for up to three months"


I wonder how much they are paying her to take part in this prostitution...oops, I mean competition..?



Here is the email by which to apply for this 'competition'. Please email them with your disgust.
hotlist@zooweekly.co.uk

Send Tim Shaw a message too.
http://www.kerrangradio.co.uk/Article.asp?id=246346&spid=10020

ZOO 15-21st Sep, Issue 135, pg 14-15

Porn Readers Beware!

Manchester's local Porn Detective will soon be policing local newsagents and shopping malls, to catch men reading pornography. Any men caught reading lads mags or pornographic newspapers will be issued with a warning and face public humiliation.

Gosh, I Feel So Liberated!

Placards for Demo 24th Sep

Here is a preview of the placards that Northwest Feminists will be holding at the demo at the New Labour Conference 24th September in Manchester