Put the magazines on the rack

STEVE SMITH

Last Sunday, Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez expressed his

concern that images and sounds over which he has little control may

steer his baby girl to unhealthy behavior when she gets older. One

example is the nearly impossible task of hiding a provocative

billboard from a child’s eyes. If you have children in your life,

find the column and read it.

That sentiment is exactly why Cay and I have steered our kids away

from television and video games for the past four years. But as Lopez

notes, there are many other influences, not all of which can be

monitored all the time.

One of those, as I have mentioned before, is the seemingly

innocuous appearance of magazines at the checkstand of your local

supermarket. Right where kids can stare at them, the magazines

contain teaser copy for stories such as these from the November issue

of Cosmopolitan: “Read His Dirty Mind: Secrets He’s Dying For You To

Grant,” “The Kinky New Sex Trend Even Nice Girls Are Trying” and

“Sexy New Hair and Make-up Tricks.”

In all, the word “sex” or “sexy” appears three times on this

cover, where your kids can see it. Then there’s the typical Cosmo

photo.

On the cover of Glamour this month, you will find “20 Ways to Get

the Sexy Body Confidence He Can’t Resist.” Allure magazine offers

“Sexy Evenings,” and Teen People, a magazine aimed at kids from

middle school up to age 20 has just released its “Sexy Issue.”

Week after week, this trash is placed before the eyes of our

children, falling under the radar of parents. After all, who would

expect such messages in the supermarket, the place where we buy milk,

bread and Oreos?

What kids learn as they loiter with parents in line is that the

world revolves around sex and looking sexy, and if you’re a woman, it

revolves around doing whatever it takes to get or please a man.

And that’s just the words. Kids too young to read? Don’t worry,

there are plenty of sexy photos for your little ones to ogle.

If I were a woman, I would be insulted beyond words. As a father,

I’m furious. But let’s not underestimate the impact on boys. I, for

one, don’t want my son growing up believing that women are objects,

not people. There’s nothing on the covers about women making

themselves smarter or any stories about women heroes, just

superficial, meaningless garbage.

If there’s an audience for this pap, let them buy it -- just don’t

shove it in front of my kids.

Some stores have taken half measures to fight the magazines by

covering up the serious adult issues and keeping them behind a

counter. But lurking in the racks in front are covers with photo and

copy that are just as bad, sometimes worse.

It’s not enough. And it’s no longer enough for you and me and

Steve Lopez to just complain to each other -- it’s time to let the

store muckety-mucks know how we feel.

I called the main offices of Ralph’s, Albertson’s and Vons. At

Vons and Albertson’s, I asked for the media contact, was connected,

and left voice mail messages. At Ralph’s, I got put on hold for a

seriously long time, so I hung up. I have not yet heard back from

either Albertson’s or Vons, even though I thought they’d be thrilled

to hear from a writer who was not interested in the strike.

Now it’s your turn. Take as much interest in this as you did with

the recall and tell the purveyors of these messages that they are not

appropriate in a family setting such as a supermarket. I want you to

call the following numbers and ask for the merchandise manager or the

vice president of merchandising.

Tell him or her that you would like to see just one of their

checkout aisles in each store designated as “magazine free.” If they

hem and haw, tell them that the Target stores already have a “candy

free” checkout aisle. (I don’t care about the candy in the aisles --

I’ve got no problem saying “no” over and over again.) Tell them that

when they create this magazine-free aisle, you will tell your

friends.

Here are the numbers: Ralphs is (310) 884-9000, Albertsons is

(714)-300-6000 and Vons is (626) 821-7000. Call them first thing

Monday morning.

If you don’t call, if you leave it to someone else, we’ll tell our

kids that maybe the magazine publishers and TV producers that perhaps

they are right. Maybe it is all about sex after all.

Take five minutes on Monday morning and make the calls.

This should be a good time to get the ears of the supermarket

decision-makers because many customers won’t cross picket lines. Some

positive press will be welcome.

And who knows, your significant other may find your activism kinda

sexy.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(949) 642-6086.