Opinion: Rusty rant: Crass headlines litter newsstands

Although it certainly could be, this particular Rusty Saber rant is neither about the blue locker room dialogue used on prime time television nor is it about the obsession media seems to have with scandals involving sex and celebrities.

No. I’m on my rickety soapbox about only a small example of what I see as the age of crassness: women’s magazines. Because I don’t want to give away any free advertising, none of the offending publications will be named.

It began in a waiting room when I saw a magazine with an attractive lady on the cover. A message in bold type hyping an article inside the magazine jumped off the cover: “Best Butt Ever: It’s All in the Jeans.” You can call a used-up cigarette a butt and you can be the butt of a joke, but (no pun intended) the female backside should not be called a butt, not even if it’s the best ever.

Curiosity got the best of me. Making sure no one was watching, I turned to the article. By golly, it was in the jeans: Models were pictured wearing different brands of jeans with their backsides turned prominently toward the camera. I don’t know anything about selection criteria; however, I can report that the “best butt ever” was draped in a pair of $58 jeans.

I had to know if this tasteless pandering to some desire to have a perfect backside was an anomaly or par for the course. So I visited a newsstand.

I stood in awe of the vast number of magazines on the market. Amid the cacophony of publications, the target women’s magazines were displayed. As to be expected, attractive women graced the covers. They were colorfully designed and crammed with advertising inside.

From the look of things, legitimate information was mixed with junk bearing the high standards set by the “best butt” article.

“Naughty Sex Tricks: Let Out Your Inner Bad Girl,” was the ?rst to capture my eye. The magazine next to it trumpeted an equally inspiring message: “Hottest Sex Moves Ever.” Uplifting, indeed.

Moving on to the next cover: “99 Sex Facts You’ve Never Read Before.” If it were rocket science, there might be 99 unknown facts – but 99 sex facts? I was tempted to look inside and count them; I didn’t want to be seen doing it.

With so many of these magazines on the market, a demand for sexy, uncouth writing must exist. This can’t be a good thing.

Before my female readers make paper wads of this column to throw at me, I must say that there are probably as many, if not more, men’s magazines done in poor taste.

Have we become so saturated with crude, titillating language and behavior that we accept it as commonplace?

Or am I just an old curmudgeon lost in a time warp?

Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury University.[[In-content Ad]]