GeorgeBurdell

Last week, a friend of mine told me about his wife and 14 year old daughter's experience while flying to visit relatives. A guy seated next to them pulled out a stack of magazines to read on the flight. Among them Playboy, Penthouse, FHM, Maxim, etc. He made no attempt to be discreet or insure that my friend's daughter couldn't see what he was looking at...matter of fact, she covered her eyes or tried to turn away from what he was blatantly displaying. Seeking to avoid a confrontation, my friend's wife did not say anything to the guy or to the flight crew.

What should she have done, keeping in mind that she was seated next to this guy?

lalala

This happened to me once on a TWA flight from SEA-STL. The guy was actually pretty nice, but I should have asked to be reseated. He did read the articles and turned the magazine away from me when he opened the centerfold. He didn't linger on those pages (this was Playboy).. I think I would find a whole slew of these magazines to be offensive, to this guy's credit, he also read the whole Sports Illustrated and Newsweek.

They sell all sorts of interesting magazines in the airport, but I thought most guys read those magazines in the hotel room.

If I was a guy, I probably wouldn't have read those things around a 14 yo girl.

lala

Analise

If I had been the 14 year old, I would have had the giggles that some man was getting his jollies from naked pinup girls. My laughter and the comments I know I would have made (nothing stopped me from saying what I wanted whenever I wanted back at that age....hmm has much changed?? ) might have clued the guy into the fact that a child was laughing at him. Who knows. Planes are public places and as such, if he wants to look at nude women's pictures, he's free to do so. Very tacky, but tacky is allowable.

I'd tell my daughter to be happy he's not an annoying person kicking the back of her chair, a person who snores for the entire flight, someone with hideous body odor, someone taking up 1/2 of her seat plus his, or a nonstop blabbermouth. There is MUCH worse than some guy who gets his thrills from nudity.

kokonutz

What is offensive: the photos or the content? How are they offensive?

IMHO, you'll find far more explicit sex talk and photos just about as bad in your average Cosmo as you will in Playboy and I'd put Cosmo ahead of Maxim and FHM for T&A (trust me on this one !).

Now, if the guys pulls out Swank or Oui, well, then that's a slightly different story....

magexpect

I stumbled on this thread and please allow me to add my grain of salt.

I am sorry for that ape who so demonstatively produced his magazines in front of this 14year old. I would have been the mother, I'd have reacted immediately.

Now to Playboy: When I was still living in Switzerland, the international magazine offer was quite poor but Playboy was selling well. I bought it once when I was about 16 (I am 53 now) and to tell you the truth, I bought it for the women... Well, I regretted the investition because what I found there was ludicrous in comparison to other European magazines and definitely not worth it. Well, I had bought it, I kept it and left it for ages laying in my room until one boring November afternoon. Out of sheer boredom, I started to read it from page 1. At that time, it was mind boggling, just the Forum part alone was a wealth of information and some articles were great and had nothing to do with sex. As of that day, I was hooked on the magazine and read it regularly for over ten years. No, ladies, definitely not for the girls but for the forum... Alas, like all good things, they tend to have an end and the world of informative magazines opened up, so I quit reading it. I sometimes come across one and have a peek in it, it seems it has not changed very much, probably my style has changed. Anyway, if you meet again someone reading Playboy, don't condemn him. Despite the naked ladies inside, the magazine contributed or was the engine to many changes in the American society, many actually very helpful to women.

Sorry I was so long.

CheapSk8

If I were the parent, or the child, I would have had an earful for the guy. To the poster who said (I paraphrase) "It's a public place and thus he can do what he wants"?! On the contrary, because it's a public place, he CAN'T do whatever he wants.

And no, it was not Oui, and some might argue that Playboy has cultural significance. You're entitled to your opinion, but not to put material in front of a child or anyone else that they can't buy or wouldn't. It's the same as not allowing porn on public computer screens in libraries--at least at my hometown (not ORD) library, you have to use a computer in a cubicle to look at porn so that others don't have to see it.

Analise

You have no right to yell at this man. If you travel on public transportation with your child, you cannot expect others to conform to your standards of decency. While it may be in poor taste to read this in front of a 14 year old girl, you cannot chastise a stranger for poor taste.

oldpenny16

A 14 year old..... was he getting a thrill out of reading in front of her? This doesn't feel Kosher to me!

I would have said something myself and if he failed to respond I would have asked an FA to help out.

I've had guys try to do that with me and I give them my school teacher look. That is usually sufficient.

Mary2e

A 14 year old is not a child. Especially these days. She knows which end is up and has probably read the magazines herself. I know I had.

The parent needs to lightenup & realize her baby isn't a baby anymore.

kokonutz

There are publications I find patently offensive: The Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator. There are certainly things in there that I dont want my kids (or any kdis for that matter) exposed to. But I have no right to yell at the person sitting next to me on the plane about it!! Glare at them, sure, but silently.

If I were reading something and a busybody next to me said something, I'd make sure their 14 year old got a lesson on freedom and an open society in the form of a lecture to their busy-body parent....

Jenbel

My reaction would depend on his reaction. If he was positively slavering, I would be disgusted. If he was reading it and saving the pictures more for later, then it wouldn't bother me - I've done the nude Cosmo on a train like that.

swise

If he was seated on one end, I would put my child on the other end and put myself in between. If he was in the middle seat, I would offer him my end seat. Unless he was waving the magazine around or making it in any way so that she couldn't help but see beyond the cover, I would leave it at that.

His choice of reading material certainly wasn't very tasteful for a public place. However, given that he doesn't seem to know what is generally considered appropriate, I don't think it would be worthwhile to try and suggest an alternative magazine selection. The fact that he's reading what he's reading on a plane next to a child means that it's unlikely he'll understand a mom's point of view.

If the daughter brings it up later, it'd be a good opportunity to have a conversation on what she thinks of his behavior, how not everyone has the same concept of politeness or consideration of others, different ways of handling those types of situations, why we have smut, etc. She's at the age where she's becomming aware of stuff like that but may not understand it or have evaluated it very much. It'd be a perfect opportunity to help her figure out a little bit about this aspect of our culture and to help her think her way to a position on it. Of course, all this depends on the kid, depends on the parent, etc.

Reminds me of the stories you hear of Japanese men on subways reading the adult comics around the school children.

GeorgeBurdell

Obviously, none of you have read a Penthouse lately. From what I understand, they show everything short of actual intercourse.

Also, what about the legality of displaying this stuff in front of minors? If they keep it shrink wrapped and on the top shelf of the airport magazine stand, obstensibly to keep minors from reading it, why would it be okay to flip it out on the plane? And if the nudity is okay, what if he had taken off his clothes? Granted, a 14 year old girl may know about sexual matters, but that doesn't mean she's seen actual content such as what's published in these magazines.

I found the responses to this post quite interesting. A situation like this where you are unable to escape the sexual content is certainly different than one where avoiding it was a simple matter of walking away.

techgirl

Remind me to hide my National Review the next time I see you.

Buckley = soft core conservative porn

Analise

There are laws about public in-person nudity. I'm sure if this guy were reading Popular Mechanics and decided to take off his clothes, the same law about clothing would apply.

As for his displaying such distasteful trash in front of a minor, there is no law against that. The coverage you describe (shrink wrap, partially covered shelf) applies to selling the magazine.

A Mom's point of view? He is unlikely to understand a decent adult's point of view. Mothers don't own the market share on that. ^