To suggest that women may be to blame?

[JohannaM]

Not sure if this is the right forum - maybe Chat, In the News, or Politics might have been better.

However, all the recent news about NI and phone hacking got me thinking. Who was/ is all this celebrity gossip and news aimed at?

Answer? It appears mainly to be aimed at women.

I'm not saying the hacking of the phones of Milly Dowler, the Soham girls, dead soldiers, and possibly 9/11 victims is "gossip" or that only women read about it, but these reports fueled the same prurient, not to say, salacious, curiosity about other people and their lives.

You've only got to walk through a branch of WH Smiths' to see the various magazines dealing in fashion, gossip, and "true-life" stories that are aimed at women. Not to mention the so-called "women's pages" of the newspapers. I can't think of a single mens' magazine that equates with Hello or OK - or have I missed some?

[BitsyVonMuffling]

Oh please

[AmberLeaf]

Men definitely read them too.

YABU

[TidyDancer]

Er, how does that make women to blame?!

[TandB]

I would be very surprised if women make up the majority of the readership of the Sun and the NoTW and their ilk.

YABU. And a tit.

[MummyTigger]

[thursday]

you can certainly argue that the readers who lap this shit up should look at themselves, but it's not a woman only thing and not sure why you would want to make it such.

[cory]

Was going to say what Bluddy has already said- any evidence that News of the World or the Sun are primarily aimed at women?

[AgentZigzag]

I've always found men to be the biggest gossips around

[snoopdogg]

What BVM said.

Can't be arsed to get into socio/political argument of who produces/markets this stuff and origins/drivers of consumerist cultures, however, did NI do all this because of crowds of screaming harpies on their backs demanding to know the contents of Milly Dowler's distraught mother's voicemail? No

[usualsuspect]

wake me up, when the this sunday MN madness has passed

[Birdsgottafly]

The 'star' and the 'Scum', sorry 'Sun' etc are full of gossip and rubbish, which is read and talked about by men.

When there is a 'scandal' involving a sports 'personality' it is talked about as much by men as it is by women, so YABU.

[FreudianSlipper]

yes of course women are to blame yawn yawn and it has nothing to do with making money from these stories by a company owned by a man

[HappyDoll]

Johanna you're so right. Women are to blame for most evils in the world because we love a good gossip. I've never known a man show any interest or passing amusment at Hugh Grants prostitute choice or David Beckhams extra marital activites. It was definately only gossiping girls on Twitter outing the SuperInjuction massive wasn't it?
Without the odd bit of gossip, there would certainly be no need for war - I mean, they only keep it up because we ladies buy the rags that report it, no? And surely, there would be no famine if we women weren't there watching the news reports on the telly.
We really ought to be ashamed of ourselves.
Twunt.

[baldbyfifty]

What a pile of crap.

[brownleatherbrogues]

to be fair, ive never seen a man reading Hello or Ok magazine, or even watching What Katie Does Next and all that crap

but then again neither do I and perhaps I gravitate to people with similar tolerances

[FreudianSlipper]

yes our thirst for gossip has made these poor men go out and do the most appalling things in the name of entertainment for us

i feel for those men that bugged private phone calls, wiped v/m messages, chased, camped out, hounded celebs and others that have unfortunately through terrible circumstances been thrown into the media spotlight jsut to feed our need, how desperate must they feel poor menz poor menz

its too sad to even contemplate :(

[JohannaM]

IMO most gossip is aimed at women. Humans, being hierarchical and social animals, naturally show an interest in the goings on of the alpha males and females (biologically it ensures survival and mating chances).

However, the general target audience for gossip, and magazines that deal in it, is women.

Where are the "mens" pages that deal purely in gossip, photos, and comments about celebrities to be found in any national newspaper?

[amothersplaceisinthewrong]

Men struggle with language and reading, therefore the pages aimed at them are the likes of Page 3.

[JohannaM]

FreudianSlipper : You seem very sure that only men are culpable in all this. What about Mrs Brooks? Not to mention the various "Glenda Slags" and "Polly Fillers" that write for magazines and newspapers.

[JohannaM]

HappyDoll: I've never said only women are interested in such things. I've merely pointed out that such magazines and subjects are aimed predominantly at women.

[HappyDoll]

Johanna I've just typed out a reply, but tbh I can't be arsed, you're views are idiotic and damaging to women. Knob.

[Yama]

They are not aimed at me.

[Yama]

Does JohannaM have form?

[EvenLessNarkyPuffin]

The readership was 52% male. Here. From the stats it would make more sense to blame those living in London and the South East. Gossipmongers.