A Simple Matter of Bikini Bottoms
Colby Cosh talks about the silliness of parodying lad mags, lad mags already being parodies of themselves:
The interesting question is, where did the guilt go? How is it that it feels vaguely wrong to "exploit" nubile young women in one context, but it's cheerful good fun in another? Partly it is, perhaps, a simple matter of bikini bottoms; but without doubt Maxim and Co. also gain social leverage from their tacit apologizing for the male gaze. Their goofy, self-deprecating, aw-shucks spirit disarms neo-Victorian objections to their content in advance. The editors of these magazines know how important it is not to ever start taking themselves, or their readers, too seriously.
