University investigates raunchy student mag

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The University of Manitoba's equity services office will investigate whether a raunchy engineering students' publication is offensive.

The 24-page Red Loin magazine features several articles in which male engineers tell women how to please them in sexually explicit terms. Some of the articles are illustrated by scantily clad women in suggestive poses.

A two-page article presents statistical tables of various aspects of sexuality, such as penis length, the average size of nipples, average menstrual flow, speed of ejaculation and duration of erections.

U of M public affairs director John Danakas said Monday the administration will not comment on Red Loin, but will ask equity services to determine if the magazine's contents violate the U of M's respectful work and learning environment policy.

"Anything that could be considered offensive, equity services will be made aware of," Danakas said.

He would not speculate on what the possible outcomes could be for the students involved.

"It depends on what the content is, how offensive it is," Danakas said. "They are adults, but they are young."

U of M Engineering Society senior stick Megan Lusty defended the publication Monday, saying it is available only within the faculty of engineering building and no one has complained to her about its contents.

Lusty said that UMES publishes its Red Lion magazine three times a year, and a somewhat less-serious Red Loin once a year, for the past 35 years. "This year has been toned down."

Lusty said she has final say over the content. Red Loin is produced by three engineering students, two of them women, but anyone in the faculty can contribute, she said.

"I'm the final one to look over the content," Lusty said. "It's meant to entertain people, not offend people. I have no concern about the content."

Asked what she would consider the entertainment value of statistical tables about vagina size or the average duration of a male orgasm, Lusty said the male student who wrote it thought it entertaining, and was offering it for other students to consider as entertainment.

"Most female students have a really good relationship with the male students," Lusty said.

"I found it offensive," social work Prof. Judy Hughes said Monday. "We're supposed to be living in a different kind of world.

"The construction of what's supposed to be funny is actually quite narrow. It's from the point of view of heterosexual male engineeers... (showing) women as objects of men's sexual desires," Hughes said. "It constructs men as mindless creeps only out to have sex -- there are men, even heterosexual men, who'd be offended by that material."

U of M sociology Prof. Susan Prentice said Red Loin "reflects a culture in the engineering faculty which helps us understand why engineering is a male-dominated profession."

"It puts female engineers in a bind. If you complain, they're not good sports. If they go along, you contribute to your own second-class status," said Prentice, a former Margaret Laurence Chair in Women's Studies. "It's a reflection of the way the climate is chilly" for women in engineering.

Red Loin appears to be a reversible magazine -- flip it over and turn it upside down, and there is a back cover promising entertainment for female engineers, However, all the content is right-side-up only for the male engineers' cover. Lusty said the content is intended for both men and women.

The first page inside the magazine includes straightforward messages from Lusty and from engineering dean Douglas Ruth outlining some recent engineering students' achievements.

"They routinely ask the dean for a message, and he submits it, not knowing what the content will be," Danakas said.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca

Sexual engineering

Here's some of the dirt the Red Loin is dishing:

Detailed breakdown of penis length, erection angles and ejaculatory speed

Average size of nipples and vaginas

Top 10 reasons why engineers make the best lovers

Best "romantic'' movies of all time, which includes Saving Ryan's Privates

For those who follow star signs, "hornyscopes" for both men and women. For instance, the female Aries is "wildly sexual, passionate and adventerous.'" The male Scorpio is "a lustful sexy animal"

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 2, 2010 A3