'One Night Stand': German Teeny Magazine Blasted for Sexual Aggression Tale

July 30, 2011— -- Bravo magazine is an institution among German teens for its blanket coverage of pop stars like Justin Bieber, but also for its frank sexual advice column and educational photo stories of sex encounters between teens. A feminist blog is accusing the magazine of glorifying sexual aggression.

The story begins harmlessly enough. Sandy, 16, wants to see a movie with her 17-year-old teen paramour. But Basti would rather watch football and brushes her off harshly. The rejected girl tries to accommodate him and puts on a tank top covered with soccer ball prints. Trying to be a good sport, she goes with Basti to watch a match. Unfortunately, the goodwill soon disappears, they fight and Sandy leaves to drown her sorrows in beer.

"One Night Stand" is the title of a "photo love story," which first appeared in a 2006 issue of the German teeny magazine Bravo, and was recently reprinted. With its photo illustrations of simulated sexual situations -- think, "My First Time," -- and its "Dr. Sommer" advice column, Bravo has long been known as a beacon of light for young people seeking to steer a safe course as they get their first hands-on experience with the birds and the bees.

With " One Night Stand ," (ed's note: link is in German) it's not difficult to imagine what will happen next. Before long Sandy is chugging one beer after the next. The teaser to the story states: "Sandy gets drunk and cheats on her friend, with absolutely devastating consequences!" Another teaser inside the story states: "Sandy has no interest whatsoever in football -- and she makes an ill-fated mistake."

She Gets Drunk, He Takes Advantage

One might expect that this ill-fated mistake is that fact that she cheated and that the devastating consequence is that Basti has dumped unfaithful Sandy. But what comes next is worse and it has also triggered a protest on the Internet.

The bad guy in this story is Rob, 17, who, according to the profile, is into "blondes" and likes to "take what he can get (girls too)." Rob begins chatting with Sandy and encourages her to continue drinking. "Come on, you can drink another." He says he will walk her home to her place, but instead they wind up at his. Once in bed together, Rob begins stripping Sandy, who by now is quite drunk. What happens next looks a lot like taking sexual advantage of a drunk person who has lost control or even sexual assault. A thought bubble above Sandy's head reads, "I think I am going to pass out."

Few noticed the photo novel when it was first published in 2006. It wasn't until now, five years later, the Bravo.de website reposted the tale of sexual misadventure that it was noticed by Nadine Lantzsch, who works for the German feminist blog maedchenmannschaft.net. When the blogger clicked through the story, she could hardly believe her eyes. A reader had brought her attention to the photo gallery by sending her a link. After looking at the site, Lantzsch wrote an entry on her blog under the headline, "Bravo Glorifies Rape." Readers of the blog then posted links to Lantzsch's article on Twitter and Facebook.

In fact, the way the sex is depicted in the story is quote dubious. After the act, Sandy accuses herself of having deceived Basti ("How could I have done it?), before saying: "It wasn't a nightmare -- it was cheating."

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