Teenagers hungry for erotic magazines

By Agus Maryono

PURWOKERTO, Central Java (JP): Five young boys in junior high school uniform were oblivious to their surroundings; they were joking with each other close to a sidewalk newspaper vendor not far from the campus of Jenderal Soedirman University here. Once in a while they burst into laughter as they competed with each to check out FILM, a tabloid-sized magazine with a front cover featuring a woman posing in a sexually alluring style. After leafing through the whole magazine, the boys decided to buy it.

"Give me the middle page with the Indian actress on it," said one of them. "I'll take this one, I'd like to stick it on the wall of my bedroom," said another. And finally the magazine was divided into five. Each of the boys obtained pictures of sexy women who were scantily dressed and posing in a provocative manner.

"Why did you buy FILM. Isn't it for adults?" The Jakarta Post asked the boys.

"We are adults, all right, and we need to learn something about sex. People say sex education is important, right?" replied Santo, 14, a second grader at a junior high school here. His four peers nodded in agreement. "It is not only adults that are curious about this thing; we are, too," one of them chimed in.

It was surprising that Santo put forward sex education as his reason to buy an erotic magazine, because this is indeed not the right way to do things. But this is what happens, not only in this small Central Javanese town, but also throughout the country. In response to the demand, erotic magazines have flooded the market.

Sudarwo, 24, a sidewalk newspaper vendor on Jl. HR Bunyamin, some 100 meters to the north of the Jenderal Soedirman University campus here, told the Post that erotic magazines and media publications featuring scantily dressed sexy women were easier to sell than other magazines and media publications. "Well, yes, they are the best sellers. Take POP tabloid, for example. On Monday afternoon they are sold out," he said, adding that every Monday he received 20 copies of POP.

He said that 80 percent of people buying erotic magazines were teenagers in junior high school uniform. "We can't prohibit them from buying the stuff because we certainly want it to sell quickly," he said. In addition to POP, which is sold at Rp 2,000 per copy, magazines and tabloids popular among these young teenagers include FILM, KISS, Tangisan Hati (Cry of the Heart -- narratives by women who have been deflowered by men, accompanied by sexy pictures), Tragedi (similar to Tangisan Hati) and Liberty magazine.

"The most sought after are POP, Tangisan Hati and Tragedi," said Darwo. He said POP sells well because it contains large pictures of pretty women in sexually alluring poses, while Tragedi and Tangisan Hati -- both in the form of a bulletin -- sell well because they are relatively cheap at Rp 350 per copy.

Darwo also said that almost every day groups of junior high school boys came to his place. "Sometimes they just look at the pictures of pretty women, though they often buy magazines or tabloids jointly," he said. The teenagers usually come to his place after school hours. "They will be squatting here, smoking and leafing through some of the magazines," he added. He said he wasn't bothered by their presence. "It's all right with me. I feel glad because some of them will buy a magazine or two. Besides, they come here not because I invite them," he said.

POP is also popular among university students. The Post visited a book and magazine stall owned by Abu, 30, located near the Jenderal Soedirman University campus. Anto, a ninth semester student was just one of the day's customers. He said he was fed up with news about political matters. "Once in a while I read POP to refresh my mind. Reading political stuff all the time will give you a headache," he said.

According to Abu, soft-porn magazines sell better than political and general publications. "I can sell 15 copies of POP a week, but only two or three copies of Oposisi or Gugat political tabloids," he said.

Hermanto, 46, the owner of one of the largest newspaper agents here, agreed with Abu. He said the sales volume of POP was higher than that of political media publications. "It may be true that people are getting fed up with political news, which is often confusing. So, publications presenting pictures of pretty women may entertain you temporarily," he said.

He said that every week he had about 700 copies of POP, more than the AKSI, Oposisi and Bangkit (Rise) tabloids. "I used to sell 700 to 800 copies of AKSI weekly, but now I can sell a maximum of only 200 copies, or sometimes fewer," he said.

Concerning POP, he said he had to supply copies of this tabloid to regular customers, i.e. smaller agents. As a consequence, he said that he was often unable to meet the demand of newspaper vendors, especially if they needed many copies of the tabloid.

"On Mondays, they usually queue up here," he added. Wagimin, 33, a newspaper vendor who usually requested POP and similar tabloids from Hermanto, acknowledged that teenagers often placed an order for these tabloids with him. "Usually their fathers subscribe to a newspaper and their teenage children secretly buy POP on a retail basis. Sometimes some of them buy the tabloid at roadsides," Wagimin said.