Women's Magazines - Possible Rant

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I actually like reading these women's magazines.

Utne Reader! (not strictly for females). And I know there are womens/ feminist magazines out there- Mother Jones and Riot Girl come to mind.

I haven't picked up a "girly" magazine off the rack for some time. Right now, I have a subscription to Style. But most of the stuff is uber expensive that I could never afford unless I won a lottery. I also think it's a complete waste of money to pay thousands of dollars for an article of clothing or a handbag. Maybe if I were super rich I wouldn't care, IDK. Since I'm not, I get annoyed that that's Style's main market...or making women think that they have to buy that stuff or else they'll be overlooked (love, careers, etc)....playing to their insecurities. Very sad.

I rarely read the articles...I don't care about celebrity gossip. My hubby actually ordered it for me. But I do look over the photography very very carefully, since photography is my SI. Some of the photos actually cut off heads now....a disturbing trend.

Magazines I actually read:

Shutterbug
Pop Photography (mostly for beginning photographers, but once in a while there's something good)
Outdoor Photography

I'll also read articles in Pop Science & Pop Mechanics (hubby's subscriptions)

I like to read womens mags sometimes. I enjoy reading problems pages and real life storys.
I like practical fish keeping a lot more though.

Ever since I was in my 20s I hated magazines...and then I purchased one called "MORE"...It's for the over 40 crowd...I didn't know it when I first purchased it. It worked for me. It had a bit of everything, but it was much more mature not the same crazy stuff.

At least your psych didn't tell you to pledge a sorority when you got to college! I had a therapist tell me that at 19. I suffered through two whole evenings of rush before getting rejected by all 13 sororities. I was sitting on a bench getting ready to cry because "Now I'd never learn to be normal!!" when I realized what a complete and total crock of s**t it all was, laughed like a hyena, smoked a joint, and fired my therapist.

I probably would have up and gotten my diagnosis 15 years ago if it weren't for all the stupid NT creeps out there who think the thing to do with us is to make us the best imitation of them possible.

I enjoy Woman's Day and Ladies' Home Journal for the recipes and how-to advice about things like money and kid problems (though I usually think I have better ideas about the kids, they have taught me a lot about managing finances). I have gotten some good recipes and nutrition information, too. On the whole, though, I think the culture they promote (all the judgmentality and insecurity and envy and such) is pathological. Way more pathological than I am. As for Seventeen and Cosmo and stuff like that-- they make me sooooooo glad that I am not a neurotypical woman. I don't see how they stand to get out of bed in the mornings if those mags are an accurate portrayal of thier world.

I can only put up with women's magazines if they're the kind that have almost no writing in them and make no attempt to address everyday life: like Vogue, or HairNow, or I like the kind of food magazines that act as a kind of food porn. I really like fashion photography even though I'm a chubby, frumpy, poorly paid woman who can't afford designer labels and hasn't got much flair for putting her own outfits together. I like reading recipes for things I'll never cook. I like looking at crystal-studded cuffs and terrifying shoes I'll never wear. I also like looking at the sphinx-like creatures with hair like tablecloths over their eyes and bright orange highlights.

I couldn't care less about celebs and diets and tips for the ultimate orgasm, or whatever. Show me the dress shaped like a fountain with the ostrich feather cape!

I actually read magazines like New Scientist, The Economist and New Statesman. I guess I just gawp at Vogue rather than read it.

I remember when women's magazine had good feature articles and fiction. As a child and teen (1960's thru 1970's), I was able to read my older sister's copies of Glamour and Mademoiselle. Glamour seemed fluffy to me, but Mademoiselle had an annual fiction-writing contest and published poems by the winner of the annual Yale Series of Younger Poets competition. It had some well known (for the time) writers as well.

My very own first subscription (at age 13) was to Ingenue, an established magazine for young women that folded about a year later. The advertisers didn't like the radical style the editors were pursuing and started to pull out. There was plenty of street fashion, which I liked. I also remember an article about what can happen to young women when they run away from home. So the clearinghouse sent me Young Miss instead, which was full of teenage pap. I felt insulted.

I graduated to reading Vogue in the 1980's. One issue that stands out in my memory contained a series of essays by women discussing their relationship with God, and not in a pro-Christian way. You'd never see this now. Actually, I haven't seen anything like that for over 20 years.

Since then, I've barely picked up women's magazines. Why bother? They're degrading. All the social revolutions are coming to nothing. Anti-intellectualism is in.

yeah i think that womens mags are crap for all the reasons mentioned but it has also been noted that womens mags have this conflicting nature- they simultaeneously encourage stereotyes and enforce gender roles whilst encouraging sexual liberation and thus empowering women by telling them its ok to have and enjoy sex but at the same time they do this it is, more often than not, for the pleasure of a man... strange contradiction and altogether i'd have to say that these rags do more harm than good. i never really read them(readers digest and national geographic are my fare) but when my mum started getting cosmo id read it.(i was desperate i swear.) it had the effect of making me a little more comfortable with my sexuality and did play a massive part in educating me about sex but it was utter fluff and the sexism, racism, homophobia, etc within pained me.

[quote="Fnord"][quote="Chronos"]Who says Scientific American isn't a woman's magazine?[/quote]
Or "Wired"?

... "National Geographic"?

... "Astronomy" or "Sky & Telescope"?

... "Physics Review"?

... "Lancet"?

... "JAMA" ("Journal of the American Medical Association")?

... "The Wall Street Journal"? (Okay, it's a newspaper ... although a [i]financial[/i] newspaper)

Ladies, stop reading women's magazines if you think they're so superficial, and start reading magazines that involve engineering, applied science, or business principles.[/quote]

2 words.. "hi fructose" a great art mag

Can't stand 'em, myself. But I used to read Marie Claire for the biogs at the end.

One magazine that I find v. inspirational is: http://www.sportsister.com/.

If you're into sport/fitness this is definitely worth a look.

Vx

When you describe women's magazines like that, yes, I suppose they do seem rather appalling. I guess its been so long since I've bought a women's magazine I haven't given it much thought. But yes, it seems like they constantly cycle through the same exact articles with slightly different wording. They also seem heavily focused on very superficial aspects of life while allocating anything serious or heavy to somewhere slabbed in the middle or back. There are magazines that focus on women's issues and other aspects of life, but unfortunately they dont seem to sell as well. Just like how fashion magazines usually have someone abnormally skinny on the cover because it sells better. Sad but true.

Those magazines are wonderful. Every time I see what's in them, I feel really, really smart in comparison.

What are some "mens magazines"? Because ive never ever seen a male version of cosmopolitan

Yeah, I know there's hardly any variety and when you do find something it's something that's below your age level or above your age level, in my case anyway, or related to a topic you have no interest in, like fashion for millionaires.

I really don't want to be reading Cosmopolitan when I'm depressed and single after a bad relationship. I have no interest in Woman's World or Good Housekeeping, Vogue, Elle or any of those magazines.

Is there any magazine out there for a single 25 year old girl other than Cosmopolitan or brand name fashion magazines for the rich?

Sure you have. It's called Maxim.