BellaOnline Forums Beauty and Self Body Image Women's magazines destructive?

Spurred by a comment in a recent post, I wrote "Women�s Magazines � Harmful or Helpful to Your Body Image?" http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art32060.asp

Do you read magazines like Cosmo? That's one I can't read, I just find it too much. Too much sex, fashion, self-absorption.

Any good mags out there? I really love O.

Do you know, it's funny you should mention it, but many years ago, when still in my innocest and naive youth, I used to travel into the city by train, to work, and would buy myself a copy of Cosmopolitan, when it came out.
I noticed after a while, that I was feeling generally disatisfied with life, with myself, with the way I looked and the life I led.... and then I discovered, one day (it literally came to me like a sledgehammer!) that the reasons for this were that all the articles, items, adverts and promo's in the magazine were making me feel unfulfilled and unworthy. I simply didn't measure up to the message they were promoting. Be tall, be elegant, be beautiful, be successful, be great in the sack, be the perfect mother, have it all, and stand head and shoulders above the rest! If you don't do all this, you're an inadequate failure!

I stopped reading it, and felt better immediately!!

Now, many years on, I am painfully aware at the message still being projected by the media and the press.
I despair.
How far have we come, exactly, since we got the vote - !!??

I think some women's magazines are destructive, but I also think there are some really good ones out there as well. I have found Redbook to be great. Its cover usually has celebrities, but the photographs are not revealing and very tasteful. The magazine is also full of articles, fashion and beauty tips, and even things to spice up your sex life that pertain to real wives and mothers...even us single parents. There's great articles on kid issues as well. They also feature a reader every month that is always real life women who share how they manage their lives as mothers, wives, daughters, sisters, and individuals. Rather than feeling inadaquate after reading Redbook...I feel empowered, encouraged, and uplifted. I would recommend a subscription to anyone. Check it out on www.redbookmag.com

Cosmo makes one feel insufficient.

Actually for a completely different reason: There was a time I wanted to become a freelance writer and there was also a time that my husband liked to spoil me by bringing home a copy of Cosmo (usually, occasionally a different brand). I *knew* that I shouldn't start at the "top" but I just had so many copies of Cosmo to use as "market research" and I felt I knew the voice, etc. But every single article I read was "work" - why didn't I think of this? damn I had this idea last month, can I reangle it for another mag? what are they going to be looking for in the next six months? damn again, something I'd been learning a lot about and was almost ready to write on has suddenly become out of date, and on and on. I actually began to feel really inadequate most particularly when I read badly written articles that I could've done better or the "My story" articles written for free by readers.

Sorry, I've gone completely off topic suddenly! What I was trying to say was when I stopped reading magazines I felt a lot better about myself and I have always put it down to being rejected by that field as a writer. But I also remember hating how childish the mags were and insisting that something was hot, or some celeb's style was the latest and half the time I was rolling my eyes - I think the rest of the time my blood pressure was shooting up in annoyance, and they made me feel old and out of touch even though I was younger than the editors.

These magazines are selling dreams but somehow fail miserably.