Red Magazine – what a load of shite.
Which seems a bit unfair to Red magazine, because it’s not like it stands alone in being shite. Every single women’s magazine that I picked up or flicked through whilst back in the UK was equally, if not more, shite than Red. I only pick on Red because it was recommended to me and so was the one I bought despite being a bit dubious when I looked at the cover.
I asked Twitter a while back which women’s magazines were worth bothering with and was told that Red was good. Great in fact. Some professed to loving it.
I made myself a mental note to have a look when back home.
I was dubious when I found it. It didn’t look any different to rest of the tripe on the news stand and it was giving away a free lipstick/balm thingumy which is never a great sign in my books. I kept the recommendations I had received in mind however. Maybe it would be awesome despite it’s cover.
I was game to try it.
Prepared to be won over.
I love magazines, love having it physically in my hand, something to read, short articles about things of interest. Funny, sad, thought provoking, interesting. However I didn’t want to commit to a years subscription without having a look first.
Thank God I didn’t.
I had to flick through 70 pages of adverts, 70 pages of beyond perfect, photoshopped images of women selling ways to make you look and smell better, before I got to the first article. Yes okay, they had interspersed it with an editors letter, a letter page and contributors page, but seriously? 70?
In whole, Red holds 184 pages of adverts in a 308 page magazine, leaving 124 pages, less than half, for articles.
But what of the articles? They must have made up for it, right? I mean people love this magazine. It’s a big seller. Twitter told me to buy it.
Well, umm, no. Despite the fact that I admittedly got bored of trying to find the articles amongst the adverts towards the end and was just skim reading, there was a grand total of 3 articles that I enjoyed.
A story about the woman behind uncovering the MP scandal, an amusing, column style article about people that bring their mobile phones to dinner, and another column style article about how the kitchen of a home changes through the years.
That was 4 pages out of 308.
Wow.
Worth the whopping £3.50?
I think not.
But then again, perhaps I’m not really Reds intended audience having little patience for endless articles about how to make yourself thinner and prettier and I’m not a great lover of real life stories or celebratory interviews, all of which makes up, along with the inevitable shopping pages which I loath, the vast bulk of the magazine.
The problem is that Red is not a stand alone magazine. It is just one of many all churning out the same crap about, looks, appearance, beauty, clothes, make up and celebrites.
All women’s magazines are like this.
Yawn.
What I wanted, when I wandered into WHSmiths that day, was a magazine of interest. Something that cares not about the looks and appearance of its readers but gives them articles that make them think, laugh, gape in wonder or grit their teeth in anger. Something interesting, appealing, inteligent and worth the money.
But I found nothing of the sort.
I looked at the mens magazine section but it was all tits and bikes. I picked up Private Eye and Spectator which I enjoy to a point. I picked up Time and National Geographic which again I enjoy to a point. But I realised that what I really wanted didn’t exist. Or at least I didn’t find it.
Which got me thinking…what would I like to see in a magazine?
Something that combines the likes of Spectator and Private Eye (for satire), Time (for ‘behind the news’ stories), National Geographic (for interesting travel, environment related stories) and adds some column style articles of the likes you find in the Sunday paper magazines, some techy/science stories, reviews of the new gadget, books and DVDs worth a watch and perhaps a short story series.
Basically a general interest magazine that is…well… generally interesting.
Does it exist? Did I miss it?
Or have we been well and truly pigeon-holed into our respective ‘male: tits and cars’ ‘female: make up and shopping’ roles?
What about you, what would you like to see in a magazine, or are you happy with the ones you read?
I'm Heather, an ex expat, now back in blighty and living in Lancashire. Which is just like Lapland... only less snowy and stuff.
I don't as a rule buy or even read magazines. I occasionally invest in a Countryfile magazine if it's on offer or a copy of Viz when I'm in the need for toilet humour but other than that… nothing at all. Not even newspapers. The TV and internet keep me informed. Magazines just seem a way to invite yet more advertizing into your home. Advertizing that then lays about the house until you can be bothered to recycle it. Why bother? If I want to read then I have good books and blogs aplenty!
maybe we should launch a magazine – Bloggers Go Glossy… leave the photoshopping for the peabrains
Gave up reading 'traditional' women's mags years ago for exactly those reasons. I have no desire to see photoshopped celebrities selling products they've probably never used and certainly never paid for, tips on how to lose those extra kilos to fit into a designer bikini that probably shrinks when wet anyway, or how to win back an ex-boyfriend who no doubt treated me like shit in the first place.
Damn stereotypical publishers.
I'm so with you on this – I HATE women's magazines, but I'm sometimes lured in by their snappy promises. To then be utterly disappointed. It's like you said – I want news, travel stories, interesting documentary pieces. I couldn't care less about “20 ways to keep your man happy using only a piece of string” and “How to look good naked using only lipstick and a potted plant.”
Good Housekeeping – you may mock, but it's great these days. As it's aimed firmly at over 40s the celebrity shite is kept to a minimum, there's no requirement for all case studies to be over women under 30 who fit into a size 12, and it assumes the readers have a brain. I'm not over 40 but it's the mag I'm most likely to be for a train journey, aside from Empire.
Oh gosh – I'm pretty sure its not just Red. I cannot be certain as I haven't read a women's magazine since my mid-late thirties. I didn't have Red as a 'Singles' magazine, I'm pretty sure it's aimed for women heading towards 30 with partners/families? If was going to pick up any though, it will be Red.
Nowadays, I pick up the Sunday papers (Times) most weeks and survive on the magazines therein; the news one and the girlie one for weekend reading.
LOL. I'll confess to enjoying Red, and Psychologies. But they are the only two I'll buy in the UK. On balance I don't think the airbrushed images offend me because I just gloss right over them! Of course there are there because the mag is so popular. One of the probs Red has is that it aims to get across sometimes fairly big subjects in a bite-sized form. Is this patronising? Yes it is. Does it sell mags? Yes it does. I used to read Salon online and I read many newspapers online thanks the glorious internet! I can imagine that the difference between the commercial world here was a big contrast to the world over there in Lapland! x
You've got to be joking! I wouldn't buy the mag on the basis of it's name and direction alone. Patronising, marginalising junk.
I agree. Women's magazines = shite. And lacking in tits. If the blokes get breasts, surely we should get willies at the very least? Bah, sexist shite. And full of thin people to boot. Hate, hate, hate 'em. (Particularly when we have the wonder which is libraries … books full of willies, breasts, thin AND fat people and just about everything else you could ever want … and all for free. Now that's more like it.)
Ahead of you on that idea hun!
Watch this space.
I've a backgound in writing for magazines, and publishing magazines albeit in niche areas Down Under. I'd like to do the same thing online via my blog, but the question remains….if there's no commercial interest and no advertising who pays my mortgage?
I have to agree. I keep attempting to buy magazines with a view of researching which of them I would like to try and pitch an article or story to. I keep failing and passing them straight on to my sister, who is the opposite to me in that she is almost obsessive about buying and reading magazines. Everyone is different, I guess.
I'm not really into women's magazines but I have found one that I like as it is not as superficial as the other ones. It's called Easy Living. There are a few sections in it. In the Know with book reviews, interviews etc. Emotions: articles on various aspects of life (last month was motherhood from the point of view of various people, the step mom, the woman who doesn't want children, the mother with grown up children etc), Fashion, In Depth (depending on the month topic), Beauty, Health, Food and Homes. Why don't you check out their website, who knows you might like it!
I don't buy magazines because there are non that cater for what I want out of a mag too. I'm not a girly fashion/makeup/lets me skinny girl but I'm not a butch bikes and tits girl either LOL. Gadgets yes, books (not romance) yes, travel, excellent photographs, news, tech.. pretty much what you described in your summary is what I'd buy.
Now, where do we sign this petition to get this mag into production.. and can I help? LOL I could do with earning some money
OMG I so know what you mean… the last time I picked up a women's magazine I ended up making sure I got a National Geographic subscription so I never would be tempted to look at such cr*p again! Get Wired magazine, UK or US edition. I love it and my bf loves it. Its not just a techie magazine, but it has some great stuff about the furture of technology, culture, business and innovation and the articles are intelligently written. I now have a subscription and am seriously considering getting a subscription for the US version too. You should be able to get it from Akateeminenkirjakauppa or some such similar place.
I NEVER read women's mags any more, and I'm a journalist. If I do pick one up, it would be Red or Psychologies, but in general if I want to give my self esteem a battering I'll just look in my magnifying mirror for five minutes and save myself the £3.50. I confess that I do love reading the trashy Closer/Now mags in the hairdressers, but would never have them in the house as I have impressionable daughters and don't want them caught up in that whole toxic 'she's too fat/she's too thin/she's looking minging' thing. A blogger's mag filled with readable stuff sounds fantastic, though – count me in!
For me the internet is the best reading source. It's free for the most parts (despite the monthly fee of course) and offers a lot of varied information from/about people like you (average persons, not celebreties!) and is environmentally more acceptable, I think…maybe not. I agree with you that it's nice to have a piece of paper in your hands but on the other hand what is it worth if you only read half of it or half is shite
plus it's expensive compared to the loads of information you find in the net ad-free.
Cannot recall last time I bought a woman's magazine, for the very same reasons listed below (I love Mwa's comment), as well as the fact that I can see the same glossy ads – for stuff I can a) not afford, or b) am not interested in – on any billboard FOR FREE.
Magazine of choice now is either The Economist or (recently discovered) The Spectator. Some excellent articles.
Very boring, I know. Showing my 'business' colours here.
LCM x
Followed a ReTweet here. I've got to agree with you, when I lived in England I never found a women's magazine that I enjoyed, admittedly I lived in england from ages 0 – 21 so perhaps not the demographic they were ever aiming at. My mum sometimes brings them over here when she visits and I flick through them and am still disappointed.
The magazines I buy now? I can get American ones from the military post here. I only buy food magazines and the holy grail – Real Simple magazine. Sure RS is chock full of ads, but my they're beautiful ads. The whole magazine seems to be held to a really high standard of design and it's a joy to flick through, even if you don't read the articles. It's also pretty useful at times, recipes, guides on strange things like how to rescue your jewelry when it falls down the plug, how to fix things yourself, an intelligent book club/reviews and I was totally impressed with a philosophy 101 article a while back.
That said it's still not perfect, there is altogether too much (expensive) make-up and clothes for my liking.
If you do find that magazine would you let me know? I'd subscribe in a shot. Like London City Mum I am quite partial to the Economist and if not feeling up to it then The Week is the dumbed down version that is quite enjoyable. But £3.50 for a magazine? You are kidding? Shows the last time I bought one…
I've replied to this post over on my blog – Do Writers Deserve to Be Paid? http://www.vegemitevix.com/2010/06/14/do-writer…
I don't do women's magazines either. I will do “home” magazines, like Real Simple & Southern Living. But that's about it (and they too are stuffed full of advertising) but mainly my reading takes the form of newspaper, books & blogs.
Have you tried the Oldie. I subscribed for a couple of years until finances got the better of me. It's aimed at a more mature market, but in a radio 4 way not a tea and kniting way.
Readers Digest used to do it for me. I'm sure that's not in publication any more.
I have never read Red!
I love Heat and (coughs) Take a break lol!
I can highly recommend Flying Start Magazine as a great parenting magazine though http://www.flyingstartmagazine.co.uk ! Sorry for the plug ! lmao!
I should publish a 'mummy bloggers special' edition where you all just email me a load of stuff and I print it, no matter what! lol
I like the idea of a glossy bloggers mag…. can I be the first makeover feature? God knows I need it…
But anyway, that's not what I wanted to say…. have you tried Intelligent Life? (that sounds rather more offensive than I meant it to, sorry). It's the lifestyle mag from the Economist. I've only read it once but it was stuffed full of things I was interested in. It's not written exclusively for “women”, so maybe that's its secret. It's only quarterly though… am thinking of a subscription for my birthday present.
Oh, just found a website too: moreintelligentlife.com
Oh, forgot about the week… that's how I vaguely keep in touch with what's going on. Definitely to be recommended if you dont' have time for the papers and can't hear what John Humphries is saying over the clatter of bowls of rice krispies hitting the floor. Dumbed down indeed, but about all my brain can cope with these days.
Psychologies is as bad, articles telling you how to be comfortable with your own body facing onto a wrinkle cream add and a Slimming World add. I occassionally pick it up and then remind myself why I said I would never buy it again. You might as well grab a Woman or Chat for a 1/10th of the price. It's the same useless trash but the more expensive ones are wrapped up to make you think you are all 'sex in the city' type. I tend to keep a easy reader like a 'for Dummies' lying around to flick through when I get the urge to mag flick – NLP or Oracle or a Guiding manual – just something where I can read a snippet and not come away wondering if my bum is too big or whether I can survive summer without some expensive co-ordinated plastic tat thing for my garden table.
I don't read any of them apart from heat magazine occasionally for celebrity goss. And I think women's magazines must be cacking themselves about the amount of well written informative stuff online – both blogs and websites. I'd rather read things online then buy magazines these days.
I gave up on women's magazines years ago. They all try to tell you what to think.
I like the Green Parent – it made me want to plant vegetables. Hubby bought me a subscription and I loved it. Also I love Marie Claire – although the fashion bits are annoying bit I still look at the twinkly bits.
I am a glamour whore – it's such a battle between material possession and sustainability – I am yo-yoing like a bastard at the moment. I want to be a millionaire in an eco mansion – that's the dream.
I quite enjoy them to read when I'm having down time from my computer and don't want to watch TV, or rather there is nothing on TV which is much more likely. And I wouldn't mind the adverts half as much if it was balanced out with good content. Which it's not. Which is scandalous really for the prices they charge.
Ooh, exciting!
I think, balanced out with good content, you dont notice or care so much about the adverts but when the whole first third of the mag is pretty much just adverts and there are only 4 pages out of 308 worth reading, it becomes an issue. Or at least it did in my case lol
It is fucking annoying, isn't it? Are we all supposed to be airheads that only care about shit like that? Well, seemingly so. Sigh.
Just a piece of string you say…oooh, now THAT could be an interesting article! lol
Ummm…I'm not convinced…purely going off the name. but if you wish to send me a copy to try….
There certainly doesn't seem to be any really good magazines for 'normal' women – by which I mean the masses of us who don't live in London, don't have a huge amount of disposable income, don't have kids who will eat the snooty recipes, don't have massively glamorous jobs – I do wonder where the average woman is in all this. I can understand them wanting to be aspirational but there's a huge difference between aspirational and achievable!
I love womens trashy mags. They let me escape and I can just flick through the pages and learn nothing. Am being serious – they dont tax the mind. If I read a book I have to remember what happened each time I pick it up again.
I come and go on this issue. I want an intelligent women's magazine, but also one that allows my girlie side to ooh and aah over the latest fashions and accessories.
You're quite right, women's magazines have mainly turned into an insult to intelligence these days…. to say nothing of the stuff aimed at young women in particular which is even worse. (The final straw was that every single month a girl would write into the problem page worried that she might be lesbian or bisexual and the agony aunt would reassure her that of course she wasn't!)
I wonder if the Saturday and Sunday papers are occupying the gap in the market that a really good comprehensive standalone magazine could fill otherwise?
Although I think my feed reader (where I can read Boing Boing, Wired etc) has sucked up a lot of the time I would have had for a standalone magazine anyway… just a shame it has to be on a screen instead of paper that doesn't hurt my eyes!
It's definitely not just Red, all the women's mags were the same, I just higher hopes for something pitching itself at women rather than girls.
I looked at psychologies – the name drew me in – but it looked the same as the rest. i dont read any newspapers as they're all in Finnish and my reading levels aren't so high. I do love having a magazine to read when i'm away from my computer and don't read many online mags. Maybe that will have to change
Free willies and tits for all, I say! I'd vote for that! Not sure we have any willies in our local libraries but I'll ask next time I'm there *runs off to look up 'willies' in the Finnish dictionary*
We are indeed, all the more reason for there to be a different kind of magazine I think
What a load of shite indeed. I've never read Red, but I don't need to. I already know what it's got in it because it will be the same as every other so called 'womens' magazine. Do you want to know what really bothers me though? It's when magazines like Marie Claire make a pretense of being feminist by running a couple of articles about body image or abortion rights. Because they're so pro equality. You can tell by all the millions of adverts that suggest women are only acceptable if they're young, thin and beautiful.
Totally with you on this. I can't stand the celeb magazines that give you the same stories and pictures in each one; the Red and She magazines are terribly overwhelmed with adverts and mainly for the professional career woman who lives in the city, has no kids, no cellulite, no responsibilities and lots of money to spend on designer clothes and sunglasses. Oh, and let's not forget how they're all making us want to be thin, voluptous being a thing of the past and sparrow legs being in. Yeah, right. Not for me.
CJ xx
I used to like Red – I think it has gone downhill. I agree – far too many ads & stereotypes. I find myself looking at other blogs for more interesting things to read – bizarrely, was thinking about this the other day and thinking that the main downside for me is you can't take these in the bath!!!! I tend to read books instead now. I do like the odd downtime with a pile of rubbish mags in the hairdressers – that does me for the next few months then! I have got my husband a subscription to Monocle and I do enjoy reading this as an alternative to the women's mags – art, culture, politics not UK centric.
Easy living? will have a look…don't supposed you've got an old copy lying around you might want to post to a magazineless girl in Lapland, do you?
It would be nice, wouldn't it? sigh. Sadly I don't have the money, knowledge, skills or time to make it come into being.
I've written exclusively for women's magazines for the past 17 years – everything from Psychologies, to Cosmopolitan, to the trashy true-lfe titles, so I can't help feeling like this is all my fault
But I don't subscribe to, or regularly buy, a single publication (hmmmmmm?!?). And, of course, my stories are usually the highlight of the entire magazine, spesh my recent story – you may even have seen it – on '20 ways to keep your man happy using only a piece of string'…
God, women (and men's) magazines make me killy. Women's magazines may as well have Women! You're Shit! as the header, and continue asking on each page if we feel sufficiently shit about ourselves yet. Men's magazines take an alternative tack; telling men how beneath contempt women are. (Rant, froth)
There did used to be a pretty good women's magazine, Eve – which was most of the things you describe. It featured entrepreneurial, inspirational and pioneering women without being fawning or patronising, and interesting things to make, do & read, but it then suddenly started to conform to type and then went bust. There was also a good men's magazine, Jack, which was informative, thought provoking and funny. It went bust too.
The moral appears to be name your magazine after a single syllable name and it will be good, but you'll lose your shirt.
wired magazine…will go have a look at the website. am feeling in cheeky mood today, feel free to say no if you collect them or something, but you wouldn't happen to have an old one lying around you could send me to take a look at would you?
I think it was a naivety born out of being away for so long that made me think there would be any good ones. But why should that be the case? It's so stupid. Out of my tiny readership there are lots of people saying they would read it so out of the whole country there should be enough…
I agree and yet i would still love to have it in my hand to read in the bath or sprawled out on floor or to give my eyes a rest from the pc.
I tried the economist but it was a bit heavy going for me to be honest…
I think it gets worse in your 40s, unless you're into gardening tips and recipe cards. I don't buy women's magazines any more: two Sunday Papers do just as well instead!
Real Simple magazine sounds a lot better than the trash I was reading. I'm confused by your username BTW. I thought you must be Finnish or living in Finland but your blog says not…
£3.50 – tell me about it, I was quite shocked. Thought it would be about £1.50. Plus all that advertising in it…wither the prices of producing a magazine have gone up a lot or they are raking it in!
If only I could magic that magazine into existence…would be super. I did find the Economist a bit hard going for me…will look into the week. You don't have a spare copy lying around you could post out so I could take a look…?
It does sound interesting…
and a super post it was too.
I just wish I could read blogs in the bath…
I had a years subscription last year and whilst I enjoyed it I did find it a bit too old for me to be honest… appreciated the humour but I clearly wasn't the demographic, if you get what I mean.
I don't think I've ever read one…
indeed it is still going: http://www.readersdigest.co.uk/
ha ha ha, anytime my love, any time
So…how do we go about publishing a magazine then…
oooh…now that could be fun.
you can have the first make over if i can be the first one to get their home remodelled lol
Inteligent life? sounds interesting…
would sound even better if I had spelled intelligent correctly! Sigh.
I glanced at psychologies and found it all a bit patronising to be honest. We're so different, we don't tell you to be thinner, we tell you how to be happy with yourself… Well no, if you were really being different you just wouldn't mention it and you'd talk about something actually interesting and not bodycentric and demoralising.
The trouble I have with that is my eyes cant cope with so much online reading, i'd much rather have a magazine and turn the computer off for a while. I read a lot of books but i like the quick read and dip in and out thing that a magazine has going for it.
I think I'm joining you.
green parenting…I've not heard of that…is it very parenting…cause I'm not sure that's me.
indeed! What on earth is wrong with us all just wanting to enjoy our lives rather than live up to some ridiculous lifestyle that we could never afford and most of us don't even want?
Oh Yaay! Someone else who loves magazines, but doesn't want to read mags that tell her she's not thin and/beautiful enough.
Do you know, the closest I have come is Woman's Weekly. Seriously. I know it's aimed at 'older women' but I find it ticks a lot of boxes; Agony Aunt (love other people's problems!); a good serial; two or three pieces of light fiction; recommendations for 'real' cosmetics (ie the ones you can find in Boots for less than a fiver); letters from readers; health (including non-allopathic); a bit of cookery and a craft pattern (usually knitting). It's not perfect – but it's a damned sight better than the glossies you're expected to pay a fortune for!
Another magazine I saw recently that really caught my eye was one called 'Happinez': A Dutch magazine devoted to happiness and figuring out what makes you happy, and how to find it. Each edition had a theme 'Time' or 'Love' for example. I really wanted to produce a similar one here in Ireland, but lost my way with it – maybe I should revisit the concept?
Thanks for another spot-on post.
Hazel
I hope it's not rude to butt in here and reply to someone else's reply to someone else's blog post (what IS the etiquette there?), but thanks for the recommendation, Foodie Mummy. Will check out Easy Living. Sounds a bit like Happinez – the Dutch mag I like.
Really? Because i thought it would be exactly your demograpic.
Oh well, it's obviously not true what they say about the camera never lying :p
Join the club! I used to be a cosmo girl but I got bored of that pretty fast, I find “psychologies” is the best but even that's going downhill now. It would appear if we're not air headed and looks obsessed then we don't deserve a magazine!
I don't read any. Well, okay that's a HUGE lie. I read Metal Edge. And that's because I'm a big, fat, metal head. But, I don't read any women's magazines. For exactly the reasons you just pointed out. There's nothing of value in any of them. I don't want to know 101 ways to please my man, because no one knows how to do that but him and I doubt he's talked to anyone affiliated with that crap. I don't want all the ads for lipsticks and perfumes because I believe that less is more and men will be a lot more attracted to a woman who's not afraid of her own natural scent(as long as she has good hygiene yo)than they will of someone who bathes in 4 different designer scents and 56 pounds of makeup everyday. At least any man of any real WORTH will be……:). So, since women's magazines don't take women very seriously, I don't take them very seriously, either. I'd like to see exactly what you would, too bad no one will ever put one out that does that because women aren't seen in a serious light, only a shallow one.
Ssshhhh! honestly, there's no need to tell everyone! Costs me a bloody fortune in make-up, this disguise.
Actually, after having a look online – it's not bad. Is under consideration…
I can understand the apeal, in an abstract kind of way, but to be honest, I just don't get it. iykwim
at least one of you wishes can be fulfilled! lol
This is my problem with the online stuff too. I would like a magazine to read when I am away from the computer, something that doesn't hurt my eyes and that i can read in the bath or shove in my handbag.
Interesting thought about the Sunday papers, a few people have said they reads those instead of other magazines. Bloddy bugger is I can't get them out here.
and it really pisses me off that some make a big show of being all 'for women' by talking about dealing with body image when the real way to tackle it, in my opinion, would be to just not talk about it at all because, lets face it, even articles talking about how it's okay to be fat, are only serving to point out that some are and some aren't. move on, ffs, talk about something of interest.
Rant over
Indeed. There really is a gap in the market.
I do read a lot of blogs but yes, like you i want something I can read away from my computer, that i can take in the bath with me or shove in my handbag. monocle…is that a mens mag?
So it's you we have to blame!! Damn you woman! lol. Although I am intrigued by this string idea…I think it could be a whole magazine of itself.
Women! You're Shit! ha ha ha, i'm going to start a magazine just so that I can have this blasted across it's front page. lol
but of course I shall steer clear of the one syllable name for a title. i may just call it Women! You're Shit! Shame about Eve, maybe there really isnät a market for one like this which is why there isn't one. Perpahs we say we would buy it but really we wouldn't…
A few people have this now, i'm gutted i cant get the UK Sunday papers here
Women's weekly…ummm…may have to get hold of a copy…you wouldn't have a copy you could send me would you?
I'm beginning to winder if there just isn't the market for it…you would think that someone somewhere would have tried it…
When I saw psychologies on the news stand I thought it might be good but then I had a flick through and was most disappointed…even more so than with the others because i was hoping/expecting to to be different.
very true indeed, they dont take women seriously and i love your attitude to them. i just there was something out there I would enjoy reading.
It's pretty radical parenting – http://www.thegreenparent.co.uk/ but it's not gospel. I read it with aspiration. I would like to be that organic but I lack commitment!
Of course I do. I never throw away magazines. Not that I read them again either. Just send me a mail with your address and I'll send you a couple!
I don't know what the etiquette is on replying on replies on somebody else's blog. But if you want to produce that kind of mag in Ireland, count me in! I have absolutely no experience in journalism or fashion or anything like that but I learn fast
It doesn't *say* it is a men's mag but appears pretty masculine – there are ads but not so many – and I just like the breadth of coverage – a magazine with a newspaper feel. See here http://www.monocle.com/Other/About-Monocle/
[...] Mondays,’ featuring some of the cruel tricks the fashion industry plays on women. Notes from Lapland wrote this week about how horrified she was by women’s magazines, having been out of the UK [...]
I could… would you like the one with Brad Pitt in?
Oh I should email you with my real email address…
I don't mind Red and I'd like to point out they never airbrushed me when I was in it (the bastards!) I don't buy it every month because of the price and really depending on what's in it. However this month I've decided that I won't be buying it ever again. There is an article in it about how to tan 'safely' it's completely idiotic, I have a friend with stage 2 skin cancer at 28 because of 'safe' tanning and buying into the tanned look being healthy. Bloody ironic considering she is now having radiotherapy.
Then later in the magazine is another article about dealing with sun damage and your skin FFS! So that's me lost, I'd rather read blogs and other online magazines now.
I wonder what the ins and outs of producing that kind of mag would be…
they didn't airbrush you? What utter bastards! But yes, you are right, it is full of rubbish.