Can you be a feminist and like women's magazines?

[AlexanderSkarsgardIWould]

Have read a few things on here about the undesirability of women's magazines from a feminist point of view. My DP has also said to me I can't be a feminist and read these magazines. But I consider myself a strong feminist and have always quite liked reading them.

I used to subscribe to Cosmo before I had DS - after DS all the articles about sex and dating made me feel it's a younger woman's magazine. Plus all the fashion stuff, which I was never really interested in, became irrelevant to somebody whom pregnancy left with a size 18+ body.

I always used to wish there were more of the meatier articles about real life issues and less fluff about clothes and make-up, and the adverts for cosmetic surgery at the back always irritated me (quite often coming after articles in the main section about the dangers of cosmetic surgery and how we should accept ourselves for who we are).

I kinda liked the warm, gossipy tone though. It felt like having a chat with a mate. And yes, it was stuffed full of pictures of pretty young models, but so are just about all forms of media these days.

I now read Heat for the same thing, as well as the telly and film reviews (I also read Vanity Fair - lots of adverts for luxury goods I'll never be able to afford but more than balanced out by deliciously meaty articles that even dare to stray into the realm of politics and economics, unlike in Cosmo - the only vaguely political issue that'll tackle is rape). It does make comments about celebrities, e.g. about the clothes they wear, but I've never read anything I've thought was really mean.

What exactly is wrong with these magazines?

Most women who call themselves feminists occasionally or regularly do things that are not feminist acts. Just because you self-define as a feminist does not make everything you do pro-feminist. The important thing is to think critically about all aspects of your life, and decide which are the important battles for you to take a stance on.

Personally, I think that the majority of 'women's' magazines promote messages that actively sustain the patriarchy. It doesn't mean that I will never pick one up in a doctor's waiting room.

Yes you can, of course you can.
It isn't biblical, suit yourself

I can't help thinking that anything with a constant focus on how we look (fashion, make up, diets) goes against the feminist grain. In general there is an enormous emphasis on the way women look, to the point that women are largely valued on the way they look over their intelligence or other abilities, and whilst men may be under a degree of pressure to look good, their intelligence or ability is never called into question in relation to it. I think these magazines contribute to this culturally accepted norm, and so I don't read them, and wish they didn't exist. I don't mean that we should all stop caring what we look like - I always do my best to be presentable, and I don't think there's anything wrong with people expressing themselves through what they wear, etc - but the 'serious' or political content of these magazines seems to be very token, amidst all the beauty and fashion stuff, and it just contributes to the idea that your job as a woman is not to think, but to look right.

Thank you Thistledew and PerryCombover. Would just like to add I'm genuinely interested to know if there's something I'm not getting and open to changing my behaviour. For example, I'd be interested to know, Thistledew, how you consider magazines to help sustain patriarchy.

Personally I think most women's magazines don't give a very feminist message, a lot of Cosmo articles are all 'how to please your man in bed in 10 easy ways!' 'Blow his mind!' etc etc. I agree that they do have an anti-feminist message sometimes... BUT I'm just like you, I kind of enjoy the tone of magazines like Cosmo and sometimes find them very funny. So sometimes if I'm going on a train journey I do treat myself to a magazine but I sort of see it as a guilty pleasure - it's not very feminist, but it doesn't make me NOT a feminist, IYSWIM.

(On a personal level I hate magazines like Closer and Star far more than things like Cosmo or Glamour because they are so critical of celebrities' bodies.)

Being a feminist might make you less likely to enjoy women's magazines, because you might notice things in them that you would have otherwise been oblivious to.

But enjoying women's magazines does not mean that your "feminist card" is revoked.

Save your money! I gave them up easily.

Yes mochan, I suppose I've always just accepted these magazines encourage women to focus on their looks and, ignoring the fashion tripe, made a beeline for the articles that really interest me - real life stories, features on careers and relationships etc. I can see that that's problematic - magazines should be giving us what we want/need and that's not endless features on hairstyles.

It's all about balance. I subscribe to the Economist, Private Eye, New Scientist, Literary Review and read social policy journals related to my job. I don't believe that picking up Closer or Heat in the supermarket when I want my brain to relax and de-stress is a crime against feminism. It's brain candy isn't it? MoChan I wouldn't look to these for political commentary, just trivia about make-up and clothes- that's what they are about.

I am a bit of a beauty product junkie and enjoy visiting spas and whatnot which again I don't think prevents me from being a feminist. I think this stuff is all trivial and being a feminist is about what you really do and how you really act in life rather than buying a lipstick and flicking through gossip mags.

elliemay I accept that the glossies are primarily about fashion, etc, and a discerning person will balance their reading of them with other stuff, and will exercise their critical faculties when reading them. But not everyone approaches them that way. I worry, for example, that these things give younger and more impressionable readers (from what I can recall, my friends and I started reading those in our early teens) the idea that clothes, hair and make-up is the limit of what they are.

My problems with the likes of Heat and Closer are different. I hate the way they alternately bully and celebrate their subject matter. I hate bullying, and it seems to have become a form of entertainment these days.

I stopped reading them when the 'norm' was OMG see the cellulite on that! Skinny much? Fat much? It all became demeaning.

Yes, sometimes you just want a bit of light reading. For a while I got into watching Ugly Betty. Someone said to me I shouldn't watch it, I should only watch shows with strong female characters in them, like that one where Helen Mirren plays the policewoman. But you're not alway in the mood for gritty serious drama, especially at the end of a long day. I read The Guardian as well, but sometimes that gets a bit much. I'm sure people on here can identify with the experience of as a mother not always wanting to be reminded of the terrible things that go on in the world. Stories about murder and stuff that before I had kids I would've read and thought 'That's bad' but then moved on from now really upset me.

MoChan, I see what you're saying. I recall reading Marie Claire in my early 20's and there being a lot more serious articles, Cosmo is rubbish these days too, it really is all fluff. (NB I only buy them for the freebies!)

I see what you're saying about Heat and Closer but I think the celebrities involved do court media attention. I guess it's their job so I don't really see it as bullying, but perhaps your right. They would never put a red ring of shame around a man's wobbly bits whereas women are critiqued in this way. Hmm...

I hate bullying too but it seems that a lot of people want to be famous for nothing and TV shows (X Factor, BGT etc- don't watch any of this rubbish) and magazines provide a platform for this. But ultimately the media has the power to edit these perhaps vulnerable individuals in a way that presents them as objects of ridicule.

I still don't think this is necessarily a feminist issue though (apart from the body critiquing) but just the nature of celebrity and fame these days.

Alexander I agree with wanting some light reading/ viewing at times without really getting too caught up in whether it is appropriate from a feminist POV. My life too is incredibly stressful and you sometimes need to give your brain a few hours off!

I can't look at gossip magazines though, as they are simply vile.
For fashion I enjoy high end as it feels more like art (kidding myself)

eek *you're not your

If I have a long train ride, I'll buy Take a Break and Bella. I don't think reading them is necessarily a feminist act, but I don't think it's actively anti-feminist either. There are a few aspects that arguably promote a pro-feminist agenda, even though they would never use that vocabulary, eg. there are quite often stories on DV, with the clear message that "it will only get worse - you have to leave". TaB has done some campaigning on poor responses by the Turkish authorities to the rape of tourists. They also flag women's health concerns. Yes, they are emotionally manipulative, but I also think they sympathize with what are real-life concerns for very many women. And they don't sneer at celebs.

Did you know that Stylist (free London magazine that you get on the tube) never has articles about diets, and won't accept advertising for cosmetic surgery?

There's nothing wrong with being a feminist and reading women's magazines as long as you keep a critical eye on them. As some of the ideology, behaviour, habits and practices they promote for women are really pathetic.

I laugh at lot of what I see in them. The advice they give on how to "catch and keep men", for example, it's just so last century. Or their obsession with women's bodies and appearance.

I consider myself a feminist and love clothes and being stylish, within my means. But I do not make that stuff the centre of my life.

I don't think there's major harm in liking women's magazines as long as they don't brainwash you.

I'd be more worried if someone asked me if it's OK to be a feminist and love Jeremy Clarkson.

I like the some fashion mags. Vogue, Tatler's quite funny in parts.

I really like the more obscure high end ones. Ten for example.

But I'm not so keen on Red, Marie Claire. Anything that is telling me they are for women. So the moving story of the woman in a different country, up against diet to get a man type stuff. I find those more irritating for some reason.

I never buy the trashier ones.

And there was one in the weekend magazines last weekend that was fashion porn which sounded worse. Treats! irrc.

By the way, everytime my partner questions my feminist believes when I get too much into "vane, superficial" chick flick, I tell him I'm reading or watching whatever it is from a critical, sociological/psychological perspective. He always chuckles and that's the end of it.

I also used to quetion his like of "Big Brother", as I consider it such a waste of your life to watch that program. And he'd reply as above too :)

I was going to recommend Stylist too Trills. Plus, they have Lucy Mangan back from her maternity leave, which is always good - though I have no idea how she reconciles her left-wing principles with working for such a madly consumerist publication.

Stylist used to be just awful when it launched, but has really found its feet over the last year or two.

I am a dyed in the wool old skool 48 year old feminist. Interviewed for jobs at Spare Rib and all. (Not that I got them.)

I work on a women's mag

I feel less feminist guilt reading Stylist than I do most other women's mags (but perhaps more capitalist guilt!).