Women's Magazines - Friend or Foe?

A new blog written by women for women called Vagenda  is gaining a lot of media attention.  It claims to be feminism with humour, taking a stand against women's magazines.  One such magazine is Grazia.  They claim it hinders rather than helps women.  One example is the continuous message that a woman cannot be single and happy whereas men move on.  Their target at the moment appears to be film star, Demi Moore who they insist on describing as "tragic" and how she is "obsessive" about getting her husband back to the point of having a breakdown in the 6th February 2012 issue.  In the same issue, it states how Heidi Klum's marriage to Seal failed due to her success.  Thereby making women believe they cannot be both successful and have a relationship.

Demi Moore on the red carpet with her daughter Rumer at Cinema for Peace benefit

Another message from Grazia to its readers is you cannot have a career and be a mother and do both well.  This is implied from the cover below with Sarah Jessica Parker.  Furthermore, last year, Grazia tweeted what is better a rich husband or a career?  Perhaps suggesting women do not need a career just a rich husband!  Essentially, the message is as long as you have a man everything will be okay! 

Vagenda also argues that these women's magazines only portray one body type - thin.  Therefore, implying other body types are unwanted resulting in women suffering from body image issues and low self esteem.  Not only this but these magazines promote cosmetic surgery as a way of eliminating these body issues they have helped create in the first place.

There are two current types of feminism - third wave and post-feminism.  Third wave feminists want to be treated equally to men.  Post-feminists believe that women are equal now and can do as they please and this tends to focus on women as consumers.  Which category do you think women's magazines fall into?

Let's take Cosmopolitan magazine, which Vagenda criticises for only discussing men, sex, fashion and beauty giving the impression that this is all that its readers should care about.  It tends to fall into the post feminism category as does Sex and the City:

"Sex and the City is able to exploit fully the glossy women's magazines' consumerist approach to sexuality, in which women's sexual pleasure and agency is frankly encouraged as part of a consumer lifestyle and attitude." (Arthurs 2003 p.85)

However, in Cosmopolitan's defence it is currently promoting its F Word campaign which is demanding equal pay for women which falls into third wave feminism.



So according to women's magazines, we have a choice to make so which is it going to be, a rich husband and children or a career?  Or stop buying these magazines?