In the world of women’s magazines, the internet is steadily putting print to shame. Why pay up to up to six bucks for a publication of monthly cliché topics and page after page of ads when you can get a flood of the most up-to-date information online from sites that appeal specifically to you? However, like a book, there is something satisfying about holding and reading a magazine over staring at the computer. Do you prefer print or online, or are you feeling as indecisive as we are? Here is the word on the web.
Over at Jezebel.com, former Marie Claire editor, Liz Jones, laments her early love turned hate of lady mags. Jones concludes that print magazines, “… are being usurped by sharp, super-critical online sites and blogs that are not afraid to stand up to be counted.” Interesting … reminds me of a certain online women’s site.
Cathy Alter of HuffingtonPost.com fires back in defense of women’s magazines where she states that after a rough period in her life she had turned to, “… the big O’s gospel and thirteen other women’s glossies to fix my crappy life. And guess what? It worked! Thank you, Cosmo!” Maybe we all need a reminder of the tens ways to be happy every now and then.
Or perhaps women are just fed up with being generalized. Lemondrop.com created a slyly humorous list of stuff all women (supposedly) like which includes things like manolos, chick lit, and romantic comedies.
DivineCaroline’s own Ashley Nelson explores the question of when it comes to women’s magazines who’s evolving, us or them? She looks at the history of women’s magazines and surprises us all noting that publications like Cosmopolitan, Glamour, and Good Housekeeping were all once the epitome of social and political activism. Hard to believe with recent headlines that say things like, “5,445 Ways to Please Your Man!” and “Twelve Celebs Diet to Try.”
Even men are in on the debate. AskMen.com recently came out with a survey that dispels some popular myths about how men are portrayed in women’s magazines. Could we learn more about ourselves and men if we read men’s magazines? At YourTango.com Former Maxim editor, Keith Blanchard, shares nine things he learned about women from editing the notorious Maxim. His answers will surprise you.
In the end, we just need to take the good with the bad, the O Magazines with the Cosmos, because there is something satisfying about actually holding a print magazine. So which one is worth buying? Each month TheFrisky.com grades a handful of women’s magazines so you can buy the worthy issues and avoid the ones that declare rhinestone studded jeans a “must-have.”
What do you think? Are you spending more time surfing women’s magazines online or are you still a fan of the glossies?
