Why Are Men's Magazines So Much Better Than Ours?

I've been reading and flipping through teen's and women's magazines like Cosmopolitan, Self, and Glamour for most of my life, but recently I picked up an issue of GQ and was a little surprised by what I saw.

As we have mentioned in class, women's magazines seem to feature the same types of stories and "advice" for EVERY. SINGLE. ISSUE. However, I couldn't put down this issue of GQ. First of all, it was full of smart, witty humor from cover to cover. Secondly, it featured stories that were actually interesting and relevant, including current event news and advice for the working world.

It's also interesting how men's magazines have evolved as opposed to women's magazines. When men's magazines were first introduced, they featured nude women and ultra-masculine themes. Although these magazines obviously still exist (i.e. Playboy and Maxim), some men's magazines - although far from perfect - have proven to be more mature.

Although women's magazines can be fun to read occasionally (even though we all know they have many flaws, as many of you mentioned in earlier posts), they often treat their readers as mere bodies, sexual objects, mindless, powerless women that require "constant vigilance, attention and self-surveillance" (Gill 217).

It's unfortunate that many women's magazines often perpetuate the gender stereotypes that women have been trying to disprove for decades. Magazine headlines or stories may seem like they are trying to empower us ("His Best Sex Ever;" "The Walk That Drives Men Wild"), they are actually degrading. Women's magazines have not seemed to (semi-)evolve the way men's magazines have. Although things may be worded differently, the basic themes are still the same.

Are lad mags funny?

The issue of “lad mags” is an interesting one to me because it seems that many issues that are debated in terms of men’s magazines seem to also be discussed in terms of women’s magazines in addition to various other topics that are relevant only to men’s magazines. Gill talks about how it is difficult to create a men’s magazine that caters to a general population that most readers will be interested in. This challenge is also present in women’s magazines as we saw from the various magazines that we analyzed in class which each catered to a certain type of woman.

                With the growing focus on masculinity and issues of masculinity in the arts, the topic of men’s magazines seems to be one that could heat up fast. As we have discussed, there is a perception of a “crisis of masculinity” in today’s society and the question of how magazine staff and editors may deal with this possible crisis could be a challenging one to tackle. While  there are similar issues at hand with men’s versus women’s magazines, there is a large distinction between the two in that women’s magazines tend to be more oriented toward the attainment and maintenance of “femininity” while men’s magazines are taking a turn towards a more playful approach encouraging pleasure, consumption, and irony.

Lad mags have sparked some controversy about whether they are genuinely funny or simply offensive and problematic. UniLad was forced to pull a "surprise" rape segment and other lad mags have been called out for offensive segments; however, it is argued that these segments are not intended to be taken seriously and that a unique sense of humor/irony is needed to fully understand them. However, while humor may be present, it may be more harmful than funny.