"I want to laugh, I want to cry" suddenly seems appropriate.

[enamoured]

This makes me so sad. I still have most of the issues of Girls' Life that I either bought or got in the mail during its early years (it debuted in... 1994 or so, and I started reading it a year later). It was not like that back then.

For one thing, their cover models used to be just regular girls--just like American Girl does. They had great, age-appropriate stories on how to deal with crushes and be assertive and how to deal with the usual things that late elementary school aged/middle school aged girls deal with. I even remember them doing a story on different girls who had "perfect" body types or features--one was skinny, one was able to fill a bra, and one was petite, and they talked about the good and bad that came with that, and since I was in the same shoes as the girl who was busty, I remember being so impressed with the fact that a magazine was actually saying, "Look! This is what a normal girl who has a body like this goes through!"

Plus, they had a great book/movie/music section, and it wasn't just all about new movie releases. A lot of the books I read between fifth and seventh grade were suggestions from Girls' Life, come to think of it. You know how people talk about how some women regard Cosmo as their lifestyle Bible? Girls' Life was kind of like that for me, only in a positive way. It wasn't all about trying to be one of the cool girls. They firmly advocated being yourself.

I've always wanted to see a girls'/womens' magazine that wasn't strictly focused on the LOOK YOUR BEST FOR TEH BOYS! part. Don't get me wrong, I love looking at clothes and reading tips on how to actually engage in acceptable behavior with whoever you may be interested in on a potentially romantic platform. I'm not even adverse to exercise tips. What I do get tired of is the barrage of "this is how you should look and dammit, we are going to make our content be ONLY about this" messages in lady mags. I've started skimming GQ a bit lately (mostly because... well, it has pictures of good-looking guys in suits. STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT, OKAY?!), and they have stuff that's interesting and the occasional odd clothes/fashion/relationship thing. Why can't teen magazines and Glamour do that? Not every woman is a fashionista. Not every woman is interested in what this summer's ideal eye shadow shade is. And, by God, you do not need to give twelve year olds exercise tips and ideas for a "perfect bikini body". It's bad enough for her that she has to deal with puberty and middle school and all the drama that comes with that time of her life, but to have a media outlet that is supposed to be sensitive to her doing this? It's just wrong.

Even though I'm working towards a broadcasting degree, I've always wanted to possibly start a magazine with things that I'm interested in; things that my friends like and aren't seen as being mainstream "girlie" or whatever. I thought about starting a LJ community using that idea a while ago, but I abandoned it because I don't have enough time. But I'd still like to try it. I'm in a "change the world" mood right now, even if it means writing about how it's okay to like fluffy girlie-girl things and you can still be a capable, smart, funny, and well-rounded person who just so happens to have breasts.

Comments

[waderapspoorly.livejournal.com]

Magazines like that are the reason why I read Bitch and Bust.

[supersyncspaz7.livejournal.com]

I hate that print magazines are failing all over the place, because I do love reading them, but I really do not care about half the glitzy frilly things. Fashion magazines have, what, 150 pages on average? I want all 150 pages to be worth the $3-$4 I spent on it, and not just all about prettying myself up. Give me something funny or thought-provoking or pictures of dudes not wearing shirts* or something, dang.

(*: WHY AM I SO SHALLOW. I CAN'T HELP IT RIGHT NOW, I AM STILL THINKING ABOUT THE CUTE GUY I SAW BOWLING THE OTHER NIGHT.)

[waderapspoorly.livejournal.com]

Exactly. My Entertainment Weekly is, on average, 60 pages. The only reason I still get it is because I buy it through Coke Rewards points.

You want me to buy your magazine? You want me to put out 4.50-6.00 per issue or get a subscription? Make it worth my while. I did a project this semester on body image and the media and I was horrified. I hadn't read most of those magazines for a few years (other than US Weekly, which is like crack [stars really ARE just like US!]) and I only needed 20 images. By the time I was done with my pile, I had about 35.

Another magazine I really like is Mental Floss, which is all about bettering your mind and not what bikini body you should totally have to attract that guy who sits next to you on the bus, omg!!11

[supersyncspaz7.livejournal.com]

I always want to buy Mental Floss whenever I'm in Borders. ALWAYS. And I like Wired even though I don't get half of it sometimes (I'm into tech, but not that into it), and Geek Monthly sometimes.

If I start a girl magazine, I am so calling it Crush and basically anything I've ever talked to you about will make a way in there. So it'll be full of pop culture references, nostalgia, and maybe cat macros.

[waderapspoorly.livejournal.com]

I'd subscribe to your magazine, and I'd totally write an editorial page for you.

One month it would be: "What You Should Know About The Nineteenth Amendment"
The next month it would be: "Why You Should Know Who Victoria Woodhall Is"
Another topic: "Nellie Bly: American Badass"

[brandyalexander.livejournal.com]

I'm really with you on the negative image thing. The sad thing is, I don't read any magazines and yet I put on some weight recently given the move – it's been very stressful, and we've been eating a lot of take out in the meanwhile – and before that, I had a little bit of a belly because I'm lazy, and even if I don't read magazines, my self worth has completely gone to crap because OH MY GOD, MY SIZE SEVEN JEANS ARE SNUG ON ME. IF I GO UP A SIZE, I'LL BE CLOSE TO DOUBLE DIGITS. And yet, I look at women like Christina Hendricks, who is so very va-va-va voom and think she's gorgeous, but personally can't stand the way I look by having extra weight (and it's not even all that unnecessary, as I tend to run low on the appropriate amount of body fat).

[poinsley.livejournal.com]

I subscribe to Glamour and they are pretty good about having articles about all sizes and fashions for those.

[silver-mage.livejournal.com]

I remember what YM used to be - a LOT of my own how-to-be-assertive I picked up from the stories there. CG, for a while, also used to be great.

I really don't know what happened to magazines as of late. I tell you this: the minute you start up a magazine, I'm right behind you for it.

[alice-ash.livejournal.com]

i seem to recall that GL used to be a girlscout magazine, but it branched out... i could be wrong, though. i remember lots of references to girlscouts and there used to be a part in the middle that you could tear out and use in girlscout meetings, i think.
i stopped reading it about when they changed to the "GL" logo. but i used to absolutely love the magazine. i too am very sad to see how they've changed :( wow.