Are women doing it to themselves?

Question

I can't pick up a women's magazine without being so disgusted with what i see i want to throw up.

The magazines that are marketed to teenaged girls are filled with tips on how to flirt and look pretty and worship men. Feature articles on "How to tell if he likes you" are positioned next to anti-acne creams that cost $20 each. These are the same magazines that present fold out pages of "The picture shrine of the new hottie on Lipstick Jungle", a television show completely unsuitable for the girls between 13 and 17 that Dolly and Girlfriend magazines aim for. The next page consists of "How to dress like Miley Cyrus tips and hints" complete with the correct cosmetics to buy.

Magazines like Cosmopolitan and Cleo go one step further to cater for the sexual maturity of their target audience. After all, these women have grown up on Dolly and Girlfriend, so they already know how to flirt, identify hotties that they can worship and emulate promiscuous female celebrities, why not teach them how to please their men sexually? With articles like "101 ways to make him come back to you again and again" and "Relationship blunders to avoid next time" how can we possibly deny that these magazines are doing harm to the process of gaining gender equality. We're still teaching ourselves that our sole purpose in life is to please men.

The other women's magazines like Women's Day and New Idea are just filled with tips on how to build your domestic skills. Oh and also our old favourite, cosmetics and articles about why we're not physically perfect all the time and how to fix it.

We, as women, lap this c**p up like it's water. These magazines fill our minds with the idea that we still don't live up to the standards that we have set for ourselves. They make us feel like we have to be hotter, more sexually active, more domestic, more maternal, more agreeable, thinner and, above all, OBSESSED with finding and pleasing a partner.

We have to stop doing this to ourselves. I'm sick of hearing my closest friends say that they hate their bodies, "why doesn't my body look like hers?", when the woman in the picture doesn't look like the woman in the picture.

Is this our own fault or is it still society's ideology?

Answer 1

Simple solution - stop buying/reading those magazines.

Answer 2

Even though I am fifty-something, I never bought into the gyno-centric pop culture junk that filled the magazine stands when I was a young woman. Now the junk fills the internet bandwidth.

Young women have it so much worse than I did back in the seventies and eighties when I was younger.  I only had "Twiggy" as a super skinny icon.  I liked her hair, and that was about it.  I guess Twiggy started it all - the super skinny ideal for female bodies.

I think far too many women buy into what the advertising gurus foist upon us.  Oh, those ad-men and women are good at getting under the skin of readers and viewers.  The ad agencies and marketing people employ psychologists and use psychological data to help form their marketing campaigns and make them so successful.

Women need to turn off the tube, ignore the glossy mags and live their lives for themselves.

I've done a pretty good job of ignoring the gyno-centric pop culture junk for years.  It may be tougher now, but it can be done.

Answer 3

In some ways they are and some ways they aren't. I was glad to hear that 2 years ago Spain made runway models weigh at least a certain weight and that that couldn't be underweight. Way to go Spain. I always find it interesting how whenever I walk through the checkout lines and glimpse at all the tabloids and magazines they show pictures of how Carnie Wilson and other famous celebrities lost 50 lbs. etc., etc., then they have magazines on the latest fashion. And right above it they have cake and dessert recipes. It's like they're sending mixed signals. I would have to say that it's a double-edged sword. I for one don't like Britney Spears.  I think she's homegrown white trash. When it comes to dating, I don't want to date some bubble-headed bleach blonde with a room temperature IQ and the personality of a snowflake. I don't like supermodels either because they tend to be self-absorbed  and full of themselves. You know who I've always had a crush on? Janine Garofalo. She's actually rather attractive; she's funny; she's intelligent; and she's got personality. She's someone I can actually have a conversation. Because I'm a bit of a geek myself, I'm more drawn to someone who's got brains.  

Answer 4

Simple

Its about half the fault of females and

its about half the fault of American media (which dominates and brain washes the world).

Ask yourself, why do the men in America want to engineer and maintain this type of global society? What benefits do they get?

Look out onto the sidewalks in a typical american city.

Men having a different gf every weekend.

White men in their 70's dating brain washed asian girls in their 20's.

Women bending over backwards to please the males.

The question is, will women ever have enough power in America to demolish Hollywood and all the propgaganda machinery engineered in this country since world war i.

because if only the women in america gain power, the rest of the women all over the world will also be broken from this spell.

Answer 5

If you don't like those magazines, or they make you feel bad about yourself...don't read them.  

Answer 6

Well you know what? Considering business is all about MONEY.. it just shows that the material in those magazines is WHAT WOMEN WANT.

If it didn't make money, and women didn't buy it, they would stop doing it.

If men bought that c**p they would market it to us also.

It just proves that women DO want to please men at the end of the day (as much as they deny it) and that's something that will NEVER CHANGE.

Never...

So deal with it.

Answer 7

It's a little of both. By and large, the women's magazine industry has yet to catch up with the times. But we can always stop reading that c**p and write our own.

I personally read Cosmo just to get a good laugh. Seriously, their content is so redundant and useless that it's hysterical.

Answer 8

I couldn't agree with you more.

Actually when I was growing up and all the girls were turning into these want a bes, I never understood. We were 13, and they were talking about when they want to lose their virginity's, and going on about their b***s, etc. It drove me nuts that I actually stopped hanging out with them, and played soccor with the guys for the rest of the year.

I just don't understand why kids feel they need to impress the opposite s*x, and learn how to get some kid back. Their kids and should be acting like kids.

You're right though, it's sick what is said in their magazines. Have you ever thought of writing the magazing company and complaining?  

Answer 9

No.  It's the fault of the male dominated/owned/controlled media that CRAMS this garbage down the throats of young women, who are apparently helpless against effective marketing.

Answer 10

Don't look at those magazines...  you will be at peace with yourself

Answer 11

I think it is a bit of both. As we progress as a people we hold on to older ideas. I agree I dont even look at a magazine any more. I am not the average woman so there for its not for me. I used to be a size 6 now a 14(after having 4 children) even then I didnt like  the mags. I me and thats it Im not changing unless it is to better my health. I was told I;m too independent and thats y i cant keep a man. If someone ist interested in staying with  me its their lost. life goes on. for those who can make it work hooray for those who cant or dont want to i still say hooray. u were born alone and will die alone but you can still have a worth while life. live life too the fullest. save your money no mags or make up for me.

Answer 12

It's the fault of the people who pick up those magazine and take them seriously. I love reading articles about the photoshopping and airbrushing of celebrities. I get an instant self-esteem boost from it. None of those women look like people think they look. They get extra boob and booty and get their acne and cellulite covered up. I'm so glad Dove did their "real women" commercials and ads. Kudos to them!

Women just need to get to a point where they are happy with themselves and find a guy who loves them when they wake up looking like a mess with bed head, mascara across their nose and a pimple on their chin. Because all of those celebs wake up looking exactly the same! ...then their glam squad shows up so they can go to the supermarket..

Answer 13

It's unfortunate that this is exactly what media seems to want us to believe. I recently walked into a random clothing store (I forgot the name) to see that they were selling in the kids section, bras for 7-year-olds. They're 7!!! And just the other day, I turn on the television to see a commerial for walmart where a mom was dropping her 12ish old daughter to school. The daughter complains that everything's horrible because everyone's going to have a hoodie, jeans and backpack. Her mom disagrees, turns around, and sees that everyone is indeed wearing hoodies, jeans and backpacks.

Moral of the story? Media is trying to convice even adults that comfority is so important to kids that we have to give in and buy them clothes that may seem too mature for them. (well hoodies and jeans don't count, but I'm just using that as the base example) And parents are falling for it. Esspically with the younger tweens, who don't yet have a job or money, and try to get their parents to buy them stuff.

Good news seems to be that as we mature, we start to see (hopefully) how crazy we were to follow the media, but that's going to get harder as the media reaches down to younger children. So I hope parents reading this can teach their children (not just the females too) that the media is a thing of evil! (or just don't believe the media is always right)

P.S. I might be wrong with many of my opinions and statements due to the fact that I'm still 16.

Answer 14

So you are saying that if Playboy/penthouse magazines were put into general then all yous girls would walk around in G strings (sounds good to me)

Answer 15

This has been going on since the 1920's. It's not going away. Get over it, most people have.

Answer 16

I hear ya... All they do is help make a woman feel inadequate.  That is why I no longer buy those types of magazines.  They really center on pleasing everyone else BUT yourself.  I think it is society's ideology which rubs off on many people.

Answer 17

Finally someone sees this too.

I think the more we go about being strippers which are just prostitutes i dont care if any or you who think different the more we do this its not helping. Woo woo we can have jobs and vote yay but we are still looked at as just pieces of *** pretty that's all we will ever be if these f'in whores keep dancing like lil s***s in the clubs and in music videos and just about wherever they please. FYI your probably shaking your azz cause you want it in there. And then these stupid girls want to know why men just f us and leave us ummm haha look at yourself does a guy want to be dating a w***e or just get what he wants and then leaves you decide its pretty easy, and so are you.

Plus another thing all of these women are nothing but brain washed idiots thinking that instead of working honestly like a man would they say they have to strip because they have a child and they need the money .

I for one think men will treat us better and look at us different if we actually respect ourselves and i dont care about all you stupid girls right now this and saying your dumb id much rather spend my whole life pleasuring men because im attention thrived and all i care about is making myself look good in front of the guys