Topic: magazines

Katy Perry, Russell Brand Divorce Can’t Be All Her Fault

Katy Perry, Russell Brand Divorce Can't Be All Her Fault

So apparently the reason for Russell Brand and Katy Perry’s divorce is that she’s a drunken prudish party girl careerist who won’t just stay home, have Brand’s kids and watch cripple porn. Confused about how any of those things go together? Me too. But the reasons being propagated by various media for the divorce range from Perry being unable to satisfy Brand sexually to her refusal to stop ‘partying’ to the fact that she won’t just ‘settle down,’ stop touring and having children with Brand. Despite the sort of contradictory nature of all these accounts, the bottom line is clear—it’s all her fault—and so is the message: Even in 2012, a married woman’s goals, pleasure and career should take second place to her husband’s. More »

Men’s Magazines And Rapists Talk The Same Language

Men's Magazines And Rapists Talk The Same Language

Well, this is disturbing: A recent study coming out in the British Journal of Psychology found it’s hard to distinguish between descriptions of women found in popular men’s magazines and those spouted by convicted rapists asked to explain their acts. For anyone who doesn’t understand what the term ‘rape culture’ means—well, this is a pretty fine example. More »

Cosmopolitan’s 75 Sex Moves Men Crave: Setting Sexual Health Back 75 Years

Cosmopolitan's 75 Sex Moves Men Crave: Setting Sexual Health Back 75 Years

Magazines like to teach us weird sex positions, most of which we’ll never try. But when Cosmopolitan recently found its way to my table in a cafe, I was still surprised by what was inside. The cover alone made me laugh: Currently, it features a young starlet I don’t recognize (nothing like a magazine to make you feel old), and headlines that sound like a joke: Look Sexy! Makeup That Flirts For You and This Sex Position Increases Female Orgasm by 56%. (I realize their headlines need to be catchy, not scientific, but what does that even mean?) The header that really caught my eye was 75 Sex Moves Men Crave; frankly, I was skeptical they could deliver the goods. (75? Come on.) The article raised my eyebrows, but not because of groundbreaking news about sex. Instead of explicit diagrams of sex moves I’ll never do, it was full of quotes from men (aged about 18-35) about what they wish their exes had done better in bed. It wasn’t just useless; it was actually damaging for sexual health. Instead of giving me 75 great tips, Cosmo set set me back about 75 years. More »

Wishful Thinking: The “No-Crunch Zone” Workout In Real Life

Wishful Thinking: The "No-Crunch Zone" Workout In Real Life

Women’s magazines have a habit of giving us “workout guides” demonstrated by pretty models, sending the message that we could look like them if we’d only do their simple exercise routine. But does anyone really do them? Can anyone really do them? The models are photographed mid-exercise, leaving us only half a clue as to how to actually do the move, and the improbably lithe, fit models are always shown in an improbably sterile, serene environment; all far from the reality that most of us face when we hit the weights in our neighborhood gym. To bring this Women’s Health “No-Crunch Zone” ab workout down to earth, we traded the confusing instructions (they’re just wishful thinking, anyway) for what we’d really be thinking if we attempted this workout at the gym: More »

15 Lessons Our Fitness Magazines Taught Us

15 Lessons Our Fitness Magazines Taught Us

We’ve been reading fitness magazines for years, but lately we’ve been wondering why we keep shelling out for the stacks of glossy, virgin paper gathering dust in our apartments. How much new news are we really getting? A lot of the messages we get from fitness magazines are not only the same things we’ve been hearing for years. It can be motivating to get the reminders, but then again, they’re usually contradictory and confusing. Save your money (and a few trees), and print out our list of the top 15 fitness magazine lessons: More »