Woman's Worry

Fear / Anxiety / Pressure


Originally, I had planned to make a series about this particular magazine, but instead I will opt for one glowing example.

Welcome to "Woman's World". This is a magazine that my wife seems to love. I am constantly finding new issues of it in our bathroom. I can't complain, because at $1.79 a copy, it is far better than "Cosmopolitan" or "O" magazine.

However, I have issues with this magazine and the stereotypes it perpetuates. It markets to the basic fears of women and claims to give them hope and promise for the future. This is much like Playboy promising young, hot, sexy blond babes for every 18 year old male that reads it.

Each issue of Women's World is essentially the same. The themes remain constant as does the basic cover layout and contents. Lets take a little stroll through the subliminal anxiety of the modern American women;

A) "God Bless America" We are narrowing our focus from the outset. While Muslims and other faiths might worship the same 'God', lets face it. This magazine really isn't aimed toward them. We are looking at the Bible belt here and women over 30.

B) "So Easy, So Cute!" This is a standard on every issue. It is the craft-like treat with a theme, such as flowers or the American Flag, or a teddy bear. It is almost alway a desert. It is an eye catcher for the starving woman on a diet. Most women standing in the checkout lane will wonder, "If that has low calories, maybe I can eat it!", better buy the magazine and find out.

C) "The Smiling, Middle-agd, Anglo-Saxon Woman" I don't recall ever seeing an African-American or Asian woman on this magazine. Again, Bible Belt Mid-Westerners don't tend to be those ethnicities. She always looks happy (like most of the readers 'want' to be), and is usually proclaiming that she has lost some un-imaginable amount of weight based on the main cover story (see "F" below).

D) "Cure Your Stress!" Welcome to fear #1. It is assumed that all reader of this magazine are stressed out over something such as weight, love life, finances, acceptance, the list is endless. So lets give the potential buyer / reader a life line on how to cure it.

F) "The Get-Slim Vitamin" Welcome to Fear #2. All women are overweight. The concept of an ideal weight for most women is unobtainable. This fosters a concept of inadequacies in women that they will do anything (including spending lots of money) to correct. I am constantly amazed at the new 'methods' that this magazine comes up with to loose weight. Here it is a vitamin, but in the past it has been the televisions shows you watch, the cars you drive or the candidates you vote for. "Vote for George Bush and lose 10lbs!".

G) "Loose 9lbs in a week!" This is the sub-plot to "F". There has to be a number reference regarding how much weight you could lose. The number has to be significant enough to make the woman think she can actually lose it, but small enough to sound realistic. The number is never less than 3lbs or greater than 15lbs. In all reality, any doctor will tell you that a true weight loss of more than 3lbs per week is unhealthy. So there claim of 9lbs in a week seems bit on the ludicrous side.

H) "Live Longer!" Finally, there is Fear #3. The fear of getting old and dying. The concept of telling these readers that death is inevitable and to enjoy the time you have left is unheard of. Aging / Death are to be feared and there MUST be ways to starve it off and be young and happy forever. At least this magazine wants you to think that.

I) "Paula Dean's Best Every Barbecue!" The planned party feast. This is another staple of the magazine. The HUGE dinner function that you can cook all these dishes for. While the dishes may actually be healthy, the quantities represented certainly are not. The concept of portion control is never mentioned. Besides, nothing makes you forget about stress and aging/death than eating pounds of meat and sweets.

J) "Save 10% on Gas!" There is usually a cost saving sub-heading thrown in somewhere on the front. But fear of monetary failure does not tend to be a major concern for these readers. At least not as much as stress, death and aging.

K) "Feel Happy Every Day!" (see "D" above) The message being, that most of the time you are not happy. Read this article and you can change your basic personality type and be freed from all the media pressure regarding your weight and your age. Yeah....right.

L) "Looks Years Younger In Just 30 Days!" (see "H" above) I don't think there is anything more pathetic than a 50 or 60 year old woman striving to hold on to her 20s and 30s. The readers of this magazine did not get that memo. The bottom line here is that you ARE old...and you do everything in your power not to let it show. Live in denial people.....it is the right thing to do.

So lets sum this up. The average middle aged white woman is 'stressed', 'overweight', loves to 'cook', loves to 'entertain' and is profoundly afraid of growing 'old' and 'dying'.

That means that the average American Woman's life adds up to: Being Stressed + Being Fat + Eating + Eating-A-Lot + Aging + Dying = Misery. Gee, what a great magazine. I am so glad I was born a male so I don't have to be marketed to in this way.

Instead, we males get "Playboy" and "Popular Mechanics"....but that is another blog. Who wants dessert?!