Womens Magazines....

[DianeT]

As a child I flipped through my mother's women magazines. But only to calculate the ratio of editorial content vs advertising. Came to the same conclusions as Char. It was mostly advertising and a few articles used as an excuse for a magazine. I wondered why a woman would want to read that, unless she was mostly interested in clothing and perfume. These magazines were very similar to "men's" magazines of the time, except the latter had less advertising and more scantily clad ladies.., In retrospect, I realize that in the first, women learned how to dress to please their man, and in the second, men learned to look at other women. Most of these magazines were owned by men, even if the editorial staff could be feminine. Which reminds me, I twice worked for a summer job in the subscription department of a big press editor who owned several women's magazines, including a very famous one. The local director was a man and was most of the time working at another premises, making only brief appearances once or twice a week (an assistant director woman was actually managing the staff), chatting with me only to make scornful remarks about the female workers there. 80% of the time I was the only guy working there, with maybe 40 female colleagues. I did two months there in total, and despite what a lot of people say about women working together, it was a nice atmosphere and a cool workplace to be. One month I worked in the accounting section with a team of 7 or 8 woman sitting with me around the same table. They talked and joked all day long and it was a blast. And you know what? While talking and joking, they worked so fast that I remember, at 17, not being able to keep up with them despite all my efforts to perform well. One day I came in at work not feeling well and had to be excused at variable intervals. They covered for me and even did my part of the job when I couldn't. They were great professionals, and simply the nicest and most gentle bunch of colleagues I ever had. I remember them fondly, since I never had the chance to work in a workplace with a majority of females since.