Wednesday, December 05, 2007

In Defense of Skirt!

As if they need my defense, but these are my thoughts.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must point out that I was once profiled in Skirt! and Kelly Love Johnson once picked my old butt off the floor of a roller rink where I was indulging in some fantasy that I wasn't too old for such shenanigans.

That said, when I read Conservative Amazon's post, on the surface I agreed. I have said much the same things about advertising in magazines for women.

But.

All magazines that cater to women contain ads for beauty products, treatments, clothes, surgical solutions, etc. It is a business and making a profit is the main priority of a business if it wishes to remain in print.

Where the difference lies and what makes Skirt! superior, in my humble opinion, is in the editorial content. Most "women's magazines" have articles that support the idea that women need to change themselves: How to Lose 10 pounds in a Week. How to Drive Him Crazy in Bed. How to find the Perfect Pair of Jeans.

Skirt!'s articles are simply essays written by women about their experiences in life. Sharing their thoughts, hopes, dreams, disappointments, embarrassments.

That is what makes it different. That is what makes it a better magazine than any other I've seen so far. I skim right by the ads and get right down to listening to what real women are saying.

2 comments:

jaz said...

"Church and state" is the way it is sometimes phrased.

The phrase originated because editorial (church) and advertising (state) were supposed to be entirely separate entities... and for very good reasons.

Kelly Love said...

Thanks for bringing this up! I wouldn't have seen it if you hadn't posted - it's not a blog I've seen before (you know, because I live in my rose-colored feminist liberal world and all). And thanks for the defense. I thought the dialogue was interesting and actually posted a comment myself!