Recommended reading: The Vagenda
First of all, I'm going
to come out and say that I do not buy mainstream 'women's lifestyle'
magazines. Read: magazines pertaining to an approximation of all of
women-kind's collective interests, which apparently does not stray
from the confines of fashion, beauty, dieting, and dating (men only).
I am very aware of the content and the problems with these kinds of
magazines, which is one of the many reasons I choose not to buy them.
Instead I find myself jostling for elbow room among many astonished
men at the other sections of magazines at the newsagent's, such as
computing and technology, music, leisure/interests, and sadly
sometimes men's interests, which have in my experience been home to
magazines catering to all the genres above. I'm
not sure how or why we've let ourselves be caged into such a teeny,
tiny, and very shallow little corner of the magazine world, but we
have, and I'm kinda tired of the double-takes...
I bought The Vagenda
gleefully anticipating that it may well be a longer, more
media-focused, yet still witty version of The
Noughtie Girl's Guide To Feminism by Ellie Levenson, which
I'd read a few years previous. I was in luck! The Vagenda examines
the content and issues with the media's current worrying vision of womanhood and
femininity, including advice on fashion, health, beauty and relationships. The book also gives credit where it's due, praising the more promising, sexually liberated publications
of the 60s and 70s, to the perplexing and frankly confusing attitude
to sex undertaken by popular magazines today, who seem to make a
profit from posing as a life-line for our problems, offering useless
solutions, and then introducing some new things to worry about before
the end of the issue – now you've taken the quiz to see if your
boyfriend is cheating on you, you better figure out how to win him
back: here are ten sex tips to please your man in the bedroom!' The
Vagenda examines the trite subjects that appear and reappear
in each issue of popular women's magazines, including body image woes, the ever-changing
and sometimes baffling world of fashion (Vajazzling? Really?),
relationship 'advice', diets, and the disturbing world of Lad
Culture, and reminds you that you're not the only one feeling
slightly weird about it all..
The
great thing about this book is that it finds an easy balance between
being informative, being hilarious, and reminding the reader that she
really doesn't need to stand for this crap. The
Vagenda does a great job of making
the reader take a critical look at the way the media markets to and
treats women, and what these magazines suggest our priorities should
be. I know many people who, when asked about their opinion on the
shameless woman-bashing and body-shaming that is packed into every
tabloid or cheap gossip rag, would shrug passively and claim that it
is no big deal – but why do we turn a blind eye to it? And more
importantly, how is this shaping the generation of young girls who
will be bombarded with this kind of trashy media wherever they turn?
It's easy to claim that it's a form of cheap entertainment, but The
Vagenda insists that we all sit up
and take some responsibility for the media that we purchase as
consumers and as women. Just because no real brain power went into
the publishing of your magazine, doesn't mean that you shouldn't use
your
brain before you dig absentmindedly into the supposed latest sexual
exploits of whichever b-list celebrity is the current flavour of the
month.
When
we examine the media, we examine our culture and our society as a
whole. Because we are so surrounded by culture, we rarely step back
and review the messages that we're receiving on a daily basis, and
what it says about those who buy into it. It's easy to join a pack
mentality and buy what is laid out in front of us, under a nice, bold
sign that says 'women's lifestyle', and be satisfied that that is
what we're meant to
be consuming, but by never questioning our value of that media, we're
essentially reading the magazines with our eyes closed. An interesting study cited in the book states that a 2012 study
found that after just three minutes spent looking at a fashion
magazine, 70% of women reported that they felt 'guilty, depressed and
shameful'. When this is how our media makes us feel about ourselves,
isn't it time to do as The Vagenda
suggests we do and 'call bullshit?'
I wholeheartedly recommend The Vagenda to any woman and especially
anyone who feels baffled and angry about the questionable ethics and
ideals of media we are spoon-fed. This book gives some real incite into the toxicity of women's magazines and will get you chuckling as you read- if we didn't laugh, we'd probably just spontaneously combust.
I
also have some intelligent, thought-provoking and self-image-positive
media to suggest to readers who like their mags without all the
vapid nonsense:
Lionheartmagazine
“Lionheart Magazine is a magazine for those looking for
something that reflects their personalities and preferences.
Editorial that’s smart, funny, friendly and a little irreverent,
together with beautiful design, illustrations and photography. You’ll
find craft, fashion, art, interviews and features that are
interesting, inspiring and hearty.”
http://www.msmagazine.com/
http://www.rookiemag.com/
mookychick.co.uk
