Mary Clare

I have been boycotting Marie Claire (the magazine) for several months now, ever since the infamous blog post by one of their writers about how she thought that fat people were disgusting and shouldn't kiss on television, or anywhere else she could see them, for that matter. However, one good thing did come out of that debacle; I discovered the feminist website Jezebel, which has since provided endless hours of entertainment. (That is, until the redesign, which was terrible and has caused the site to hemorrhage commenters.)

The other day, however, I found myself in the possession of a Marie Claire. No, I didn't buy it, and neither did the friend who lent it to me. Someone else bought it, passed it on to the friend when finished, and my friend, knowing my addiction to glossy paper, passed it along to me. So I read it. (It being the January 2011 issue.)

I never really bought Marie Claire a whole lot anyway, and I remember always feeling vaguely disappointed when I did. Like most magazines, the cover over promises while the content under delivers. This cover promises: "Sexy hair, great skin Revamp your beauty routine", "Another Year, Another Diet...How to really lose those last 5 lbs", Best New Fashion Our Faves from the Runway + 57 great buys for under $100", "Unstoppable Amy Adams 'The world things I'm so innocent, but it's not true'", "Exclusive: The Teacher who sold sex on Craigslist", and "America's Most Wanted Woman p.68". Does it deliver? I suppose. The articles about fashion and beauty are mostly about more expensive fashion and beauty items, Amy Adams is trying too hard to be "bad", and the teacher who sold sex on Craiglist really should have known better.

I find that Marie Claire focuses a lot on very high-end fashion, and not on fashion that's affordable. All women's fashions magazines feature high-end/designer fashion, but other magazines like Glamour make an effort to translate the looks to people on a real budget. Marie Claire does not. Although, to be fair, Marie Claire did focus this month on great buys for under $100, as seen on the cover. But even that's expensive! I want the whole look for under $100, not just one piece of the look for under $100.

Speaking of clothes, I also disliked the "DressCode" article on pages 54-55. This article is purportedly about how "real women" dress. The article showcased two working moms. The one mom is a Freelance Art Director, and the other is Head of Series Development MTV. Both of their looks feature the clothes that people in a non-corporate environment can get away with. That's great, but what about all the people in a corporate environment? It's easy to be fashionable and trendy if you work in areas where that's allowed. But what if you work in a more corporate environment? How do you showcase your personal style while staying within the limits of what's allowed in your work environment? Showing two women in creative fields who can wear things like overalls to work (overalls, really? No.) is not very helpful to all the people who don't work in creative fields. So I would have appreciated a little more diversity in the selection of "real women". Also, not very many moms I know wear 3 to 4 inch heels! Maybe on a night out, or at the office - but not around their little ones!

However, there was one interesting article that I did enjoy in the January 2011 issue. I really enjoyed the article "What it costs to be me" on pages 82-85. This article reports on the salaries and spending habits of 5 women from Uganda, Belgium, South Korea, Turkey, and the United States. I really thought the piece on the woman from Uganda was interesting. I think we in the West have this idea of Africa as a continent full of poverty-stricken people, and it is interesting, to me, to read about a young woman who is not poverty-stricken. She has a job as an assistant accountant, she has an apartment, she hangs out with her friends on the weekends and she faces the same financial challenges of saving vs. spending. I enjoyed the peek into the lives of all these women very much. I also liked the article about Stacy London (of What Not To Wear fame) and her sister, but again, it was too short and could have been longer. (pages 76-77).

I think what I don't like about Marie Claire is its snarky tone. It's trying to hard to be hip and sarcastic, often at the expense of substance and story. I find I prefer Glamour magazine's most earnest and friendly tone. Sure, there are still articles about important women's issues in between fashion spreads and make-up tips, but I like the friendly, upbeat, engaging tone that Glamour uses. Glamour is positive and cheerful. Marie Claire is like the sarcastic friend who talks about you behind your back. Cosmopolitan is like the boy-crazy buddy who dumps you as soon as a new boy comes along, and Glamour is like the friend that will bring you ice cream when you've been dumped by your boyfriend.

I suppose what all this is saying is that I am probably not Marie Claire's target reader. That's okay with me. I'm not missing much by boycotting the magazine and will continue to do so. They probably won't miss me.

Fall has arrived

The seasons have changed, and it is now fall. How do I know this? My mailbox is stuffed to overflowing with giant issues of Glamour and InStyle and bookstore shelves are groaning with the new offerings. Here is a selection of magazines I recently bought or came to my door.

As you can see, the InStyle magazine is the thickest of all the magazines. I'm not sure if there's actually more content, or the the ads have just exponentially increased. I have to admit that I'm getting a little bored with InStyle and so won't be renewing my subscription when it comes up for renewal in the fall. It's still a magazine I have to read, but I don't think it's one that I need to read every month.

As you can probably guess from the title, InStyle is about what clothes to wear to be, well, in style. It's mostly a bunch of photos of the new fall clothes and suggestions on what to pair them with. They also have articles on hair and beauty tips as well. Generally, it's a pretty good publication and I enjoy it. The clothes, of course, are too expensive for mere mortals to buy, but presumably one can find the knock-offs down at the local mall.

Where InStyle kind of lost it for me this month was at the end, in the story about designers Dolce and Gabbana and their spacious villa on the Italian coast. After looking through nearly 500 pages of clothes I can't afford, the last thing I wanted to hear about was some designer's summer palace! That said, while the location may be beautiful, the inside style of the mansion is pretty ugly - for designers, they don't have very good taste! (See the photo on page 577 of the guest bedroom tiled in solid gold.)

Of the fashion magazines I do get, I think I prefer Glamour. It is less snarky than MarieClaire, and a lot less sex-focused than Cosmo (which really just repeats the same articles under different titles!). I enjoy the articles about fashion that is achievable and the hair and makeup looks that seem like something I may be able to pull off. I enjoy the other articles about women my age and hearing about what they're going through. Plus Glamour tries to include cheaper fashion that is actually affordable. I enjoyed the September issue and it was a good read as always.

If you're looking for a magazine that includes healthy living tips, try Self. I used to borrow this from a friend of mine and enjoyed it so much that I became a subscriber. The tone is generally a nicer, more supportive tone than in many of the women's magazines today and it mixes a number of articles about diet and exercise with the usual topics: clothes, hair, make-up, and relationships.

The September issue of Self wasn't any bigger than a normal issue, so they weren't previewing all the fall collections. However, there seemed to be a number of new exercise plans for those of us who have maybe fallen off the bandwagon a little bit this summer and want to get back into getting fit. I also like that Self includes a lot of recipes for how to eat healthily. I've tried a few and they've been pretty good.

Another fall must for me this year was The Hockey News: 2010-11 Yearbook. This magazine is packed with enough stats to keep the most rabid hockey fan happy. There are lists of top players, articles about players, and finally stats on all the teams from last year and predictions for the upcoming season. This is one magazine that I will keep around for the year to check back as the season goes on to see how accurate the predictions are!

And, finally, the Ikea catalogue. While technically not a magazine (and not a traditional harbinger of fall [although it did arrive on the same day as my nice fat Glamour]), it still has glossy paper. Less words, perhaps, than a traditional magazine. Still, it provided a happy few afternoons as I looked through the pages and picked out all the furniture I want.

However, despite all this glossy paper to read over the past month, I am still missing my favourite fall magazine of all time: Entertainment Weekly's Fall TV Preview. This has coverage of every show on every network, every night. That is when I truly know that fall has begun.

Glossy Paper

I enjoy reading books, I really do. However, I don't always read as many books as I would like. (Yes, even me!) That's because, sometimes, I just want a quick read. I have a little bit of time to while away and I don't want to get sucked in to an excellent book with a thrilling plot and come to several hours later still in my PJs with the kitchen uncleaned! So, I turn to magazines.

I like magazines a lot. You get new ones monthly or weekly, and you can always find interesting ones at the supermarket checkout line to browse through. You don't have to devote a lot of attention to the magazine, and quite often they have nice pictures. Right now, I subscribe to 4 magazines: InStyle, Glamour, SELF, and Entertainment Weekly. (Although I am getting rid of my InStyle subscription.) That seems like a lot of magazines, but I come by it honestly - my parents subscribed to lots of magazines when I was growing up (and still do): Time, Macleans, National Geographic, Canadian Geographic, Nature, and various cooking, gardening, and weaving magazines. When I was little, I had subscriptions to Ranger Rick, Chickadee, OWL, and Cricket. As I got older I had a subscription to Seventeen, and bought a lot of other popular magazines, such as YM. Even now I pick up magazines such as The Hockey News, The Economist, People, and Papercrafts.

Of the magazines I currently receive, I think I enjoy Entertainment Weekly the most. It generally arrives once a week (although it doesn't seem to arrive on any set schedule - I often call it Entertainment Occasionally due to the vagaries of its arrival) and is an entertaining and informative read. After only a few hours of my time, I am up to date with all of the latest pop culture news and entertainment. I know what movies are playing, who's in them, and if they're any good. I know what albums are being released and what books are being sold. I know what's on TV (American TV, anyway). I'm in the loop without having to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to get in the loop.

Further, the articles are entertaining! I enjoy reading about pop culture and the writers at Entertainment Weekly certainly are experts. Over the past few months, they've had articles on: Kelly Rowland's career after Destiny's Child; Bill Murray's varied career; the problems with the summer's movies; an exclusive book excerpt from a Star Wars making-of book; a list of the 100 greatest characters of all time; and a preview of all the movies coming out this summer. Plus, they have excellent columnists such as Mark Harris and Stephen King. (yes, that Stephen King. I won't read his horror novels but will read his column!).

Finally, I also like Entertainment Weekly's website. No, you don't have to subscribe to the magazine to surf their site, but it's kind of tied in to their magazine. I especially like the morning-after recaps. This is where a snide and snarky Entertainment Weekly writer will recap a show that happened the night before, with their own opinions and wit added in. Sometimes, I enjoy reading the recap as much as I enjoy watching the show! In fact, as I'm watching the show, I often wonder what the recapper will say. However, it's not just for shows you watch. I often read the recaps of shows I don't watch, like Grey's Anatomy. I am kind of interested in that show, but I don't want to take the time to watch it. Voila - the recap! I read the recap and then I'm up-to-date on what happened and can discuss plot points with all my friends that do watch the show. Really, it's a time saver. It takes me maybe a few minutes to read a recap as opposed to taking a good hour to watch the show. Time saved! Now more time to read those books....and magazines!