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Fashion Magazines

Why do we read that trash?

By Tahira Simon

Normally during my lunch hour, I find myself sitting in the break room flipping through a fashion magazine while eating lunch. I check out what's new, what's hot or who's involved with who. I used to read a bunch of articles like, "How to Catch a Man, and How to Keep Him Happy" type of stuff (fashion magazines are notorious for these), but after trial and error, I began to think I wasn't doing it right. So to avoid all of the heartache, I left the polls and the how-to articles alone. I limited my fashion magazine reading to captions, horoscopes and studying the clothing in every photograph -- which oddly enough takes a lot longer than actually reading the articles.

That's what I do, normally, but my co-workers are another story. During a recent lunch break, I returned from my search for good food to find my bosses sitting around the table, eyes wide in awe and blushing. Right away I knew something was up. Today, they weren't engaged in the regular chit chat; the topic of discussion came from a fashion magazine. It wasn't the usual Vogue or Harper's Bazaar, it was Cosmo…For Men. Still, what could be making these 20-something and 30-year-old women blush and giggle like schoolgirls? I soon found out.

They were reading an intimate poll on sex. "Wow," I thought, another article about lighting candles and flower petals on the bed. Then one of my co-workers, Kathy, started to read aloud and I began to blush too. The first question was about your favorite position while having sex. Then they asked each guy what they liked better: moaning, talking dirty, wake-the-neighbors screaming or silence-- a question every gal wonders about. The article was explicit but tasteful; the questions and answers were both candid yet non-offensive. "But how accurate could the article be?" I thought. After all, the articles on men and relationships in women's magazines I read were all so unreliable.

Once my break was over and I returned to the sales floor, my co-worker April arrived later with the magazine clutched in her hand. Like schoolgirls we huddled in the corner and giggled about things we'd never talk about with each other, let alone our boyfriends. Then along came another co-worker, Jason, and here was our opportunity to test this stuff out.

We openly asked Jason the same questions Cosmo had asked their men. To our surprise we got the same answers. Still, we weren't satisfied. It had to be mere coincidence. Then came Lee. I expected him to set the magazine straight and to reassure me that what I had read in those articles wasn't true. No luck, identical answers.

This was truly puzzling. Why was the men's magazine so accurate? And why aren't the women's fashion magazines I read ever this precise? I thought and thought, but I just couldn't figure out why, until the next day when I handed over my four bucks for a copy of Cosmo for Men.

Then it hit me: MONEY. How many men faithfully purchase the same fashion magazine on a monthly basis? To tell you the truth I didn't even know there was a Cosmo For Men. I can't picture any of my guy friends rushing out to buy a copy of the new 500- page fall issue of Vogue, with extra photos and contests. Men usually read magazines on business, sports, guns or cars.

But now, there are men's fashion magazines trying to lure in that guy who'll pick it up once, just to see what it's about. And as a publisher for men, you're not going to fill the pages with perfume samples and make-up tips that don't work. You're going to fill it up with stuff he can actually enjoy -- things he can talk about with his friends (and which will bring in sales through word of mouth advertising). Then maybe he'll buy the magazine again…and his friends will too. With men's magazines, truth is the best marketing strategy.

With women's magazines, the marketing strategy is deception. If you bought one magazine in June, found a man in July and happily dated him in August…would you buy another fashion magazine in September? The only magazine you'd need would be the latest issue on Winter Weddings.

In order to keep you, the consumer, purchasing their countless issues of advertisements, there needs to be a perfect lure. The only thing better than gossip…is advice. The next time you want to know the truth, avoid picking up that fashion magazine. Sometimes you get the best answers when you trust yourself.

— Tahira Simon, 20, is an Associate Producer for Youth Radio. She also works for a clothing store in San Francisco. To get away from the grueling work of our newsroom and the competition on the salesfloor, Tahira takes time out and reads fashion magazines. This little worker bee is also looking for a marketing analyst position.