WOMEN AND THEIR MAGAZINES

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32322, 13 June 1970, Page 4

WOMEN AND THEIR MAGAZINES

(Reviewed by J.V.A.) Women’s Magazines 1693-1968. By Cynthia L. White. Michael Joseph. 348 pp. With notes, appendices, graphs, bibliography and sources and index.

Contemporary women’s magazines provide “service" first, entertainment second and mental stimulus hardly at all, according to this first-ever sociological study of British periodicals for women. The author, Dr White, finds that there is a marked absence of informative features and opportunities for the discussion of a whole new range of topics which are now of interest to women, particularly the need to redefine morality in the context of the recent sexual emancipation. The author feels that what is required is not “intellectualisation” of magazine content but the widening of the base of magazine content in recognition of the fact that women have, and always have had, fertile minds, though they have not always had the leisure in which to give them free rein.

Deploring the fact that women’s publishing is now dominated by financial considerations, Dr White feels that the social responsibility women’s magazines carry is so overwhelming that the best interest of readers should be the sole influence of content Regrettably the primary aim is to attract the maximum amount of advertising and the balance of power has changed from the editorial to the business side. The result is a conservative attitude to progress on the part of editors who dare not experiment

with variations on a tried and trusted formula for fear a sudden drop in sales figures might scare the business fraternity. This economic influence often overrides readers’ known interests and preferences and means that the

feminine image portrayed is predominantly women in their domestic role, because this is the only kind of “selling climate” advertisers are interested in. • “The consequences for society are potentially serious, for women’s magazines are far from being the innocuous purveyors of light entertainment that they are often made out to be: they are the nation’s most powerful sales force to women, not merely of consumer goods but of a feminine image and desirable standards of female achievement. This is where their main sociological significance lies,” she writes. Dr White feels that a reduction in printing costs would help to lessen the dependence on advertising and the rediscovered web-offset printing process and the use of electronics could help

here. More co-operation is needed between management and unions to remove restrictive practices and a drastic re-organisation of retail outlets is needed. Lessons can be learned from' the American magazine industry where editors have substantially succeeded in convincing advertisers that the character of a magazine as a whole determines the response to advertising messages, and that editorial autonomy and integrity are their ultimate guarantee. After a study of American publishing

for women, Dr White finds that American advertisers are beginning to accept that their interests can best be served by magazines which take the broadest possible view of their role and aim at expanding the horizons of the woman reader rather than acquiescing in her domestic confinement. Women’s magazines still have an encouraging future in prospect. Compared with other mediums, they are relatively inexpensive, provide a continuing flow of topical information during the course of a year, can be used as cumulative works of reference and allow the reader to choose her own pace, with unlimited opportunities to refer back. They have a valuable role to play in ministering to the submerged needs of all sorts and conditions of women, particularly those who, due to the break-up of kin and community groups in modem society, are lonely and isolated, and want encouragement, approval, understanding and affection. However, research into the psychology and the sociology of magazine readership is vitally needed. Far too little is known about the effects upon women of the social developments of recent years, the changes in their life patterns, or the growth of their attitudes, interests and aspirations. If commercial pressures are permitted to distort and retard the natural evolution of the women’s press, publishers may discover—too late—that sociological truths are the very stuff of which profits are made, suggests the author. Dr White’s book is based on research into publishing for women carried out for her doctorate thesis in sociology. This included the detailed study of a large sample of women's magazines published between 1693 and 1968. She analyses the modern women’s periodicals against their historical background, relating the development of the industry to social, economic and technological change and shows how these three sets of factors have affected its structure and evolution and influenced the scope and character of magazine content. Its publication as the first sociological study of women’s magazines in Britain must commend itself-to the publishing industry and it should also find favour with a much wider readership. British women’s magazines are very popular in New Zealand and Dr White’s study can be recommended for its interesting explanation of how and why they have reached their present format.