Debatable: What IS Women’s Media?

As dutiful Notre Dame students searching for truth and intellectual engagement at all times, junior psychology major Sophia Melone and I had a conversation about women’s media while walking to a French night club at 2 AM. She was kind enough to debate with me further to critically assess the concept of women’s media. Namely, is women’s media furthering or hindering women’s personal development?

We also talk animatedly while surveying some beautiful French beaches…in the dead of winter. #Studyabroad. 

AnnaLee Rice, HCND: What is your first concern with women’s media and its subject matter?

Sophia Melone: Well, I feel like there are a lot of publications out there that brand themselves as “feminist.” However, they put out content that really confirms stereotypes about women and therefore really aren’t helping all that much.

HCND: What stereotypes are you seeing and how are they being advanced?

SM: Well, for example, fitness articles. While it is excellent to encourage women to work out for the sake of their health or to push their bodies to their greatest potential, that’s rarely what these articles are using as motivation. Often it’s more about vanity and trying to look hot in your sleeveless dress. So while working out and being physically strong goes against the thought that women are weak, it really doesn’t help us in terms of defying the stereotype that were more focused on looks than men.

HCND: But what about men’s magazines? I would argue they do the same things in terms of advocating and pandering to fitness-as-vanity.

SM: They probably do, and I would discourage that as well.

HCND: Why?

SM: Because if we’re trying to become better, smarter, deeper people, I think we should try to be motivated by something better than vanity.And I think that can be applied to pretty much any other problem I have with women’s media.

HCND: I understand your griping about the fact that these men’s and women’s magazines cater to our inherent vanity but I don’t understand how that metric can be applied to the rest of our topics. Are you against the idea of gender-divided media altogether? I personally am attracted to women’s media because it seems to address my interests in things that I care about in my spare time.

SM: I’m not saying that all of the articles published are catering to our vanity — I just find it maddening that the things we consider to be “women’s interests” are so often stereotypical and narrow. Sure I like nail polish as much as the next girl but I also like politics, social issues, the outdoors, and traveling. It’s my impression that, in general, there are far too many articles that put us into what our society considers the “feminine” box. I wouldn’t consider these articles to be negative, but I find it hard to understand why there are so many in a publication that strives to promote the development of balanced women.

HCND: I get that. That’s probably why I consider The Atlantic to be one of my favorite news sources; it’s a beautiful compilation of thought, culture, and news. Do you think this problem also stems from lazy journalism?

SM: I hadn’t considered that, but I’m sure it could play a role. If you know something will be easy to write, and will get the attention of a lot of readers, I can see why you’d put it out there.

HCND: So what do you think a valid solution to this is? The NY Times and other huge companies have a monopoly on legitimate news reporting, Vanity Fair and The Atlantic on culture, and, say, GQ on men’s interests. I admit I do care at least a little bit about nail polish and decorating my dorm room and being “girly” but my favorite publications don’t cater to that at all; conversely, no one will take Teen Vogue very seriously with regard to opinion pieces. I don’t know if there’s a way to climb out of these parameters; not all news sources can cover the same things all the time.

SM: Well I think that’s the beauty of having a blog or a publication online. We have so much freedom! I definitely don’t have a solution either. I would either suggest trying to encourage including articles written about a broader variety of topics written from a more inclusive, holistic perspective, or I would choose to market my publication as one that caters specifically and intentionally to those interested in reading about typically “feminine” topics. Obviously, I personally would be more in favor of my first suggestion, but I do understand the challenge of creating such a comprehensive publication.

As of right now, this is a debate with which HCND continues to grapple and we would love to hear more from our readers about this issue. If you have a response to our questions, want to call us out on our facts, or write opinion pieces of our own, please contact: annaleerice@hercampus.com