My elderly neighbor has a subscription to this weekly magazine. When she's done with them she passes them on to me. Right now a bunch of them are in a large paper bag waiting to be recycled to my next elderly friend who loves them. That lady passes them on to a younger woman who also loves them.

When my neighbor first started giving me these magazines four years ago I would thumb through them, now I barely give them a glance.

I don't like this magazine at all. Why?
On one page you've got endless recipes for tantalizing dishes complete with pictures. It's enough to send any sane woman barreling to the refrigerator. On the next page and countless pages after that are diet tips and stories on how women "battled the bulge." It's as if these two counter forces are challenging women to eat and diet. It's like setting women up for a no-win situation.

If that's not bad enough for you there are the lurid questions about sex. Do women really ask such prurient questions or do the mags themselves make these up? I once passed on these mags to a fellow boomer. She later told me she screened them before passing them on to her then, 22 year old daughter. She also thought the sex questions were a bit too much and in poor taste. She declined any further issues I offered to her.

I really wonder why my 82 year old neighbor likes this magazine. It borders on trash. I guess I and my other boomer friend are in the minority on this one. Are there any of you who have read and liked this magazine? I won't stone you, I'm just wondering if I am missing something or being a total prude?

LB, I'm not interested in those magazines with all the sex stories. One of my friends passes a Self magazine to me every month. I told her i didn't like them because of some of the policies it promotes. She still gives them to me and I still accept them, however they go directly to my trash.

I get Oprah's magazine because it doesn't have all the trashy articles. Sometimes there is a sex related story, but it isn't sensationalized and you can count on it's accuracy. Maybe her mag will set an example for the other traditional ladies mags.

Daisygirl

Thanks Daisygirl,

Oprah is a class act and one of my favorites too.

The mags I do subscribe to are Cat Fancy, Nutrition Action and Birds and Blooms.

Two others that I receive are because of donations I make to their fine organizations. One is called Best Friends. This is an animal sanctuary in Utah where people can drop off old, injured, unwanted or ailing animals. You can even work as a volunteer there.

The other mag I receive is from the World Wildlife Federation. I also use to receive the Sierra Club and Audubon mags as well. Thinking about renewing with them.

[ December 15, 2005, 09:32 PM: Message edited by: ladybug ]

Lately I've been subscribing to decorating/remodeling mags, but have been letting them expire since I'm winding down on the home projects. I used to subscribe to Vanity Fair, but I discovered they were not all that thorough in their investigating and some articles were incorrect so I cancelled. For years I subscribed to Time, but as I became more conservative in my politics, it became too liberal for me.

Daisygirl

I don't like Woman's World, either, for many of the reasons some of you mention. I only look at it as a last resort, if I'm stuck in a doctor's waiting room with nothing else to read. Usually, I end up putting it down and shaking my head. Obviously, a lot of women don't agree with us, since it's been in business for years.

I much prefer cooking and decorating magazines.

I love cooking magazines but I always get hungry reading them in waiting rooms!

Best Friends is first on my list and I have spent a couple weeks there every year volunteering, the accomodations are excellent and the feeling of live you come away with lasts all summer long. I work for Best Friends Animal Sanctuary here in Vegas and sometimes we have to take an unadoptable animal there to live out its life in comfort....I also like Vegetarian Times.....

Hi Chatty, I use to get Vegetarian Times as well. I haven't had that one in years though. How cool that you've volunteered at Best Friends sanctuary. I sponsor a cat there (of course).

Been a charter member there for nearly 8 years now and work here in Nevada for a chapter of Best Friends and also the SPCA which is also a no-kill sanctuary. Anyone that loves animals would get such great pleasure volunteering there for awhile. Your heart will be filled with such love and your psyche will be as bright as the noon day sun....all those little creaturs adoring you, needing you and showing such loving gratitude to you...

[ December 16, 2005, 11:51 PM: Message edited by: chatty lady ]

I've been buying Woman's World for years- I've never seen any questions about sex or articles about sex that are inappropriate- in fact they have almost no mention of sex to my knowledge- I love the health and diet section- I've learned a lot from reading that section- I learned of new procedures to help my acid reflux problem thru Woman's World- I learned my daughter had A.D.D through Woman's World and I find great travel articles in WW. Yes they have lot's of great recipes- I guess they try to aim their magazine towards a bigger market by getting those who don't need to lose weight to buy it as well as those that do need to lose weight to buy it. I love the articles on true life things and cut out and save many of the articles- In fact when I found this forum just an hour ago I was cutting out articles from WW and storing them- even stored cookie recipes for Xmas next year and saved the article on dieting with Grapefruit before every meal- I tried it years ago and lost a pound a day just like the article mentioned and here is the diet resurfacing!

Welcome Bunnylady! Glad to hear from you and have you here!

I must admit that after seeing the articles I mentioned which were indeed sexually explicit and bordered on hardcore pornography (really) I stopped looking at this magazine altogether. That was a few years ago so perhaps they've changed.

BunnyLady,
Thank you for posting your thoughts on Woman's World. They have bought some of my work, and published it AND paid me promptly (and they pay handsomely). I have lots of contacts at the magazine and have developed friendships with several of the editors there. It was sad to read the post here.

I've found their magazine to be for women, about women, and to cater to the needs of women. Otherwise, I can guarantee you I would not be writing for them.

Thank you for your thoughts. As a freelance writer, and a writer for Woman's World, on occasion, I appreciate your input!

JJ

Welcome Bunny...I cut out the article you mentioned about the grapefruit diet and hung it on my fridge ...I love the mag as well...it's easy to read and informative...also...how old is your daughter with ADD? My daughter was just diagnosed 3 months ago and she is 24...

JJ...I love that you are published in WW...now I have another for buying it...very impressive girlfriend...

Several of my friends have published fiction in WW. They do pay promptly and well, which makes them a wonderful writers' market. I've just never been a fan of women's magazines. I'm not sure why.

Just a reminder, grapefruit does not go well with certain medications, such as high cholesterol and certain heart med's.
Be sure and check your medicine side effects first.

Good Point Brenda....Thanks for watching out for us!!!

JawJaw, if I had known you wrote some articles for them I would definetely go back to reading this magazine!

Please alert me when you do have another article to be published in Women's World because I will surely want to read it.

Again, with all the kindness I can muster up through a computer screen, I honestly have not looked at Women's World in at least three or four years so I apologize if my comments about it offended anyone.

"Again, with all the kindness I can muster up through a computer screen, I honestly have not looked at Women's World in at least three or four years so I apologize if my comments about it offended anyone."

Just curious Ladybug,
Why did you start this thread if you haven't looked at Woman's World magazine in 3 or 4 years?

I had a bag load of them which I gave to a friend who loves them. It made me think of why I don't look at this magazine any more. I would post one of the questions a woman supposedly asked in one of the columns but it is so sexually explicit and pornographic that I'm sure Dotsie would delete it.

As I said before, another close friend of mine also finds this magazine to be offensive with the posting of questions of this nature.

Do you read this magazine so that you could enlighten me that such is definetely not the case anymore?

[ December 29, 2005, 03:18 PM: Message edited by: ladybug ]

I do read Womans World on occasion and have never seen anything offensive in it. They always have a piece from Chicken soup for the Soul and a sweet romance story, a short mystery story, recipes and articles pertaining to women's issues. There is a section for people to send in pictures of their pets and children. (Which they pay you for) I'm wondering if we are talking about the same magazine here. Are you sure the one you read was Woman's World?

Yes, it is Woman's World a thin magazine that comes out weekly. Is that correct (that it comes out weekly)? I just gave away a bag full which I didnot look at. Your description sounds exactly like the content of the magazine of which I speak. From what you say it appears that they no longer allow these types of questions which I had previously seen in them. Truly, the questions were nasty and offensive so I'm glad to hear they are no longer a part of this magazine.

Thank you for setting me straight and clearing up this matter.

[ December 31, 2005, 01:06 PM: Message edited by: ladybug ]