Confessions of a Magazine Addict

I love magazines. I don't want to read the content on my phone or on a tablet or anywhere else. I like to turn the pages and look at the pictures and read them with a nice cup of coffee on my day off. They make long waits bearable and my time on the treadmill seem shorter.  I love that they have a moderately long shelf life, so I can learn something relevant from this month's issue or one from two years ago. I wil pick up O Magazine or VIBE or anything that looks interesting - doesn't matter.

I love that O magazine includes literature and works of fiction. I love that Essence also includes pictures of real women and their every-day style. And VIBE's 20 Questions used to be a very funny feature.


But I've come to grips that they are awful for one's self image. They're pretty much full of tips to erase and conceal all your inadequacies. I guess there's no money in saying, Hey Reader, you're great the way you are. Nope, instead they're full of clothes you should wear right now, makeup you need to buy right now, trendy hairstyles to try today, skinny models and celebs you should love and products you apparently can't live with out, (few of which are actually affordable). They are pretty much one big advertising ploy, and at the same time they contradict themselves and tell you 5 ways to save money and 6 tips to cut your spending.  

And yes, they seem to find ways every month to recycle and re-sell the same bit:

"How to protect your hair," "How to make him want you," "Sizzlin fashions of the season," "How to get the life you deserve today." And this is across demographics, am I right?

So, yeah, I notice flaws. But I can't tear myself away. *sigh* that's what you call an addict