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THE OBSERVER’S WOMAN MAGAZINE: A SAD GOODBYE OR GOOD RIDDANCE TO BAD RUBBISH?
Posted by Laura on November 15, 2009
Tags: feminism, Magazines, Observer Woman, Women's Mags
In a rare bit of Subtext online organisation Laura and Charlotte try to decide whether to shed tears or celebrate the end of Observer Woman’s Magazine as we know as it’s content gets cut and sucked into the new Guardian Monthly mag.
I’m a self-confessed magazine junkie, I have no shame in this (well, perhaps a little). I’m not talking about the Heat cohort (though I admit I did have somewhat an obsession with More magazine, I am in full recovery as we speak) but the Easy Living end of the spectrum (for all my house interiors and recipe cravings). So of course I loved The Observer for their monthly ‘Woman’ magazine and naturally was disappointed to hear of its end (not to mention that I think the supplements they have chosen to continue are far less superior, bitter? me?) Strangely enough I do kind of disagree with the concept of newspaper supplements for women because it almost implies we need a glossy fickle mag to entertain us rather than the heavy stuff of the broadsheet itself but it never felt like this with the ‘Woman’ monthly (on the other hand, this kind of issue really annoys me about The Daily Mail with their female-aimed ‘You’ magazine juxtaposed by the male-orientated ‘Live’ magazine). And whereas the ‘You’ magazine is what you would expect from a women’s weekly – an emphasis on beauty and fashion, articles almost reading like self-help manuals with a focus on emotions and relationships – the Observer’s Woman monthly seemed more than just that. As I’m sure some of you are now screaming ‘HOW?!’ in disbelief at the computer screen (whilst hopefully an equal number may be smiling and nodding their heads in agreement) let me explain.
Yes I’m aware that the supplement gave some space to fashion and beauty but it was the bigger picture at hand (and arguably those pages could be skimmed past without then finding you had actually skimmed through the whole thing…). The Observer’s Woman supplement often included people in their interviews and columns who had done admirable things in their lives and/or could be seen as inspirational. You would never flick through the pages to see the IT celebrities of the moment like Jordan, Britney Spears et al, instead you might see the likes of Judy Blume, Suzi Quatro, Tori Amos and female politicians….I think that was noteworthy. The features regularly covered important issues, a lot of which I felt were informed by feminist values. Since 2008 articles have covered, amongst others, topics such as family diversity, forced marriage, gay parents, lap dancing, motherhood, women in Yemen. Feminism has at times been addressed directly and an issue centering on ‘Radical Women’ mentioned feminist familiars Charliegrrl and Finn Mackay. My concern now is that all of this is going to slip back under the radar. Arguably The Observer has their weekly magazine but if it was felt in the first place that a ‘Woman’ supplement was needed to fulfill such a gap in content then will this gap merely persist again with the focused, even feminist, features making a novelty appearance here and there? So yes, I am disappointed we’re bidding farewell to Observer Woman because I do believe it played an important part in exposing readers to new concepts and ideas, or by providing a more relevant read to some more discerning newspaper consumers. Not to mention that now we get a monthly ‘Food’ supplement. As much as I am a recipe girl, there’s only so much a girl can take…
To bid your farewell or to catch-up on archived editions, go to:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/woman
Laura
When I heard the Observer Women’s magazine was to be cut in the Guardian’s restructuring I did a little punch in the air, and I know I was not alone because I tweeted my joy and others reciprocated (well, expect Laura).
Sunday papers are a rare treat, buying the paper is a signifier that I have no work to do, no commitments that require me moving from a spot on the floor with a packet of biscuits and a cup of tea – unbridled joy. And the magazines are part of that, I’m a news hound, gorging on everything in the paper but that subtle shift to lifestyle, fashion and food is a reward, the home of some of my guilty pleasures. These magazines often offer a different take on something that has been reported in the papers, and as the position varies from paper to paper, so it is amplified in the mags – and I enjoy comparing the different takes. But the Observer Woman magazine always irked me, because I felt it was trying to pretend to be something I would want, and it never delivered the goods.
I hate the term women’s magazine, generally it represents the marketing position of the publishers, they define what they think women want and they very rarely get it right (for this woman at least) so bracketing the OWM as such instantly irks me – and I do carry a grudge. Once I got over that hurdle and turned back the pages I never felt like the content was for me – or more broadly for women -the last issue was a father issue, I have no problem with dad’s, I’m all about men having the opportunity to break strict gender policing, but why is it all over a women’s mag? Doesn’t this speak to men more?
Perhaps my problem is that old chesnut that because it is for women, self proclaimed, I expect so much more from it than the other cheap rags thrown into Sunday papers with the illusion of entertaining the news naysayers. And it’s not to say that there weren’t things I didn’t enjoy, hell I’ve even been in an issue (I didn’t like that issue) but I will not mourn you Observer Woman, I never felt that there was enough worthy copy to lose.
Charlotte
Tags for this post:feminism, Magazines, Observer Woman, Women's Mags
November 15th, 2009 at 11:07 am
To be honest I’m not particularly upset to see the back of Observer Woman. i think it had a lot of potential and it DID have the odd piece worth reading as well as some good interviews (like Laura said, people who are a bit more interesting than your average heat magazine fodder) but all too often i used to feel that it seemed to be full of the same old features on relationships and cosmetic surgery/the latest trendy beauty treatment.