It's not your mother's magazine anymore

Which magazine. Well, no doubt most of them. But for today, it is most definitely REDBOOK.

I remember it being a great magazine back in the seventies when I read mom's monthly mag. It had some wonderful short stories in it. In fact, I seem to remember that it was chocked full of short stories. I guess as a kid I thought that was its primary purpose.

But not anymore.......

Read Marcia Segelstein's article "Readers beware!"
C~B~N

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from One News Now
August 7, 2007

(Before you read this column, be warned that it may contain material you find offensive. But what you might find truly shocking is that all the potentially offensive material comes straight from the pages of the July issue of Redbook magazine.)

I've referred in the past to modern-day women's magazines as a bellweather of cultural decline, but I think it's worth repeating. Sitting in a doctor's waiting room leafing through magazines, as I was recently, can end up being an eye-opening experience. And even if you can handle it ... or just decide to stop reading ... imagine your young teenage daughter picking up that innocent-looking women's magazine. What behavior will she end up believing society condones?

When I was a child, I remember looking through the magazines my mother had around the house. I don't think she ever gave a second thought to what I might come across, nor should she have. My, how things have changed.
But back to Redbook's July issue ...

In a section titled "Handbook: Your Sex Life," there are 56 suggestions for how to "feel sexy in a flash!" Here's the subheading: "Whether you've got a free hour and a hot partner in crime to share it with or just a precious few moments to yourself, it's a snap to unleash your inner vixen with these steamy to-do's."

Here are some samplings, categorized by how much time you have:

If you've got 10 seconds:
"Alone? Sneak a peak at yourself!"
"Make eye contact with a cute stranger."

If you've got 30 seconds:
"Clench your g___ muscles."
"Spray a dollop of whipped cream on your chest and ...."

Got ten minutes?
"Swap your coffee break for a visit with your v______r."

I don't know about you, but I find it all pretty crude and distasteful. This is a long way from health and beauty tips, or advice on child-rearing, or the cover story on Faith Hill. Considering that I picked up a women's magazine off the rack -- not a sex manual -- it's inappropriate, to put it mildly.

The next section is called "Handbook: The Hard Stuff." It's a Q&A with the magazine's "advice guru." The first question is from a woman having an affair with a married man. Should she wait patiently until he gets a divorce or give him an ultimatum?

The "advice guru" demonstrates the quintessence of our 21st century "who are we to judge" attitude in her response: "This is one of those excruciating situations that ensures someone will get his or her heart stomped on -- which is one reason why conventional wisdom says not to get involved with a married person."

Forget about marriage as the foundation of society and fidelity as foundational to marriage. Forget about the fact that this woman is helping this man cheat on his wife ... helping him break his promises. Forget what it says about his character. And hers. Forget about empathy and whether she'd like this done to her. Most of all, forget about right and wrong. The real -- new -- conventional wisdom is that there's no such thing as right and wrong.

Here's the advisor's "best solution": "Tell him you love him but need to get on with your life, and that if and when he leaves his wife, he knows where to find you." But the most outrageous line of all is what follows: "Of course, doing this requires the strength and fortitude of a 19th century heroine."

Somehow my image of 19th century heroines doesn't include their helping to break up marriages. I'm no literature expert, but I'm pretty sure those characters would be known as the villains. Of course, it's an easy mistake to make considering that our society doesn't have villains anymore -- only victims.

Not surprisingly, among the magazine's top 10 picks for summer reading is "The Infidelity Pact," described this way: "When four bored, privileged L.A. wives team up to cheat on their hubbies, the result is catty high drama." Sounds positively charming.

I contacted the PR person at Redbook asking whether they'd like to make any comment about my contention that women's magazines have shifted dramatically toward more graphic adult-oriented material, and that so much of it is non-kid-friendly.

After inquiring where this column would appear, she pulled up the website while I waited. I can honestly and without exaggeration say that her voice dripped with disdain when she asked if this were some kind of "Christian activist website."

I explained that it was, indeed, a Christian website ... and I was, indeed, a Christian. As of this writing, I haven't heard back.

Sex, titillation, and yawning at immoral behavior have always sold magazines. But they used to be the kind that came in brown wrappers, not the kind that sit on kitchen tables and in doctors' waiting rooms.

So beware of wolves in sheep's clothing -- or in this case, vulgarity and immorality all wrapped up as "great news and information you need," to quote Redbook's editor-in-chief.

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Visiting Redbook's website under their "Love life" tab is some pretty gruesome articles.

Having read the first page of their "What I learned in sex school" (& needing to go no further) I then read the reader's comments.

MOST were appalled at Redbook's demise and have opted to stop their subscription if they had one and to inform friends and families of this moral decline as well.

At any rate, if you want to contact Redbook and let them know how disappointed your are, go to AFA's site and sign their petition.



Note: these issues are time sensitive

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