Men's Fitness vs Women's Magazines

My boyfriend and his two roommates all have jobs which require them to be in top shape. As such, they have a plethora of men's fitness magazines. Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Muscle and Fitness, etc, are pretty prominent in their house. Every now and then I flip through them to peruse the articles and ads. Every page seems to be body builders, personal trainers, or military men describing their usual workout, or how to incorporate a slightly easier workout into a normal man's life.

It's no secret that women's magazines are chock full of diet nad makeup ads next to articles about building confidence. But that's the Cosmopolitan genre of women's mags. What about women's fitness magazines? Are they more similar in articles to men's? Do they focus on getting in shape, with ads that better mirror those articles? Or is the name of the magazine irrelevant to the actual content?

and thus began the research. I have a whole host of men's fitness magazines to work with, but I have little desire to spend money on women's, so I only have one Shape, and then the internet. I won't claim this experiment to be scientifically sound. But I think the results are interesting nonetheless.

For example, both magazines had ads geared towards pets. But Shape had more cat tailored ads, while Men's Fitness had dogs.

But more along my hypothesis, the Shape I purchased is 200 pages long. The first workout plan comes at page 66, and is for flat abs to make one swimsuit ready. Men's Fitness is 137 pages long and the first workout oriented article is on page 24, and is on building upper body strength for the sake of...building upper body strength.

After the fist shaping article in the women's mag (ending on page 70), pages 71-96 focused solely on makeup and clothing style. I guess now that you have those killer abs, all that's left is the lingerie, little black dress (lbd), and, of course, painting your face in layers of makeup. Literally. What exactly does makeup and heels have to do with getting in shape?

The only article in Men's Fitness that wasn't about getting in shape was: half a page on shaving, a page on offroading, and an article on Mark Wahlberg (about his training).

(Well both magazines had a short stint on sex. But given they were part of both magazines, they're canceled out and irrelevant to the study.)

My favorite article in Shape was the page "the Stay-Gorgeous Guide for Runners". These tips included how to prevent split ends due to pulling your hair into a ponytail. I run fairly frequently. I'll be the first to admit I look like crap while doing it and certainly when I'm done. I'm sweaty, my face is bright red, my hair's a mess, definitely not exactly prom ready. And I love it. Few things feel better than coming home from a good run. Why am I going to worry about what I look like?

The kicker? The subtitle of the article is "Putting in major miles is no excuse for appearing run-down. Use these tips to look stunning all season long."

Certainly nowhere in Men's Fitness does "look[ing] stunning" appear.

Because that's not what getting in shape is about. It's about getting in shape. It's about being fit and reducing your chance of a heart attack, diabetes, or stroke.

you don't even need to open the magazine to see the differences. The cover models are in completely different outfits and stances. Mark Wahlberg is in a muscle tee, standing straight up facing the camera, hands in his pockets, confident and laid back. Marisa Miller is in a pink lacey "dress" that comes just below her butt, and is more skin than clothes from the waist down. She's wearing 5 inch heels and sitting on her heels. Her hair covers half her face. Do I want to look like Marisa Miller? Sure. But she doesn't look like she's on the cover of a fitness magazine so much as Playboy.

Men's Fitness has every headline about working out (with again the sole exception of coverman Mark Wahlberg) whereas Shape has one: "Flat abs, Tight Tush, Killer Legs". My personal favorite is "5 Ways to beat the Winter Blues: Hint: They're in your makeup bag".

Seriously? The key to beating Seasonal Affective Disorder is in my makeup bag? The magazine barely even pretends to be about fitness.

Women's Magazines are a joke. Even fitness and health magazines can't even get it right. We don't need to hear how to put makeup on, or what clothes to wear. I don't want to learn how get in shape for the summer, or how to not sweat during a run. I want to know how to learn good eating and exercise habits that I can keep with me for life. I want to know how to lower my risk for obesity, not just because I want to snatch up a husband, but because I want to develop healthy eating habits that I can then instill in my kids.

I don't think anyone would be surprised to find out there are no makeup ads in men's magazines. Men don't wear makeup. What they look like is all they have. When will we be allowed to wear our own faces out in public?

And who's gonna give first? Does society change, and the magazines and social media follow suit? Or does the media change its message, and affect the public?