B something more, please! (B)

Member Name: Ariel_uk

Product:	B
Date:	13/08/01 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None really

Disadvantages: Miriad - see review!

'B reckless' says the front cover - along side 'What he really thinks of your body' and 'Find your perfect pink' – ooh - really wild and reckless *that* sounds! One free trial issue and I am strengthened in my resolve to avoid wasting my money on 'women's magazines'.

B follows the usual recipe for ‘grown up’ women’s magazines as far as I can see. Take one serious social issue, add a dose of celebrity gossip, and hefty slug of fashion, beauty, and make up. Stir in some relationship advice, and couple of pages of beach-oriented travel writing. Marinade with a ‘culture’ section – if you can’t get the real thing, substitute Chick Lit of the week and an album review – and glaze with horoscopes before roasting over a nice hot press. Serve garnished with free gifts, with a side salad of adverts for plastic surgery and diet pills.

Not all women want to see the issue du jour (this month Zyban's potential risks) reduced to two pages of 'it happened to me' and a handful of statistics. Not all women want to stare at utterly interchangeable photos of slim, tanned white women in bikinis, straining to discoverer which minute variations in body type will make them more attractive to men. Not all women, therefor, should be reading the women's magazines that appear to believe that we all ought to be interested in such stuff - and I count myself among that party.

But this wasn't even light, fluffy time filler, it was down right irritating, assumption filled, vacuous, fashion obsessed pap! Imagine Marie Claire with all the interesting stuff taken out, and the fashion editorial dumbed down. Their 'review' section reminds me why I hold 'the sort of music / book / film recommended by women's magazines' as a term of contempt for the bland and the pointless. There weren't even any images I could enjoy looking at - even the advert
s were ugly! The fashion and makeup is nothing to compare with the real glossies, and the 'real life real people' aspect is beaten by Marie Claire on the one side, and the cheap weeklies on the other. I'm not sure what niche they're trying for in this over-saturated market, but I'm sure as hell not it. I for won't be wasting £2.50 on this any month soon.

If anyone is reading this who enjoys this magazine, I would really and genuinely love to try understand why - please leave a comment, because I'm pretty much baffled at the moment.

Summary: