Men: Say Hello To Feminism

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Back in January, Men’s Health magazine added a new feature on their website – a feminist blog!

That’s right ladies and gentleman, Men’s Health – one of the nation’s leading magazines providing sex, health, and fitness advice for men – has a feminist blog.

The website states, “This blog isn’t about Gloria Steinem, bra-burning, or man hating. But it is about feminism, the kind that makes a modern woman worth listening to, debating, and dating.”

Personally, I think it’s a great idea because as we know – the word feminism doesn’t always carry the most positive connotation.

Let me elaborate…

This past weekend I was studying at Barnes and Noble and, like usual, I was camped out at my favorite place to get work done – the cafe (which, might I add, is conveniently located right next to the magazine racks).

As I am reading over my notes, I couldn’t help but overhear two guys talking loudly about the magazines they were flipping through. At first, I paid no attention to their “which cover model had nicer tits” debate, but my interest was peaked when I heard them bring up Men’s Health.

Apparently the two both read the magazine, utilize their workout tips, as well as look into the magazine’s sex advice – yet neither were a fan of the newest addition to the website. They couldn’t believe that a men’s magazine would have such “an unnecessary” blog and made it quite clear that if they wanted to ”waste their time reading about girl crap” they would “resort to Cosmo.”

I think my point was just proved.

Feminism is clearly misunderstood by a lot of people and I think it’s brilliant that Men’s Health is providing their audience with a resource where they can get acquainted with the subject.

I encourage you to check out the blog and flip through a few of the posts. I had the pleasure of working with the author of the blog (Kiera Aaron) last summer and happen to know her writing style is rather impressive. Enjoy my fellow feminists!

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About Madeline Haller

Madeline Haller

Madeline Haller is an Assistant Editor for MensHealth.com. Haller received her bachelor's degree in journalism from Indiana University, with a second concentration in gender studies. When she's not writing for MSP/MH, you can find her running, enjoying a cup of coffee, or searching for the perfect shade of red lipstick.

  • http://askgarnet.com Garnet Joyce

    The website states, “This blog isn’t about Gloria Steinem, bra-burning, or man hating. But it is about feminism, the kind that makes a modern woman worth listening to, debating, and dating.”

    It’s statements like these that undermine feminism in the first place. Bra burning never happened and most feminists don’t hate men. Why not just throw in some more stereotypes about unshaven legs and lesbians? These are all things that the mainstream culture throws at feminists in order to undermine them in order to try to keep the majority of women from joining the cause. I actually wrote an entire ranty blog post about this awhile back on my own blog: http://askgarnet.com/2010/08/27/im-a-feminist-but/.

  • A Guest

    Wow! I have a couple of comments to add to this post but am pressed for time. I usually don’t READ magazines such as Men’s Health. I would rather read actual textbooks about nutrition and exercise.

    Whenever I run into a female writer in those magazines such as Maxim (because I am really just looking for the photos of the woman on the magazine cover), I am always suspicious that she is really just writing something that is pandering to the men who would read Maxim. Sort of like how in Penthouse, they have had interviews with filmed sex workers (pornstars) and the women mostly seem to write exactly what a sex crazed man would want to read.

    As for the guys who said that stuff. They sound like the kind of guys who never get the girl. It is also possible that they only said that stuff because they were with another guy … but if they were looking through the magazine alone, they would fascinated with reading it.

    Thank you for posting this. I will give this blog a read and watch the videos.

  • A Guest

    The state of feminism in America fascinates me. How it is seen by men and women. How much energy goes into it and what is effective and what isn’t. Etc.

    Just yesterday, a woman friend of mine wrote on FB, “Two days of nice weather in a row and I actually got to wear a DRESS. I feel like a GIRL again.” There were many comments from other women such as “Hell yea !” There were comments from guys such as, “Post photos of you in the dress.” Everyone loves her to death.

    Then this one man wrote, I think so many women have gotten so caught up in feminism (not that I think this is a bad thing!) that they forgot how to be feminine.

    Then this other woman wrote, “Feminism = hating being female nowadays. No thanks!”

    So here it went from a simple and fun, “I can wear dresses and feel like a girl” … to an analysis of how putting on a dress fits into a feminine / feminist model … to Feminism = hating being female. Yikes!!!

    I am now pondering the feminism = hating being a female comment. However, I suspect that in some ways she is correct. I read some feminist blogs where the woman analyzes to death … every single action, thought, desire and wanting the she or anyone else has. The analysis is “Does that action, thought, desire, wanting fit the feminist model.” Her analysis usually comes out that women, while having made great strides, are still in a horrible state of trying to look and be pleasing to men and they should stop immediately.

    She is just one of many, many feminist bloggers. It seems so exhausting. It kind of makes me feel glad to be a man (and a white man at that) so that I can just concentrate on learning cool science things.

    So, in some ways, I can see why guys might be “Yikes! A feminist blogger in our Men’s Health magazine.” As a man, I have never felt that men were welcome in standard female arenas either.

    But, I am going to read that feminist woman’s blog in Men’s Health.