I met Petra Boynton to discuss women’s magazines, and in particular sex surveys, dodgy experts, and the mixed and confusing messages that women’s mags send out about women’s sexuality.
The quick and dirty world of women’s magazines from Christine Ottery on Vimeo.
To put pressure on editors to improve their sex-related content, if you think it needs [...]
In today’s Guardian there was a shout out for ‘Ladies who do skepticism‘. These women band together at different locations in the UK to chew the fat about pseudoscience aimed at women, such as homeopathy, anti-aging woo creams and astrology.
This all takes place over tea, coffee and cakes. Skeptics seem to have a bit of a cake [...]
An audio interview with Vivienne Parry, an award-winning writer and broadcaster who gives me her opinions on health content in women’s magazines
I’ll be straight with you: I want to write about sex – and have done so in the past – but I have absolutely no longing to titillate or talk about my own sex life. So there won’t be any pictures of me perched on a desk peering over my glasses here.
This is because I [...]
You’re flicking through a mag. Maybe you don’t think you’re seriously ‘reading’ it – an oft-cited book on the subject finds that women’s mags are read casually and put aside easily.
But even so, how much of what you’re reading is going in and ultimately could affect your behaviour? There have been many studies of exposure [...]
Ever noticed how products featured in the editorial pages of magazines sometimes double up with what’s advertised?
This could be a coincidence, or it could be that the newest products are those that you’ll naturally be writing about to keep your readers in the know and also the ones advertisers will be promoting.
I’ve worked on magazines [...]
Enjoy a selection of 11 top picks of recent science or social research stories for women, including stuff such as: when nutritional advice isn’t healthy, the wonder of having a period, what cosmetics companies say and what they really mean, and kissing. And then some.
The person I have interviewed for this (via email) has asked not to be named for obvious reasons! I hope you find it interesting.
What’s your background in science? I don’t have one. I studied psychology and sociology at A level, that’s it!
What kind of science articles do you write for women’s magazines?
I would never [...]
I don’t want to become the next Ben Goldacre. Or even a kind of stiletto-wearing, girl-magazine-slating version of Ben Goldacre.
Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s great. (Hi, if you are reading. *waves*)
If you haven’t read Ben’s book Bad Science it is absolutely the dog’s testicles (let’s call them by their proper name) to not [...]
