Ms. Magazine Analysis

Lineta Pritchard, on a review for Ms. Magazine: “For the first time you can read a publication that expresses total female sentiment, not sentiment based on some male publisher’s assumption that all women like to read about recipes, beauty tricks, wardrobe wizardry and entertaining,”(qtd. in Pogrebin, “How Do You Spell Ms.”). In 1971, female activists and female writers came together to form a serious, yet compassionate magazine that was controlled and created by strong females. There were many proposed titles for this magazine, many being stereotypical names for women, but the chosen magazine name Ms., was conceived to indicate the inapplicability of a woman’s marital status.“It was an announcement. Using Ms. said, ‘I’m a feminist,” wrote

the staff’s art director, Rochelle Udell (qtd in Pogrebin, “How Do You Spell Ms.”). This magazine was turned down by many publishing companies, mainly because the “women’s movement was just so downright crazy” and that there were not many women outwardly willing to support a national magazine about women’s status (qtd. in “A Personal Report from Ms.”). It was not until New York Magazine allowed Ms. to produce 300,000 copies of their preview issue that the magazine was able to share their own feminist philosophies. Eight days after the Ms. preview issue was placed on newsstands, Ms. sold out. Letters came flowing in from both urban and rural states, each written about simple or tragic personal experiences and problems, such as difficulties with struggles to promote gender equality in society. Today, Ms. is connecting with women all over the nation, keeping feminist’s voices audible. Instead of quieting their voices, the editorial staff of Ms. has never stopped fighting for a savvy magazine designed for the modern woman. Ms. is changing the face of the “ideal” woman-from a pretty, thin girl to a strong, tough-minded woman (“A Personal Report from Ms.”). Ms. is creating an impactful movement in redefining and erasing depravity from the movement of “feminism.”
Ms.

Magazine’s brutal honesty and their diversity from other women’s magazines is what makes it a threat to other commercial sources. ABC Nightly News anchor, Harry Reasoner, had a four minute feature on Ms. in 1972 when the magazine’s first issue was released. “I’ll give it six issues before they’d run out of things to say,” exclaimed the newscaster (qtd. in Chideya, “‘Ms’ Magazine Turns 35”). Helen Gurley Brown, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan Magazine expressed her feelings on Ms: “Ms. felt I was the enemy. They said Cosmo was trying to turn women into sex objects. I said ‘I certainly hope so.’ I always said you could be attractive, beautiful, sexual, and you could still run General Motors” (qtd. in Beyette, “The Revolution Has Just Begun”). Commercial industries, such as ABC Nightly News and Cosmopolitan Magazine, feared the new women’s magazine because it fearlessly shed light on critical issues, unlike any other magazine. Rather than writing about sexual appeal, Ms. created a watershed event in the magazine industry by being the first mainstream media source to write about sexual harassment (“Ms. Magazine Celebrates 40th Anniversary”). Ms. set itself apart from the norm, yet again, by publicly releasing appalling reports on domestic violence, abortion, and date rape (Moore, “Ms. Magazine and Wonder Woman 40 Years Later”). Along with other media sources, advertising companies were negligent to fund a magazine that empowered all natural women. Ms.’ 1980 issue cover, featuring Soviet women feminists protesting war in Afghanistan, kept Revlon Inc. from signing a long term advertisement contract with Ms. because the women featured wore no makeup. It took 8 years for a beer ad in the magazine, 10 years for a car ad, and 4 years for airlines because they were unconvinced that women really do travel on business trips (Carmody, “The Media Business-Ms. Magazine Returns with New Spirit, but Without Ads”). Feminine advertising companies were not sponsoring Ms. due to

the fact that they would not publish articles about recipes or beauty hints. Therefore, non-feminine products were being advertised in Ms. which only promoted a more stereotypical and commercial magazine (Martin, “Like a Tarantula on a Banana Boat’:Ms. Magazine, 1972-1989”). In 1990, Ms. erased advertisements from their magazine; later that year, Steinem wrote the article “Sex, Lies and Advertising” to express her constant discontent with advertising. Before Ms. became ad-free, Steinem was afraid to express her opinion on the advertising companies; now, she feels free of that fear: “It was a great relief to be able to write the article” (Carmody, “The Media Business-Ms. Magazine Returns with New Spirit, but Without Ads”).
Free from ads and commercial status, Ms. has the ability to construct “a more inclusive feminist” magazine, one that acknowledges women of color, lesbians, and lower class women (Martin, “Like a Tarantula on a Banana Boat”: Ms. Magazine, 1972-1989”). Ms. Magazine’s strength is derived from the women activists who have made this not just a women’s read, but a support system in the movement for equality among genders (Farrell, “Like a Tarantula on a Banana Boat”). “Ms. is making feminist converts of middle class heathens from academia to condominium ville. A slick, reputable looking magazine breaks down defenses and lets the word worm its way into the brain. Ms. is almost in violation of Truth in Packaging laws. There is a female mind-set on those glossy pages slipping into American homes concealed in bags of groceries like tarantulas on banana boats,” wrote Onka Dekkers in a 1972 review of Ms (qtd. in Farrell, “Like a Tarantula on a Banana Boat: The Origins of Ms. Magazine”). Ms. is introducing a popular feminism in a polished way that excites activists, such as Dekkers herself. Ms. is recreating and reimagining a world for women where stereotypes do not have power over anyone’s professional or private lives. However, since this is a magazine with fresh issues that have never been introduced in a women’s magazine, there are commercial activists who believe that Ms. is demolishing femininity. Ms. Magazine is not changing womanhood completely, however, they are rebuilding and renewing the word (Farrell, “Like a Tarantula on a Banana Boat: The Origins of Ms. Magazine”). Ms.’ executive editor, Katherine Spillar, excitingly remarks in an interview on National Public Radio that over 67% of young women, aging anywhere from 18-29, in the United States define themselves as feminists. The large majority of women older than 30 self-identify themselves as part of the feminist community. Ms. is promoting the feminist movement by publishing a magazine for anyone who believes in equality (Chideya, “Ms’ Magazine Turns 35”).
Rather than being a magazine that has “How to” articles for appeal, such as “How to Attract Boys” or “How to Make Your Hair Glow”, Ms. acknowledges life-changing questions, for instance, “How to change your life” or “How women can run the world” (Beyette, “The Revolution Has Just Begun”). Ms. is cherished and recognized for diving into unpopular but important topics that raise eyebrows. “In our very first issue, everyone warned us not to do an article that had anything to do with lesbians,” Steinem affirms, “We decided we were right to do it when the printers, guys standing around in their overalls, that was the only article they read” (qtd. in Beyette, “The Revolution Has Just Begun”). Other women’s magazines kept advertisers satisfied with their fashion, food, beauty, entertainment, and do-it-yourself articles which were ultimately shaping women intellectuals into housewives. Ms. is quite the opposite; there were articles about international breaking news, the economic condition of women and children, and women in power (Beyette, “The Revolution Has Just Begun”). The magazine has also been a support system for gender equality and has featured ‘presidential candidates accountable on women’s rights’ (Moore, “Ms. Magazine and Wonder Woman 40 Years Later”). Ms. does not hold a standard demographic for their magazine, yet they have a psychographic, meaning that Ms. does not have a specific or targeted audience. Ms. does not appeal to a specific race, ethnicity, or a specific group on the social hierarchy, but rather to believers of equal opportunities and rights for any woman (Chideya, “Ms’ Magazine Turns 35”). Ms. is vital to the feminist movement because it is a strong publication with information that bolsters the movement for equal opportunities.
Women’s activists have joined forces to empower women by tackling passionate topics and erasing the effectiveness of stereotypes in the publication of Ms. Magazine. Ms. has widely contributed to the feminist movement and has made many young women’s voices and concerns publicly heard. Ms. is a threat to other media industries because it protests against misogynistic stereotypes and social constructs made about women’s role in society. Ms. affects the female revolutionaries by implementing a source that provides news about feminism and equality internationally. Moreover, Ms. has impacted society because it is reinforcing the movement towards a fair society for all whom are on the receiving end of prejudice. For over 40 years, Ms. Magazine has been recognized by the nation’s press and the American public as an unyielding, vigorous voice for gender equality throughout the United States.