When I was quite a bit younger than I am now, all newspapers had a Women's Page and Women's Weekly came out every week. Now all that has changed. Under assault from feminism, the Women's Page was trashed. The editors still had to find space for stories that are almost exclusively of interest to their female readers, like recipes, pictures of babies and fashion so they resorted to various subterfuges. Like the famous Clayton's ad, which advertised 'the drink you have when you're not having a drink' they were 'the women's page when you don't have a women's page.' Of course, not all women are feminists, but they tend to have disproportionate influence and representation in the media. Most women would happily read the Women's Page, but the feminists didn't like it -- it was 'demeaning to women' -- so out it went. As for Clayton's, it is a rather insipid drink. Clayton's is famous in the advertising world for a brilliant campaign that couldn't move an unpopular product.
But the Women's Page may be returning. Rupert's Herald Sun (July 16, 2012) has a very similar section headed 'Your Time' featuring an attractive blonde woman of indeterminate age with killer abs. It has features on hand cream, childhood illnesses and fashion trends, plus a big zodiac section. If it looks like a Women's Page and flies like a Women's Page then in my opinion it is a Women's Page.
As for Women's Weekly, Kerry Packer converted it to a monthly. This was held at the time to be a masterstroke because it cut production and distribution costs while retaining the same advertisers. After all, Woman's Day wasn't a daily. Both were published by Australian Consolidated Press, the foundation of the Packer fortune. Old ACP hands may excoriate me, but I could never see much difference between the two.
The big rival to the ACP titles is New Idea. I was sitting on the weekend in my local Greek cafe when I came across a recent issue of New Idea. On the cover was Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, with a big circle around her tummy, saying 'baby bump'. I picked it up and knew immediately I'd been suckered again. The whole story was an outrageous beat up with no foundation at all. This is not the first beat up of 'Kate's pregnant' variety I've seen on the cover of New Idea -- the seem to carry one every second edition, all totally without foundation.
New Idea is a key title in the Pacific Magazines stable. Pacific Magazines claims to 'dominate the key publishing categories it operates in and publishes one in four magazines sold in Australia.' New Idea' , the crown jewel, is a weekly with an audited circulation of 305,000. Pacific Magazines say it publications reach 51 percent of\all women in Australia and 19 percent of all men.
Despite what the media theorists may think, magazines do not create an audience. They respond to what their readers want. Whether it's Kate's baby or Brangelina's wedding -- another favourite beat up -- women will pay money for these stories. Are 305,000 women dumb enough to believe these 'baby bump' beat ups? I doubt it. Rather instead it falls into the 'bit of fun' category'. I say 'women' because men are not New Idea's target readership. This is classic women's magazine copy. If I bought New Idea, I'd feel as if I'd been hoodwinked, but I'm a male.
ACP can't be holier than thou. Woman's Day's July 16 issue features 'Wills and Kate -- Our Island Paradise' on their honeymoon, pictures that were supposedly so hot no other publication on Earth would touch them. These pictures were supposedly strictly off limits on privacy grounds but Woman's Day -- a weekly -- published them regardless.
'A salesman's is got to dream boy, it comes with the territory' said Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Salesman.' One might say the same about the day dreams of readers of women's magazines. After all, one day Kate will get pregnant, but we are more likely to learn about it in the electronic media first rather than seeing it on the front cover of New Idea. I don't care, but New Idea and Woman's Day readers do and are prepared to pay for the tittilation..
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