Review: Ms. Magazine Fall 2010

The Fall 2010 issue of Ms. Magazine is a great read and contains one controversial article. First the good stuff:

• There is an excellent review/interview by Audrey Bilger with friend of VLF, Jennifer L. Pozner, in the book section. 
• Speaking of books, Jessica Stites has a fab piece on feminist young adult books including a description of "The Hunger Games" that actually makes me want to read the books. Considering all the I know of reality TV, did you really think I'd jump on the bandwagon of a book about reality TV? 
• A moving piece on crisis pregnancy clinics and their connection to anti-abortion extremists. Timely considering that one of them was just convicted of stalking in North Carolina. 
• While a lot of attention has been paid to NOLA, Ms. shines a light on the Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi and the plight of homeless women where shelters are almost impossible to find. 
• The third piece on maternal mortality takes us to Tanzania.
• There's an excellent piece on the women of Afghanistan and their mission to help rebuild their country despite societal pressures for them to stay in the shadows. Again timely as Tina Brown mentions Hakim Zada's construction company on NPR during her "Must-Reads" segment.

Overall I think this is an issue to pick up.

BUT...One piece made me sit up straight and let out a WTF!? There is a two page piece about women's studies programs online.

Disclaimer: Hopefully you have seen the link on the sidebar that says I write for the Ms. magazine blog and perhaps even found this blog after it being featured in Ms. magazine last year. I also received this copy of Ms. from Ms. for review. Back to controversy...

Online colleges and universities are for profit entities, even those attached to traditional colleges and universities. There's a lot of controversy around their tuition and other issues. Online women's studies programs buy advertising in Ms. magazine. As a young young feminist one of my favorite essays was Gloria Steinem's "Sex, Lies & Advertising." So it bothers me that Ms. ran this piece. Yes, it was informative, but that's not the point. One reason I turned to Ms. magazine as a young young feminist (I'm 35 and still young) was the idea of escaping pieces about advertisers.

I don't think this is as bad as say a piece about how my career will take off if I just lose 10 pounds next to a diet ad. But I have expectations for Ms. and this one article made me wince.

Should this keep you from heading out and grabbing a copy? No. In fact if you do or have, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the online college piece. Am I reacting because I have issues with online education? Perhaps. Would it be different if it was about the Leaping Bunny or Green Festival? I dunno. Seriously, what do you think?