Men magazines have females on cover. Why do women magazines not have males on cover?

[bla_bla]

this is a strange, possibly dumb question that have confounded me for a while.

magazines for men frequently have female models on cover to sell it.

i rarely, if ever, see magazines for women that have male models on cover.

why?

 

[metal-on-metal]

Men on the cover of women's magazines don't sell nearly as well as half-naked women on the cover of men's magazines. Go figure.

 

[kissmesweet]

Nice thread. I personally think that it's because the women on the covers are what men want and what women what or would like to see themselves as.

Sexuality sells for both genders. But the men want to see it, while the women want to say... get fashion or beauty tips and since the covergirls are beautiful--they trust the magazine to be helping them? I don't know...

Or maybe because women are less perverted. Please don't kill me for saying that, guys!

 

[CharlottefromCA]

Men's and women's fashion magazines are.. trying to sell fashion advice, editorials, etc

Truth is there just isn't that large enough of a market of men willing to buy a men's fashion magazine and these magazines are competing with the likes of Maxim, FHM, and so they try and compete by putting a half naked Jessica Alba on the cover or Karolina in a swimsuit.

On the other hand, there are a lot of women willing to shell out money for a fashion magazine for well.. fashion, so there is no need to resort to changing their cover strategy, women buy fashion magazines purely for fashion. I think men want more to a fashion magazine than just pictures of nice suits and the latest marc by marc messenger bag.. they want gadgets, gizmos, cars, and pretty ladies

Thats how I see it, I'm sure there's more too it than that

 

[finch]

Well said, you beat me to it!

Nice thread. I personally think that it's because the women on the covers are what men want and what women what or would like to see themselves as.

 

[Mr-Dale]

It's a result of the masculinity dominance that has ruled our culture for centuries... just like you see halfnaked women in both male artists' and female artists' music videos, but no naked men whatsoever in either's...Womenstudies is a science that deeply covers this phenomena and it's quite interesting really. This that you address is one prime example of this

Great question!

 

[tigerrouge]

That said, I can see a lot of positives in using a man-woman pairing as a cover shot, the most recent examples being the current W, and Gemma/George Clooney on the cover of Vanity Fair, not to mention US Vogue's occasional series of actor/model pairings that seem to result in great editorials.

There's definitely a unique sort of energy that results from putting together an unexpected couple that have evident chemistry.

 

[LilyTiger]

I once read somewhere that women subconsciously try to identify themselves with the person on the cover (or in the ad for that matter) while men tend to mentally put themselves into the cover/ad situation, next to the pictured person(s).

I also think that men would more likely buy magazines with men on cover if their brain (and other body parts) wouldn't scream "women! women! women!" all the time

 

[nel16]

I once read somewhere that women subconsciously try to identify themselves with the person on the cover (or in the ad for that matter) while men tend to mentally put themselves into the cover/ad situation, next to the pictured person(s).

^ So true.

Additionally I think that a specifically fashion/beauty-focused women's magazine wouldn't want to mislead newsstand buyers by putting a male on the cover, in male clothes (well, yeah), because it strays and distracts from the purpose of the magazine.

I think it also kind of loses some sense of sophistication with a male on the cover, because usually when a women's magazine has a coverboy people usually assume it's for more frivolous reasons. Which isn't to say that men's magazines are any better (they're worse).

 

[city girl]

because women can relate to women more..as oppose to a man on the cover

 

[LilyTiger]

^ that's right.

But what I've been wondering for quite some time now: Do men not buy magazines with men on cover simply because they get distracted by the half-naked women on the other magazines (like I've hinted at above) - or do they actually reject magazines showing men (subconsciously or not)? Any guys here?

 

[EdanChrysler]

It's a result of the masculinity dominance that has ruled our culture for centuries

Personally I tend to disagree with statements like this ... to me, many men's lifestyle magazines put females on their covers because it's a business move to attract men, who have higher sex drives, to buy them. Female magazines, on the other hand, put females on the cover not because they feel submissive to men (as is somewhat suggested by the statement above), but rather because they subconsciously want to look like the women on the covers. To me, the male psyche works on a slightly sexual basis ("I think she's a really hawt babe and I'd love a girlfriend like her") whereas the female psyche works on a more cooperative one ("Perhaps I can learn something from this really stylish woman so I can make myself look even even better"). A lot of people claim that females want to look better so they can get a boyfriend, but I think it's a sweeping statement because many women want the confidence achieved from looking good and not the romantic benefits it may bestow them.

Plus, it depends a good deal on what the magazine is about, and its target audience and selling method. Magazines like FHM or Maxim are a lot about satiating the beastly male appetite (LOL), but there are other magazines like Men's Health and International Vogue Hommes that don't have such an aim. The former for example puts pictures of males with buff bods on the cover because it appeals to the "I want to look like THAT!" mentality (not unlike that used by female fashion magazines). The latter puts pictures of stylish men because again, it is appealing to the "I want to look as stylish as THAT!" mentality.

LilyTiger: I know of perfectly straight men who buy magazines on style such as Men's Folio (an Asian publication on menswear fashion). Men's Folio seldom shows females on the cover; the content includes menswear editorials, articles on the latest menswear collections, and some other things appealing to men e.g. models (cars, that is ), expensive pens and stationery, watches, and so on.

 

[softgrey]

i think that women just look better naked......
if men were prettier then maybe we'd see more naked men...

...




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[LilyTiger]

^ I know that there are some magazines for men that actually have men on their covers. But if you compare numbers - or just take a look at the newsstands - you'll see that they are in the minority and don't sell that well in comparison either (it's slowly changing though).

I think that women see other women on magazines as some kind of 'friendly mentor' or 'inspirational idol', a pictured man would maybe be seen as stranger or even intruder to the woman's world. That's because in my opinion most (or a lot of) women can only truly be themselves among other women - a consequence of millennia of socialisation towards pleasing men.

Now, regarding the theory that men tend (!) to insert themselves into the cover situation in their minds instead of trying to identify with it, they might automatically see other men there as some kind of hard-to-beat competition?? Just a thought though

 

[adorefaith]

you got it soft
because women rock !

 

[Trista]

Well some men's magazines will have men on the cover but it'll be for men to be like "This is a man's man, this is someone who I admire" but half-naked females sell magazines. Simply put, sex sells. I have seen men on the cover of some female teen mags (Ashton Kutcher, Eminem) but when I buy a fashion mag I buy it for the editorials and adverts and articles and I am a female and would rather see haute couture than menswear.