Women's Magazines

(if I don't specify man or woman, where it says man, fill it in with woman if it is more your style)

Today, while spending time with my friends, we happened upon a magazine targeted towards the female audience.  I will not specify the name, but I will say that they are all pretty much the same to me.  A cover story caught my eye, and it stated, "12 ways to know your man is into you."  We proceeded to open it, and after about fifteen pages of ads, we finally discovered the table of contents in order to find the story we were looking for.  That brings me to another point, but I'll get to that in a minute.  Us men read through the tell-tale signs that women will be looking for, and we about died laughing at the expectations they're making women think their men are or are not doing.

Women, if you EVER come across one of these lists, do NOT believe them!  The first sign on this specific list was "They go the extra mile for you," to which they use an example of men making the bed just right, leaving no creases, smoothing out wrinkles, and fluffing the pillows.  This might just be me, and all of my friends, but you'll be lucky if we throw the sheet back over the pillow when we get out of bed in the morning.  We all also unanimously proclaimed that regardless of who we were with at the time, that habit will more than likely not change.  Think about it.  If you are already with us, and you were fine with us to this point, do you think that we'll change habits when they haven't been a problem before?

Now don't get me wrong.  There were some signs that are truthful, but they're surrounded by so much fodder, that you'll never know what to believe.  For example, there was a sign that we will respond to your text messages almost immediately most of the time.  If someone is into someone else, they're going to be very responsive to that person.  That's common sense though.  Women, if a man or woman that you're interested in texts you, you're more than likely going to respond.  These signs, the ones that show that someone is interested, work both ways. If it's something you would do if you were interested, more than likely, they're doing it because they're interested.  These magazines always make these "fail-proof" lists claiming they know the secret formula to the male psyche.  What they aren't telling their audience is that they only know a select few males, and those men don't equate to the average man.  If you really want to know, ask your male friends.  They're the men you are around the most, and you're more likely to be attracted to a man that you'll feel comfortable around.  They'll provide you personally with the most accurate protrayal of a man, especially if they know said person.

The other thing I noticed was the amount of ads. The magazine spanned roughly 350 pages, and only 100 of them were articles.  There is a problem with a magazine when two thirds of it are purely advertisements.  The problem is even worse when the prime demographic includes self-conscious, gullible people with disposable income.  From a business standpoint, that's a goldmine!  From a more personal level, it's horrible to make people think that spending more money on frivolous items will make them more attractive.  HA, that's probably why I'm still single.  I can't stand women that try to do extra to catch a man.  Can you imagine how disappointed a man will be if they gained feelings for someone, only for them to transform and regress into their normal self?  Even if their normal ways are perfectly fine, it was not who the man fell for. (yes, it works the other way too.  hence the reason why I'm always myself.)

This is a message from Steven to all the women.  Just be yourself!  Don't be what you think the other person will like.  The best relationships are those that you don't have to change anything about yourself in order for him to be happy.  Isn't it easier to just be you?  Don't listen to these magazines.  Form your own opinions about men.  And if you really want to know what men like, ask the one you're interested in directly.  Every man is a case-by-case situation, and these women's magazines can't generalize these concepts.  Be confident in your own abilities because you're you and that's what you're best at.