Parenting Pubs: The Next Generation Looks Mommy-Centric, Too
Posted on 14. May, 2008 by Brian Reid in General
I used to spend a lot of time moaning about the enormous parenting magazines (Parents, Parenting, etc.) and the way that they were overwhelmingly — sometimes aggressively — mommy-focused. And I held out hope that the future of parenting publications would be full of gender-neutral perspectives.
But DaddyTypes is looking at the online parenting arms of our nation’s suddenly web-obsessed newspapers and has noticed an alarming trend of mommy-centrism. Moms Miami from the Herald. Bay Area Moms from the Chronicle. Now BoMoms from the Globe.
There are exceptions, thankfully, that Greg duly notes (my other blog, The Poop, etc.), but seriously … does throwing dads into the mix really kill traffic and advertiser interest?
Working Dad
16. May, 2008
Hey I’m doing my best out here in the Pacific Northwest…
I think you’ve posted on this but Details is making a significant push into parenting reporting. I just think dads will be engaged in different ways, and we in the media need to figure out how. One way is writing about parenting for those men’s magazines, something maybe we should try…
Jim Berigan
19. May, 2008
Hi! Terrific website! I’m a brand new reader, but I’m really enjoying going back and reading all the old posts. For two years, I owned and published a parenting magazine in northern Michigan. I was very conscious of including a male perspective on parenting. In fact, our most popular column each month was a father’s report on raising his three young children. I think people in general would really respond well to a fresh and insightful presense of dads in our country’s parenting publications. Thanks for the great article!
john
31. May, 2008
My guess is that this trend is advertiser driven and reflects that Mothers probably:
Make more of the decisions when stuff is bought for the kids
Spend more than men when buying stuff for their kids.
Even in the families I know where the Father is the primary parent and does the grocery shopping etc. Mom tends to buy the clothes, care more about how the child is dressed, is more likely to splurg on a bugaboo etc…
Father Mann
01. Jun, 2008
I am in agreement with Working Dad that if we are going to get Dad’s perspective into parenting magazines and the media at large, we are going to need to be the ones getting articles out there.
I am seeing more on men and parenting in men’s magazines such as Men’s Health and Best Life, but they are of the “best advice your father ever gave you” and “how to set your child up to be wealthy in retirement” scope. Interesting reads, but not helpful enough for comprehensive parenting.
So let’s start writing some articles and get them out there.
JP
03. Jun, 2008
I’m a mom, and I’ve long been bothered by mommy-centrism in the media, even before my husband and I swapped roles a couple of years ago. (During business hours, he’s our kids’ primary caregiver and I work outside the home. We both bust tail 24×7-49.)
I love sfgate.com’s “The Poop” blog. Lots of mom and dad voices, in both the articles and the comments. People are generally positive and supportive. I was really excited when sfgate spun off the “Bay Area Moms” area…except for the title, whose exclusionary tone really set off the parenting community at large. I though it would be cool to hear from some of the other commenters on “The Poop,” but there’s a huge difference in content and tone. It seems to be following the Parenting Magazine model. People posting comments are much less civil in disagreement than on “The Poop,” too.
Jeff
07. Jun, 2008
Hey there R.D.
I’m coming back into circulation. At least I’m gonna try. The blog is a bit rusty, but with a shot of WD40 and a little elbow grease I think I can get it running again.
But anyways…. on this topic….
Delaware Parent Magazine, which is published by our local newspaper, is getting set to change its name. As if you couldn’t guess, it isn’t going to be “Delaware Dads”. DelawareMoms.com Magazine is going to tie into an already existing web community also run by the same newspaper. Now, just to clarify…. I am a member of said web community. I’ve been welcomed and accepted as one of the very few (some days only) male contributors to the site. I enjoy the site, but the idea of changing the magazine’s name just irks me to no end.
I’ll see you around.