Squeezing beliefs into shoeboxes
I've had one brief attempt at writing women's magazine stories. After writing and submitting around sixty stories and getting not a bit of interest in any of them I gave up. Clearly I can't write for this market, and I won't even try in future.
For me, it was a experiment to see if I could get something accepted by them that didn't revolve around a cosy family setup. I'm not into writing about women burdened down by kids and a husband, so all my stories were about independent women making a good life for themselves outside that structure.
They were stories about the way I, and my friends, live in reality today. But a flick through these magazines will show that most women are still painted in domestic or subservient roles. Despite the fact that recent statistics show that the biggest growth in the divorce rate is from mature women claiming their freedom, the magazines don't reflect this way of life.
I had a real problem shoehorning my beliefs in equality and freedom into a structure that might fit a women's magazine. I can't do the Mr. Right bit, for the simple reason that I've come to see a woman giving herself to Mr. Right as totally wrong. So in the end the shoebox was too restricting and I gave up. I'll keep my beliefs, thank you, and you can keep your cosy, unrealistic women's magazines. I won't be reading them, or writing for them.
For me, it was a experiment to see if I could get something accepted by them that didn't revolve around a cosy family setup. I'm not into writing about women burdened down by kids and a husband, so all my stories were about independent women making a good life for themselves outside that structure.
They were stories about the way I, and my friends, live in reality today. But a flick through these magazines will show that most women are still painted in domestic or subservient roles. Despite the fact that recent statistics show that the biggest growth in the divorce rate is from mature women claiming their freedom, the magazines don't reflect this way of life.
I had a real problem shoehorning my beliefs in equality and freedom into a structure that might fit a women's magazine. I can't do the Mr. Right bit, for the simple reason that I've come to see a woman giving herself to Mr. Right as totally wrong. So in the end the shoebox was too restricting and I gave up. I'll keep my beliefs, thank you, and you can keep your cosy, unrealistic women's magazines. I won't be reading them, or writing for them.
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