I'm just listening to 1xtra (as ALWAYS) and there is currently a debate over a new magazine inspired by the female gaze (as opposed to the male gaze which so many magazines eg Zoo, FHM, Maxim, Nuts etc are influenced by)....The magazine, Filament Magazine, is made up of images of men that are made for the female gaze. The people behind the mag "draw on research about what women find erotic, from published academic research and their own online research community." From the research they found that what "women find erotic does not match what is typically thought" and say that on average women prefer:
* men who are not muscle-bound
* men with more feminine face shapes
* men with attractive faces
* images that show the subject’s character and the environment he is in.
And this is what the magazine is, images of men who women should supposedly find attractive...
The mag is a quarterly 72 page hard back magazine, and is launched this month for £7. It differs greatly from the normal "womens" mags, which normally involve celebs, gossip, diets, fashion and cosmetics.
It seems a bit strange really, and the images of men that are in the previews on the webpage are, to be honest... not that nice at all. they are all wearing makeup, far too gothic, feminine, and small and gangly. not a fan. but feel free to make your own judgements...
webpage:
http://www.filamentmagazine.com/Home.aspx
preview of an article from 1st edition:
http://www.filamentmagazine.com/Content/FilamentIssue1ArticleHardandSoft-coreEthicsByDrJamesMatthews.pdf