Women’s magazines: Dreams on paper

In their heyday women’s magazines sold 12 million copies a week. And at their best, these magazines changed women’s lives. They advised, they inspired, they gave us a glimpse of a different way of being — and that was as true of Cosmopolitan as it was of the feminist magazine Spare Rib. 

In our Season 2 finale, Ros Taylor talks to Sam Baker, who edited Just Seventeen, Company, Cosmopolitan and Red, about what it was like to play such a big role in teenage girls’ lives, and Roisin Boyd, a member of the Spare Rib collective. 

• “If you looked at Cosmopolitan, it was about how you should look, you were objectified… it was about how you should perform for men.” – Roisin Boyd 

• “The sense of someone knowing you were thinking something almost before you thought it.” – Sam Baker 

• “She had the idea of producing badges that said ‘Don’t Do It, Di’ … There was a lot of humour. You need humour to keep sane.” – Roisin Boyd 

Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Jade Bailey. Original music by Dubstar. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Jam Tomorrow is a Podmasters production.

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