"Gender, Advertising, and Mass-Circulation Magazines" Helen Damon-Moore and Carl F. Kaestle

This chapter seems to show that magazines have tended to be read mostly by women.  Since the role of women was seen as the "house wife" type, the earliest magazines tended to focus their advertisements towards women. The advertisements along side the stories and articles allowed the earliest magazines, such as the Ladies' Home Journal, to profit highly.   When the Post magazine tried to become a magazine for business men, they found out that it was harder to do because, while the men's interest were in their work, each job was different; therefore, each man's interest was different.  The Post as well as most magazines that tried to be men interest magazines ultimately geared there focus to include women.  According to this article, history shows that advertising is easiest for magazines when it's targeted towards women.  Even with the movement to the television, women's magazines and family magazines (geared to both men and women) have dominated the magazine industry.

I agree with the reasoning of the this article.  The social roles of men and women played a huge part in determining how the owners of magazine publications have determined what to include in them.  However, I believe that the magazines have changed a bit over time in that there are more "family" magazines than women dominated magazines.  While it does seem that woman still read magazines more than men there is at least more out there for men, such as, computer, sports, and car magazines.  They are focused magazines, which in a way tells us more about how the social roles of men and woman are still different.  Understanding how is still a question that I can not even answer.