Daughters - A Really Unique Magazine for Adults Raising Girls
Written: Sep 13 '03 (Updated Nov 01 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great advice on raising daughters, provides lots of resources, no ads, multi-cultural
Cons: Short, expensive, six issues per year
The Bottom Line: A parenting magazine with great advice and no ads.
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| modernmarvel's Full Review: Daughters Magazine |
When my children were very young, it was easy to find and follow parenting advice. There were lots of books about babies and toddlers that explained when they are supposed to sleep, eat and poop.
However, once children enter elementary school, their needs become much more complex. Sure, there is still a lot of advice, but it becomes harder to find a voice to rely on. I got a subscription to Daughter's magazine as a gift from my mom. Overall, it has a lot of great advice. Like any other source, I don't know that I will use it all. However, the magazine raises great points about many issues that I wouldn't have thought of on my own and gives some great pointers.
WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT
This is from the publisher's web site: "Physically, emotionally, and cognitively, girls are maturing at an earlier age than in generations past. Coupled with the pressures from mass media to grow up too fast, girls as young as 10 are faced with the difficult choices and decisions that have always confronted adolescents."
Daughters Magazine is written for adults raising daughters in late elementary school through early teens. Even though my daughter is in early elementary school, I find the advice about middle school girls interesting. It is good to know the issues we might face as my daughter gets older. It is also important to know that a good relationship with your daughter at a young age might help you through the rough spots of the teens later on.
The magazine shuns all ads and it very against publications such as Cosmo girl that are all about makeup, dieting and boys. The magazine's philosophy is that girls should be free to develop their own minds before they get intense pressure to adjust their body images to comport to society's demands and lose their own sense of self in the hunt for a boyfriend.
There are lots of great articles written by both women and men. The authors have a lot of experience in their fields and the articles are all well-written. The topic range from musically gifted children to coping with death to eating disorders to feeling close to your daughter. One of the best parts of this magazine is that they give out information about other organizations that would be interesting to parents. The magazine is also multi-cultural and presents people from all types of backgrounds.
WHAT YOU GET IN EACH ISSUE
The magazine is a strange size at around 7 x 11. The magazine has regular thickness paper and there are some color photos and drawings, but no glossy pages. Most of the magazine is text, it reminds me more of a newsletter rather than a magazine. There are no advertisements to take up space so all of the 16 pages are content.
The September / October 2003 issue has the following articles:
- An interview with a doctor that treats Bullemia
- What are Teen Magazines Telling Your Daughter?
- Making the Transition to Junior High
- A brief Letter from the Editor
- News to Use (small paragraphs on obesity, sex at an early age and other tidbits)
- How to Be Your Daughter's Writing Coach
- How to get your daughter to practice a musical instrument
- Letters from readers on How to Help a Grieving Girl
- What to do When She Shoplifts
- Girls and Desire
- Mothering Journey and Fathering Journey: two articles written by parents about their experiences
- Where have all the Tomboys Gone?
- Dads and Dollars
One of the lengthy lead articles is about eating disorders in girls and how to recognize clues that your daughter might have an eating disorder. Another full-page article talks about shoplifting - according the article, 25% of shoplifters are teens. There are also more positive articles including several on building relationships with your daughter.
An article I really liked included tips from a parent on getting your child to practice a musical instrument. My daughter usually likes to practice, but I found some useful information on making practices more fun.
Another useful part of this magazine is that they point you to other resources to explore. The latest issue suggested some web sites with wholesome magazines for girls and books about the media impact on women and girls.
MY ONLY CONCERN ABOUT DAUGHTERS MAGAZINE
I agree with everything the magazine says but I also think that, perhaps, they are not acknowledging the real world. In first grade, in my daughter's school, some girls wore more fetching clothes and looked much older than 6 and 7 years old. The girls have dancing parties and teach each other how to roll their hips and strut around. One girl openly flirted with boys at a birthday party by rolling down the waistline of her pants to flash the top of her underwear. The boys, unsure about these signals, huddled together and giggled.
So, what to do? Of course, I urge my daughter to follow her own interests and develop her own mind. I don't like all of this early pre-sexuality and, luckily, most of the kids don't know what to make of if either. I can see that it could lead to early sexual activity and perhaps other troubles down the line. So, I wish Daughters magazine was a little more real world and addressed some of these issues instead of just preaching that they shouldn't exist. (By the way, New Moon magazine - which is issued by the same publisher and targeted to girls - is much more real world - probably because they have girl editors).
Daughters magazine can be naive about this behavior, and while the authors strongly advocate that early sexual socialization is inappropriate, harmful and wrong, they don't give a lot of pointers on how to coach a daughter that is intimidated by dance parties and unaware of other kids' pre-sexuality. While this issue is still small for me, I think it will continue to grow until we reach middle school.
WEB SITE
The web site is www.daughters.com. There are articles from the newsletter available on the site. You can also order a subscription there.
PRICE AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
A one year subscription is 6 issues and $24.95. It is rather expensive, but there is no advertising to cover some of the costs.
FINAL RECOMMENDATION
I think Daughters is a decent magazine. It provides some useful advice for parents and it opened my eyes to some issues I may face a bit down the road with my daughter. I remember thinking in middle school that my parents were blissfully unaware of what life was like as a kid in middle school. I think Daughters can open up that world for parents a little bit and help them reach out to their early teenage daughters. I recommend this magazine, although I wish it were a bit more affordable.
MY OTHER REVIEWS OF PARENTING AND FAMILY MAGAZINES
Family Fun: http://www.epinions.com/content_96390450820.
Child: http://www.epinions.com/content_101465427588.
Nick Jr.: http://www.epinions.com/content_102499978884.
Parent & Child: http://www.epinions.com/content_114500210308.
MY OTHER REVIEWS OF MAGAZINES FOR CHILDREN
Your Big Backyard: http://www.epinions.com/content_95156407940.
Kids Discover: http://www.epinions.com/content_94276193924.
Zoobooks: http://www.epinions.com/content_94591684228.
Ladybug: http://www.epinions.com/content_94864641668.
Ranger Rick: http://www.epinions.com/content_96249089668.
New Moon: http://www.epinions.com/content_104430603908.
Jack and Jill: http://www.epinions.com/content_117260324484.
Recommended:
Yes
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