Tired of magazines that seem to cater to a gay clientele that you have never met? How about the gay magazine where the biggest news is that Madonna was spotted somewhere? Instinct is neither, it is not like Out Magazine, or Genre Magazine, Instinct is fun and playful magazine for gay men. It’s irreverent, fun, sexy and interesting all at the same time. You won’t find the news reporting you find in the Advocate or (in general) the outrageous (and fairy useless) fashion spreads of Genre or Out. What you will find is a very readable magazine, one that just about any gay man, from about 20 years old and on up will enjoy. If you’re younger and looking for a great magazine for gay youth, search out an issue of XY because you won’t find much of use in Instinct.
Instinct is published every month and runs about 100 or so pages worth with each issue. The layout and design is quite good and very accessible. A one-year subscription will cost about $14.95. The magazine has its fair share of ads, but I would guess it runs about 60% text and 40% ads, so in general, that’s not bad.
The magazine is broken down into 5 different sections: Up Front; Features; Outfitter; Mixer; and Backside. Each of these sections are further broken down into articles, quick stories and such.
Up Front
The Up Front section has your normal magazine sections, including a letter from the editor (Editor’s Rant), an Insiders section that details the writers and photographers of the issue, the Interaction section where readers send in their letters and the Fluffer section, which highlights “what’s up and out this month.” In addition to that, the Up Front section (which is in the front of the magazine – sorry had to be obvious there) has a travel story (getaway), a home section (habitat), an automotive section (driven – and no, no tips for the gay man to change a tire, it’s a review of a car each month), a sports section (sweatshop), a health section (health), a section with tips on various activities (protocol – this month they review topics that are safe to discuss on a first date), an interview with a female artist (chick we’d switch for), and the get this guy section, which reviews male artists.
This month’s best Up Front line, a topic to avoid on the first date:
Avoid: “Is that your natural hair color?” Either way you look at it, you’re headed down a dead-end street. If it’s not natural, he’s most likely trying to make you think it is. And if it is, you don’t want to offend him by saying it looks like a hoax. Besides, you should never try and second guess ones natural beauty; just because you spent the afternoon plucking your eyebrows, doesn’t mean that the rest of us spend ours in salons.
The stories and sections are all interesting and informative. This month’s travel section focuses on New York City, and as someone who’s spent a significant amount of time there, I was surprised to learn some stuff I didn’t know about. The interview with Dido in the Chicks we Switch for section was great too.
Features
The meat and potatoes of the magazine which, shall I say it, offer the featured articles that are presented on the cover of the magazine. Now remember what I said, fun and irreverent up above, when you consider the topics of the September issue. There’s the story on how to tell if your boyfriend is crazy, or as the articles introduces itself, it’s like a dating rite to get involved with a psycho at one point or another and here’s how to figure out he’s bad news before it’s too late. The other two stories are equally quirky and interesting to read (to say the least), there’s the one of making the most of it and the other on dealing with crushes on straight guys. I won’t go into great detail here, since I’m sure that some out there in the general public are not ready to ponder how to make the best out of your date having, hmm, to put it mildly, very small equipment. We’ll just leave it at that.
Outfitter
Outfitter is the style and cosmetic section of Instinct (come on, could you be a gay magazine without this section?). This month there’s a photo spread on after-hours fashion (evening formal meets greaser chic – it’s, ahh, interesting…), then another photo spread on rough and ready fashion that has models getting down and dirty in the woods (hey, keep your mind out of the gutter, it’s literally down and dirty), a review of accessories that will update your look this fall and finally a review of the six best new scents of the season.
Mixer
Broken down into five sections, each of the stories in this section review new movies (show), book (word), an album (audio: reviews), an artist (audio) and new video games (play). There by now word a full review of everything new this month, but if you’re curious or want to be up-to-date with the goings on in the gay world, Mixer will help keep you updated.
Backside
Can you guess where this section is? Yup, it’s in the back of the magazine. It’s the fun and irreverent spirit again, even in the names of the sections.
Backside is made up of several smaller stories and articles including a comic strip, a sardonic look at current news, a relationship column, an advice column, a review of a blind date the magazine put two readers on, a nightlife column, and a bachelor of the month page which interviews an eligible bachelor.
The Final Word
This is a magazine for gay men, no lesbians here (unless you want to read about the other half). Straight guys won’t find much of interest and straight girls, unless you’re way to into your gay friend’s lives, probably won’t be too interested either.
But if I haven’t excluded you out of the mix yet, then you probably will enjoy Instinct. It’s a different take on the gay magazine genre. It doesn’t attempt to be something that it’s not and because of that, it is a very enjoyable magazine to either pick up that newsstand or to have a subscription to.
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