249 Spin Sisters

I haven't read "Spin Sisters; How the women of the media sell unhappiness and liberalism to the women of America," but the title seems to tell all. I keep a few Family Circles and Women's Day up at the Lake house, and occasionally glance at a cover at the grocery store. The theme of the magazines are usually

beat stress

kill germs

walk off 20 pounds

have great sex

and disease of the month.

Myrna Blyth was the editor of Ladies Home Journal, which many years ago was one of the finest magazines available (my grandmother began subscribing when she was 12 years old), and I still have a few copies from the 1890s. It had fallen on hard times and Blyth managed to nudge it in the right direction, according to Independent Women's Forum. She retired two years ago, so no one can touch her now, and she's spilling the beans.

She says the media is run by the elite who came of age in the 60s and 70s and never questioned that "bigger, better government is the answer to many personal problems." According to the Wall Street Journal, it is well researched, and she read two years worth of nine women's magazines.

In the real world, writes Ms. Blythe, women are not concerned about abortion rights, they favor the death penalty, they supported the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq, and they are more likely to vote than men.

Newsweek, Ms. and NYT of course don't like this book and point out that she herself participated in all the tricks she reports on.