Is this for Me?

I do not read magazines on a regular basis and I am not fond of what some may call "Tabloid Fodder," but when I do read them, I get my fix from People magazine and Sports Illustrated. When asked to do a critique of my favorite magazine, I have to admit that I was stumped. I mean, when I don't read them on a regular basis, how do I choose one to critique. I thought about picking one I used to love when I was a "tween" like Tiger Beat or Bop, or even the ones I used to love when I was in high school, like Seventeen or Teen People. Then I began to think that a critique of those magazines would become somewhat biased because although I used to love them, I no longer have any interest in them, and I think I might find myself a little bored with them.

I decided to choose Sports Illustrated because it is a magazine I am familiar and often find myself reading. I chose to critique this issue based on advertising and the assumed audience of this advertising. Care to take a guess at what I might find?

If you guessed that most of the ads are geared towards men, then do I even need to say that you were right? After careful examination, I found that although there were a few ads that seemed to be for women, the ads were not for women's products. There seemed at first to be for men, were actually being advertised to both sexes, and only one ad was geared specifically towards women. The one ad for women, was of all things, for a car. It was the idea that although it is not a convertible, your hair will still blow in the wind and give you a rush. What I notice is that although it could be assumed that all ads in Sports Illustrated are geared towards men, it is my belief that there should be more for women, because women read it to.

There are ads for cigarettes, alcohol, sports events, sports gear, and "manly" cars, so why is it that these ads cannot be geared towards both sexes. Would it deter a man from buying a bottle of alcohol because women drink it too? Would it deter a man from watching or attending a sports event because women are there as well? My answer to these would be no. So why is it that most, if not all, of the advertising in this magazine is gender based? Does it really make a difference?