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Men's Journal Magazine

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The Discerning and Intellectual Magazine for Adventurous Men

Jun 29, 2009

by vemartin

Rating:

Pros: Well-written; limited advertisements; cutting edge art design; in touch.

Cons: N/a

The Bottom Line:

If you are looking for a magazine written for the not-so-average Joe, Men’s Journal Magazine might be for you.

The world of Men's magazines, or magazines that are marketed towards a certain portion of the male reading populace, is littered with twaddle that only seems to appeal to the baser instincts of the male gender. You know the magazines; they need not be mentioned here. Some are happily folding tent never to heard from again. Truth be told there are very few magazines that appeal to the more intellectual side of a man (yes ladies we do have such a side).

But recently as "special gift" for renewing my Bally's Total Fitness membership I received a 1 year subscription to Men's Journal Magazine, "a general interest, active lifestyle magazine with a focus on adventure, travel, equipment, sports, fitness, health, and style."

Men's Journal Magazine, is published monthly by Wenner Media, the same publishing house that brings us such notable sidewalk fare as Us Weekly and Rolling Stone.  The magazine will set you back $3.95 an issue at the local newsstand, but 1 year subscriptions can be had for $9.95. Inside each approximately 120-page magazine you will not find half clothed women dripping with sexy come hither stares. Nor will you find the next Hollywood "it" girl, or wannabe skinny model with a fake tan gracing the pages of this Men's magazine. No, Men's Journal is serious business folks; vapid men with one track minds and adolescent libido's need not apply!

Men's Journal is a smartly written, thoughtfully designed magazine for the active intellectual male. The magazine offer feature-length articles on a wide range of subjects based on the magazine's central theme: adventure, travel, equipment, sports, fitness, health, and style.

However, like most magazines in America, Men's Journal depends heavily on advertising to generate revenue, but unlike fashion magazines that seem to be 90% advertising and 10% substance, Men's Journal only dedicates every other page to colorful spreads bent on selling us stuff we don't really need, or in some cases don't need but really, really want, but can't afford. To its credit, most of the advertising is not dedicated to men's fashions, wore by young impeccably sculpted and groomed men, or automobiles that are impossibly expensive, but instead to the business of adventure and sports.

Conclusion

When all is said and done I enjoy reading Men's Journal Magazine. Granted, given my current lifestyle (my days of adventures have been traded in for the American Dream and all that entails for now), the information the magazine imparts is only marginally useful to me. The fitness articles are rater short and are mostly how-to's that while useful are just barely so. Most of the equipment discussed in Men's Journal is for the magazines target audience with the appropriate disposable income; that's not me.

Nonetheless, when my subscription runs out in another ten months I will probably renew. Why? Because Men's Journal represents my kind of man: thoughtful, intelligent, adventurous (hey, I used to ride submarines, hike mountains and scuba dive and I still want to go sky-diving), man who actually appreciates full-length feature articles or two written by grown-ups for grown-ups.

If you are looking for a magazine written for the not-so-average Joe, filled with those little tidbits in life only men can appreciate, but also brings a healthy infusion of intelligent to its well written and information pages, Men's Journal Magazine might be for you.

Recommended:
Yes

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About the reviewer

Vincent Martin (vemartin)
Ranked #207

I am an IT Professional and have worked in the industry for over 20 years. I may be a computer geek, but I also like reading, writing, cooking, music, current events and regretfully, politics.