Since the birth of Ebony,Essence and O magazine,there was the direct indication of the male perspective.Essence and Ebony are both the brainchild of aspiring male entrepreneurs.O was the result of a collaboration between Hearst Magazines and Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Entertainment Group.The latter purports to detract itself from the premier dominant messages in mainstream magazines:Weight loss and a healthy sex life defines your identity and self-worth.On the contrary,Essence and Ebony have suffered lawsuits,public scrutiny,and threats of a decline in readership based on their decisions to incorporate or not incorporate a dominant male perspective or homosexual views and content(Bird,1996;Nealon,1990;Hera,1991;Gadsden,2000;Gadsden,2002).The literature communicating the race and sexuality conflict in African-American publications posits that the magazines exhibit homophobic tendencies and fail to acknowledge a specific group of readers because non-traditional sexual practices are“deviant”and could potentially threaten more conservative subscribers.
Funneling Spirituality
Black culture is grounded in religion,mostly structured aspects of Christianity.However,spirituality,not formal religion,is the new trend in women's and lifestyle publications.This new“holistic genre”has branded itself and substantially motivates subion rates and reader's attitudes and acceptance of magazines.The media defines O as a no-nonsense feel-good emotional energizer that is free of product materialism but high on spiritual worthiness.The publication brings solace to its readers in a time of international political unrest and instability,according to critics(Mediaweek,January 2001/October 2000;Newsweek,January 2001;Mediaweek,April 2000/January 2001;Folio,February 2003;Spring Magazines,2001).Oprah's humanitarianism,in accordance with the fact that“people just like her”garners a global readership that includes and considers every woman,from the Fifth Avenue socialite to an impoverished mother in a South African village.The magazine uses spirituality to set trends in the media industry and in the lives of its readers.According to media critics,O elegantly weaves its way around common magazine themes so that it can focus wholly on self-acceptance,self-affirmation,emotional stability,and a balanced home life through spiritual enlightenment.Says Amy Gross,O's editor-in-chief,“We're speaking to a set of values,not a set of demographics.We try to create a very intimate conversation with readers”(O'Leary,2001,p.53).A direct linkage to her ancestors spiritually motivates the Essence reader along with sharing the intimate details of the physical,intellectual and emotional lives of other black women.However,unlike O,the Essence reader and Essence magazine acknowledges a specific“higher being.”O and Oprah Winfrey have both received criticism from religious leaders because of the absence of the term“God”in the publication(Hoffman-Goetz,1999;Hamlet,2000).
Magazines as a Media Launch Pad
The possibility of spiritual alliance through enlightenment and empowerment prompted the launch of the South African edition of O magazine and Ebony South Africa(Africa News Service,January/December 2002;Black Enterprise,May 1996;Carr,2002).Media analysts celebrate the mergers and global initiatives of the two lifestyle publications,even in a market as unstable as South Africa.Initiatives involving race,education and lifestyle matters by Ebony,Essence and O magazine were prevalent in the literature reviewed,including Essence's acquisition of Latina magazine,a bilingual publication similar to Hearst's Cosmopolitan(Folio,1995;Mediaweek,October 2000/August 2003;Marketing to Women,September 2001;Variety,August 2003;Mediaweek,June 1996;Folio,October 1996;Publishers Weekly,February 1996).Researchers and critics argue that this signifies the magazines'awareness of and interest in promoting social change and reiterates their responsibility to minority and global readers.