Black Women’s Magazines and Black Men

 

I grew up reading Essence magazine and dreaming of one day seeing my byline on the pages, an aspiration I still hold dear. But one of the things that has always troubled me about Essence and other magazines for black women is the heavy focus on how to win the heart of a black man or how to keep your black man happy. The questions I always found myself yelling to the air were, “But what if your man isn’t black?” or “What if Mr. Right is white?” 


This may sound surprising coming from me since I am married to a black man, but this isn’t about me. This is about recognizing and respecting the diversity of relationships. 


Furthermore, the bigger issue here, of course, is the fact that magazines for women (of any race) tend to print article after article about pleasing and understanding men instead of simply concentrating on empowering women. I’m pretty sure men’s magazines don’t devote half as much ink to stories about us. But this matter is more pressing with regard to magazines for women of color because these publications were created in response to the lack of positive representations of Black women in the media.


Clutch, an online magazine for young black women, recently discussed this issue, revealing some comments from readers who were unhappy with the publication’s focus on black men, such as:


“I’m sorry but clutch this is a black woman’s magazine! we dont need to talk about black men all the time. Alot of us are in relationships with men who are not black. lets discuss other issues here. clutch please!”


and 


“Why does Clutch continue to print articles centered around Black males? I thought this was a magazine for Black women? Why is it assumed we are so interested in Black males?”


Even though I’ve had these same complaints about some of my favorite magazines I do agree with Clutch writer Bene Viera’s declaration that expecting a magazine for black women to NEVER publish articles about black men is unreasonable. As she writes, “Many of the issues centered on Black men are relevant to us as women and the community.”


It’s also absurd to expect these magazines to not cover relationships, something I’ve learned even with Georgia Mae.  I started this site with the intention of focusing on feminism and pop culture, but we have more and more readers requesting love advice and so we’re giving our readers what they want. 


But is there a way to find a balance? How can publications like Essence and Clutch write about black men in a way that doesn’t alienate readers? I don’t know that I have an answer. However, in addition to not assuming that their readers are in relationships in black men, I think it’s imperative that editors be careful not to publish articles that subtly (and sometimes directly) make the ridiculous suggestion that the best way to be supportive of a black man is to be passive and submissive or that successful women should downplay their achievements to soothe the black male ego. In my opinion, those ideas are just as offensive to black men as they are to black women. A black man doesn’t need a weak woman to feel strong. 


What do you think? Should publications for women, particularly those for black women,  focus solely on women?