lisabees Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 (edited) So, I took DSD17 to the hair salon the other day. She was shocked by the lack of variety in the reading material - magazines filled with celebrities or fashion etc. She wants to do a study of some sort to see what women would read if given the chance. She'd like to supply salons with newspapers (both conservative and liberal), books filled with feminist essays etc. She thought she could develop a short questionnaire for women to fill out. So - what do you think of the idea? Any thoughts on how I can help her carry this out? Thank you! She wants to leave some Mary Wollstonecraft, but I'm thinking it is not accessible enough to the average person. Edited March 24, 2017 by lisabees 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethel Mertz Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 What a cool idea! Wollstonecraft is probably not accessible. Her biggest difficulty may be getting salon/beauty parlor owners to agree. One piece I would add: pamphlets about domestic abuse and where to find help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 She was shocked by the lack of variety in the reading material - magazines filled with celebrities or fashion etc. Those magazines are likely for customers to browse for haircut suggestions rather than actual reading. I bring my kindle to read ebooks if I know I will be waiting in a hair salon. I cut my own hair usually but when I do get a haircut, I'll likely be reading BBC news and Forbes news on my phone. My family dentist and the pediatrician, urgent care clinics we go to have a nice variety of magazines. They have: Family, Parenting, Condé Nast Martha Stewart National Geographic Highlights magazine for kids Donated by people (address cut out or blacken out with marker) : Scientific American New Scientist New Yorker Wired 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabees Posted March 24, 2017 Author Share Posted March 24, 2017 (edited) Thank you all! I probably should have made it clear that her focus is on adding informative and women-empowering material. "Intelligent" reading. Love the idea of domestic abuse pamphlets. I like the New Yorker and Scientific American ideas. DS told me that Teen Vogue has been "killing it" lately with Social Justice issue etc. Edited March 24, 2017 by lisabees 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 I think those types of reading materials are meant for short, quick, easy browsing and not so much for intellectual stimulation. I mean, I'm in the waiting room at a salon for about ten minutes until my turn, likely after a rough run getting out of the house. I can't see me getting deeply into an intellectual tome under those circumstances, know what I mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 (edited) Honestly: if I am waiting at the hair salon or at the doctor's office, I don't care to read empowering feminist literature. I feel plenty empowered. This is the only time I get to read trashy magazines I would never spend a dime on, and I happily spend my ten or so minutes reading Good Housekeeping at the dentist twice a year. If I want intellectual stimulation, I find larger consecutive chunks of time to read. I don't think heavy literature is suitable to fill these few minutes. FWIW, I have a graduate degree and am politically liberal. Edited March 24, 2017 by regentrude 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabees Posted March 24, 2017 Author Share Posted March 24, 2017 Hmmm...interesting. I am usually waiting for 45 mins at a time when I get my grays colored. I never reach for those magazines; I bring my kindle. I would love a newspaper to read, though. Or I would pick up a book filled with vignettes. Or a magazine that is NOT about celebriities or fashion. Just not my thing at all. Not even for a minute or two. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 It seems to me women already read what they want to, as they have access to a variety of materials thru the public library and book stores as well as online sources. Myself, I read the New York Magazine while at the salon, since its there and that's one less trip to the library to pick up ILL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 I suspect cost is the deciding factor. One orthodontist I went to had a great range of magazines over all kind of subjects which made me wonder how much he was making? I think that magazine subscription is something they have to do so they just go cheap and get trash. Truthfully because the environment is distracting and you don't want to miss being called I don't want anything too deep anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 I think the questionnaire is a good idea. She seems to have some pre-conceptions. That's not a great way to start a research project. Collect data with an open mind. Then go from there. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 A family member owns a dance studio. She used to get several magazines sent to her business address as free copies. Evidently it was worth the cost of the issue to get eyes on the ads. I think she got Family Circle and Good Housekeeping. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 Another factor is that most home related magazines don't get dated as quickly as a news magazine. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 Honestly I rarely see anyone touch the magazines in salons or doctors offices anymore, unless they're old people without smart phones. Everyone else is on their phone where they can access whatever they feel like reading. I don't think she would get much of a useful sample size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 Honestly I rarely see anyone touch the magazines in salons or doctors offices anymore, unless they're old people without smart phones. Everyone else is on their phone where they can access whatever they feel like reading. I don't think she would get much of a useful sample size. Same here. The salon I go to has a pretty good selection of magazines (news, fashion, sports), but I never see anyone reading them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 (edited) Honestly: if I am waiting at the hair salon or at the doctor's office, I don't care to read empowering feminist literature. I feel plenty empowered. This is the only time I get to read trashy magazines I would never spend a dime on, and I happily spend my ten or so minutes reading Good Housekeeping at the dentist twice a year. If I want intellectual stimulation, I find larger consecutive chunks of time to read. I don't think heavy literature is suitable to fill these few minutes. FWIW, I have a graduate degree and am politically liberal. LOL. I'm a conservative feminist, and I feel the same way. I usually carry a book with me, but sometimes I read what is there. My salon carries two newspapers, National Geographic, and several outdoor magazines that I like. So not all women's magazines. Edited March 25, 2017 by G5052 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabees Posted March 25, 2017 Author Share Posted March 25, 2017 I am so glad I touched base here! I will pass along your thoughts to dd. Her mind is consumed by women's issues and racial issues lately. It is the filter through which she sees the world - a budding, wanna be activist. She is just looking for something to do with her energy! Thanks again. :) 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 My salon has magazines with hairstyles, but other than that it's a very social place. The hairdressers and clients spend most of the time chatting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
learners4life Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 Funny, I nicely complained about this at my salon - a small two person salon in one of those buildings of individual salons. All of the magazines were People magazine type. I did notice she started getting Good Housekeeping. (Btw, anyone look at that magazine lately? Not what it was 20 years ago - almost all ads, many thinly disguised by GH as buying guides or informational articles featuring products. But I digress...) I would love to see a variety such as Arcadia listed. I really don't like reading my smart phone there - I like flipping through a magazine while under the dryer! She should also remember that a few males (mostly husbands and sons of clients) go to these salons as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 (edited) Honestly: if I am waiting at the hair salon or at the doctor's office, I don't care to read empowering feminist literature. I feel plenty empowered. This is the only time I get to read trashy magazines I would never spend a dime on, and I happily spend my ten or so minutes reading Good Housekeeping at the dentist twice a year. If I want intellectual stimulation, I find larger consecutive chunks of time to read. I don't think heavy literature is suitable to fill these few minutes. FWIW, I have a graduate degree and am politically liberal. :hurray: Thank you regentrude, for breaking the ice -- I was too embarrassed to post this same thought. I heavily read and research classic lit. and all kinds of deeper topics every day. I have a giant stack of books and journals I'm always wading through, and can take with me if I have to wait in an office. I don't do facebook or social media, I don't watch TV, and my contact with pop culture is very limited. So I actually look forward to my 30 minutes 4x/year under the dryer at the hair salon getting to flip through celebrity magazines and touching base with pop culture, and then I enjoy the rest of my time at the salon chatting with my hairdresser and feeling like I'm getting treated to a relaxing spa kind of treatment. Since I run HARD with teaching, researching, writing, and thinking most of the time, I NEED that kind of a break at the salon! :laugh: Edited March 25, 2017 by Lori D. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2scouts Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Many businesses get magazines free, so they aren't going to spend much money to increase their magazine options. My dh gets a whole pile of magazines that are somewhat related to his profession and we don't pay for any of them. I also agree with others that I really don't want to be reading woman empowering or social justice magazines in the few unfocused minutes when I'm in a waiting room. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 She might consider if there is a need and also receptiveness at waiting rooms where people do wait a long time. Emergency rooms surgery waiting areas Employment Insurance offices Aid agency offices Social security DMV She should be prepared to take no as a response that isn't personal. Some places may have no reading material so they can't be seen as promoting any viewpoint. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 (edited) Even if I would like to read more interesting articles in waiting rooms, I can't focus when I know I will be called any minute. This is the same reason I can read a message board or skim news in the day time, but find it difficult to focus on deeper reading unless it is early in the morning before children need me, or at bed time. Fifteen or twenty years ago, this was not the case. Then, I could bring focus in and out and would carry long novels with me everywhere. That has something to do with having children, something to do with age, and maybe something to do with the internet, since it does have effects on the brain, although I don't seem to have trouble focusing on books when other distractions aren't present in the way I hear some people say they do. Also in a hair salon, while waiting, I am usually thinking about what I will say to my stylist about how I want my hair done, since I don't usually think about it ahead of time. Edited March 26, 2017 by Penelope 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Well I don't think it's a good idea. With the political nature of many publications the salon owner would be at risk of ticking off a portion of their customer base - not worth the risk. Better to stick to haircut magazines and People-type idiot celebrity mags. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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