New York Magazine: August 28, 2006

New York magazine has been on a complete tear of late (Amy Larocca you are a god). There is little that it can do wrong it appears. Perhaps that is why its stumbles seem to glare so horribly.

My first bitch is about one of this week's his and hers fashion stories (the issue's theme is fall fashion). Part of me is thinking I should just drop it 'cause the fashion and photography (the image below is by Serge Leblon) is nice enough, but damn, the tiredness of it all is just killing me and where better than here to vent. The set-up is a wealthy couple--he out conquering the world in his expensive suits and she at home with a cranky baby. As we turn the page, we quickly discover that hubby is cheating on her with some faceless blonde while wifey stays home and frets to the maid about whether or not she's being paranoid.


^^"I'm young, gorgeous, married, and live in one of the most action-packed cities in the world and yet somehow, I am such a complete shut-in that the only person I have to confide in is the hired help." --from Grimm's Modern Day Fairy Tales

And yes, men do cheat, it reflects reality, blah, blah, blah, but damn, that narrative has been shoved down my throat so many times in my lifetime that I'm at the point now that whenever I'm yet again presented with this storyline, I start gagging reflexively. I mean, make up your minds dudes. If you truely want your woman to stay home and take care of the kiddies then stop creating fantasies where she's punished for doing so.

The other part of the magazine that irritates me on a weekly basis is its political writers. Would it kill someone to find a writer who isn't embarrassed to have a liberal outlook or at least isn't afraid to take the gloves off and really expose the current mess our country is in? Steal Matt Taibbi from Rolling Stone if you must. Just please find someone, ANYONE, that has an original thought in his/her head.

And please, please, please, I am on my knees begging, no more stories about politics from that greedy jerk, James Cramer, who uses his fame and television show to manipulate the stock market to his enormous profit. Jeezus Christmas, if this disclaimer doesn't tip one off that the only way this guy's word should appear in a magazine is as paid advertisement, I don't know what does:

James J. Cramer is co-founder of TheStreet.com. He often buys and sells securities that are the subject of his columns and articles, both before and after they are published, and the positions he takes may change at any time.

Buying or selling securities BEFORE he publishes stories we all know are capable of moving stocks?? Could someone please tell me how this is legal?