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February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
May 1, 2006
/ 3 Iyar, 5766
Fashion victim
By
Dan Neil
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
I come not to bury Cargo the men's shopping magazine that
folded to the told-you-so satisfaction of many in the publishing
world last month but to give it an old-fashioned,
rib-spreading autopsy. I've got the penultimate issue right here.
Immediate cause of death? Nick Lachey is on the cover,
looking ever so much like a llama wearing lip gloss.
Cargo joins Vitals and Sync in Madison Avenue's morgue of
mag-alogs, a recent genre of anti-magazine scrubbed of anything that
resembles an idea in favor of pages and pages of stuff about stuff
fitted jeans, cellphones with pop-art graphics, skin-care
products and, most dubitable of all, fashion advice. "I have two
pinstripe suits, one gray and one black," writes Danny M. in
Weslaco, Texas. (Yeah, right!) "What non-solid ties and shirts can
go with each?"
He lives in Texas? May I suggest Garanimals.
Launched by Condé Nast two years ago as the gentleman
companion to Lucky aimed at shopping-addicted mall molls
Cargo sought out that genetically modified form of life known
as metrosexual, which upon reflection now seems like the
hallucinatory creation of somebody's advertising department: males
25-45, fashion forward (and yet somehow fashion backward), with mad
cash and all the time in the world to prowl boutiques and gallerias.
A slightly less politically correct term: gear queers.
I remember seeing the first issue of Cargo in March 2004
a cinder-block-sized monster to rival Vogue and
wondering if men could possibly have become so comfortable with
their own vanity that such a publication could be sustained. Clearly
not.
I reject on its face the notion that American men are more
concerned about their appearance than they used to be but
that might just be because I've spent a lot of time recently flying
commercially. More concerned than when, exactly? The 1890s, when men
worked in starched collars with their heads running with macassar
oil? The 1970s, when serious businessmen whittled mutton-chop
sideburns onto their cheeks to go with their turtlenecks and
burgundy blazers?
Cargo, then, stumbled over a rather low and self-evident
obstacle. Men don't want to be made aware of their vanity. Yet every
page of Cargo is a supercilious mirror held up to its readers: Yes,
you too can look like the lobotomized man-child in the Prada
sunglasses ad, the prissy anorexic in white shoes and no socks in
the Lacoste ad. Magazines such as GQ and Esquire offer their readers
the face-saving sanctuary of articles about world affairs or
profiles of literary figures. Reading Cargo is like getting caught
at a strip club's happy hour. You can't say you're there for the
food.
In other words, no one wants to feel like a materialistic
tool, even materialistic tools.
In an interview with the New York Times, Cargo editor Ariel
Foxman seemed at a loss to explain the hostility the magazine
generated (the Washington Post memorably accused it of "foppery,
frippery, metrosexuality, the commercialization of everything and
the wimpification of America").
And his confusion is understandable, seeing as how much the
same could be said of every lad-mag and men's lifestyle publication
on the rack. But it was the editorial de-contenting of Cargo
the near vacuum of independent judgment, of live-ammo criticism
about what stereo systems were overpriced dreck and which clothes
were the ill-fitting spawn of Macau sweatshops that made the
magazine such an affront. When it comes to fashion, men need help,
not more clever vectors for advertorials.
As Cargo moved toward its denouement, it began running more
stories about sex and celebrities, but these only seemed to muddle
matters. The April issue has a service article about
erectile-dysfunction products such as Viagra. If E.D. is your
problem and you are in your 20s, perhaps you are spending too much
energy accessorizing. Perhaps your Ferragamos are too tight.
Nothing exemplifies the magazine's awkward desperation
better than the cover blurb: "Better than sex! 317 brand-new
products!" Excuse me, gentlemen, but there are no products better
than sex, much less 317 of them.
A great deal has been made of where Cargo falls on the
gay/straight axis, and it's been suggested that the magazine might
have survived if it had only come out of the closet. I'm not so
sure.
You may anatomize as you like about gender and grooming,
shopping and sexual orientation, but men simply don't require as
much wardrobe as women require. In every live-in relationship I've
been in, I've always had the smaller chest of drawers and the
shallower end of the closet. If women are clotheshorses, then every
gay man I know is no better than a clothespony.
Ultimately, Cargo lived up to its bleaker connotation, as
burdensome freight, weighty and unnecessary. No better epitaph for
the magazine could be written than this, from cover boy Lachey
himself: "I have a closet full of stuff, but I wear the same five or
10 things over and over again."
Out of the mouths of beefy babes.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment by clicking here.
Previously:
03/01/06: TALK ABOUT A JOB!
02/21/06: Cowboy down
02/07/06: Superman, we need you now more than ever
01/11/06: All that sass
01/06/05: Is debonair even possible in 2006?
12/26/05: Be careful what you ask for
12/20/05: Monster's Ball: Reconsidering Beowulf
© 2006, Tribune Media Services, INC.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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