When I was a teenager, I voraciously read German pop and girl magazines, devouring the beauty tips and relationship advice columns, later switching to Cosmopolitan and some other women’s mags.
Looking back, I have no idea why I kept at it for as long as I did, considering that I never really fit the audience these magazines so very clearly aimed for: I was constantly single, not sexually active, and my make-up, hair and clothing all tended to be very low maintenance. But still, I read them, until I began to think that maybe my money was spent better elsewhere, bored of seeing the same old, tired content (“how to get/keep/seduce your man” / “how to look like a celebrity by buying this stuff”) over and over again. After that, for years the only magazine I read regularly was National Geographic (I’d been reading science-y mags all through my teens as well), and sometimes the German mag Neon with its wider focus, until I went abroad and kind of lost the habit completely for a few years.
And then I discovered Filament, most likely through a rec in some feminist or sex-positive blog on my Google Reader – and it basically blew me away. Here was a mag geared towards adult (straight) women that seemed to really “get” my brain – sexy pictures (male erections, oh my!), smart articles (covering everything from feminism over disability rights to rope bondage), and juicy short stories (sometimes even featuring m/m content, yum!)… They’re even pretty good about including people of colour and models with different body types. So yes, a definite rec from me! (Actually, I gave away all my old issues, which are no longer available, to friends, because that’s how much I love them. *g*)
In one fell swoop I regained interest in print magazines, so having been a faithful reader of the website for a while, I signed up for Bitch, which is great if you’re at all interested in looking at pop culture through an explicitly feminist lense. So that’s another mag to read – and unlike Filament I can even read it outside or at work without blushing… 
Since then I’ve tried several other magazines geared to the adult woman with an interest in erotica and pretty men. In English, there’s Pool Boy Magazine, which only has one issue out so far, so it might be a bit unfair to judge it, but while I liked the variety of men they showed, I missed the more intellectual touch of Filament. But then, that’s not what they’re aiming for anyway, I think.
There are also two German mags I’ve read:
Jungsheft, which feels quite home-made (it’s smaller, not glossy, and I actually had to order by emailing the creators) but had a couple of interesting articles in it. However, for me it’s a touch too “German”, maybe – of the three issues I ordered (because international postage is the same as for 1) I fancied one model, I think.
And then there’s the brand-new EDEN pure erotic, which I only got this week. It’s not pornographic (unlike the other adult mags mentioned above), very classy – and it’s not too far away from Cosmopolitan, except that it focuses exclusively on all things sex (after all, it’s an “erotic lifestyle magazine”). I think because of the professional presentation I found myself rather annoyed by little things that I’m sure will be ironed out (silly grammar/spelling mistakes or the annoying subtitle – is there a reason that couldn’t be in German, “pure Erotik”?). But what will most likely keep me from buying the next issue is the fact that it feels too close to the mainstream women’s mags. I didn’t feel that it was written for me – single, geeky, social justice-conscious, and more interested in real men and women than glossy fantasies. (Seriously, what most annoyed me were the short stories, which spent too much time describing how gorgeous the leading lady looked and what she was wearing. Also, if it’s meant for straight women, why the many erotic lady photos?)
What do you think? Have you got any mags you enjoy reading?
Edit: Not a women’s magazine, but an interesting read (with some sexy photos to boot): DUDE is a mag made by trans* guys, giving a bit of a 101 on all things FTM/trans*, and it’s available as a free pdf download.
