Now, I don't know who wrote this, where, or even who forwarded it to me. But it's a very interesting read.
Now, remember Marge's reading matter in "The Simpsons"..?

Soon after my daughter was born, I received two gift subscriptions to parenting magazines. Like most of my white, college-educated, suburban-raised cohorts, I hadn't thought much about parenting philosophies before I got pregnant. Sure, I babysat, but I didn't have any opinion about circumcision, vaccinations or ear infection treatments -- until one girlfriend gave me a subscription to Working Mother and another a subscription to Mothering. Both friends testified on the useful and practical information contained in the particular magazine she sent me. Both said she found the magazine entertaining and practical. "A good resource," said one. "Lots of great stuff," said the other. And being an overwhelmed first time parent reaching out for any information on this new world I had entered, I eagerly awaited the first issues. My interested piqued, next time I went to the grocery store I noticed the faces. The wide-eyed, smiling babies and toddlers gracing the glossy magazine covers were just as fantastic as the Annie Leibowitz cover of Vanity Fair, the Cosmo Gal, or the Eating Disorder Fashion Cover Waif. No running noses, no food stained/paint stained hand me downs, no scratches or bruises from early walking attempts. Just idealized photographic children attractively displayed like any hip accessory, and the article titles splashed on the covers pulling me in on the fears, hopes and concerns I had as a new parent: how to avoid food battles, why kids need security objects, discipline without yelling or spanking. They were all the questions I could consult with my mother or What to Expect the First Year, but I yearned for something more. The format, with the cover model and teaser topics, was mother's milk. Attracted by the covers, and desiring comfort and reassurance, I bought several parenting magazines. And what did I find out? For the most part, a vision of mothering -- and despite the gender neutral title of several publications they were most certainly geared towards mothers -- almost as fantastic as anything I'd seen in Vogue or Martha Stewart Living. First off, Dad or partner or significant other was rarely seen. With such little editorial or advertising depicting men, I would assume most mothers are single parents. And since that shows that partners aren't an issue, it's not surprising how little content or advertising was devoted to contraception or pregnancy testing. Believe me, having one child, I am very conscious of my fertility and would love to know more about developments in contraceptions. The frequency of car ads took me aback: was it a recognition of the advertiser that women are an economic force to be courted or a continuation of the Mom-o-bile? The ads were mostly for minivans and sports utility vehicles. Come on -- let's appeal to fantasy here. I dream of zipping around in a Miata or one of those muscle bound BMW convertibles. Or, if I'm stuck car-pooling the soccer team, I'll do it in a Hummer -- with the optional ground to air missile launcher rack. I was also surprised at the number of pediatric medication ads. There must be a lot of sick kids out there, and even more frustrated moms who will try anything to get that kid feeling better again. I found the usual 29-minute dinner recipes -- Momma still does the cooking, and being the busy working individual she is, a USDA food pyramid qualifying meal hits the ticket. But nothing too fancy here -- instead, the recipes were mostly comfort food creating bland child palates. The most honest ad? A two-page spread for Prozac. Yup, there's more to depression than post-partum blues. Of course, the majority of the magazines rarely mentioned the difficult-to-advertise nursing support equipment, or addressed breast feeding, cloth diapers or co-sleeping. I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was -- mothering is an opportunity to advertise like any other phase of a women's life. And while the information in most of the parenting magazines is reasonable, the editorial content is limited by the advertising. After all, they can't really put up an ad for an anti-circumcision group if it doesn't bring in the ad-rate -- although there are a few mohels I know who probably could. The subscriptions my girlfriends gave me were entertaining but I let them lapse. I found myself too overwhelmed with the demanding triad of work, child and spouse, and the few moments I had to myself-- I wanted something else. Something that didn't present a false mirror of my life as a working parent, partner and mother -- Did you see Roger Angell's piece in last week's New Yorker?