In this highly innovative study, Joke Hermes examines women's magazines through the eyes of their readers. She explores the ways in which individuals use media products in their daily lives, as well as the interpretative repertoires they employ in order to make sense of media texts.

Drawing on extensive interviews with readers (both women and men), Hermes shows that, for many readers, women's magazines are a genre that helps pass empty time, that are easily put aside when other things need to be done and that sometimes offer stories or information that may strengthen the reader for a while. Readers are, on occasion, empowered by magazines, which may provide them with the opportunity to imagine 'perfect selves.'

While based on original ethnographic research, this book also covers a broad spectrum from Woman, Woman's Own and Cosmopolitan to feminist magazines and gossip magazines. The book provides both a detailed analysis of a particular media genre and an excellent introduction to the role of media products in the day-to-day lives of individuals.