New Column Gleans Views, Insights From A Selection Of Current Magazines

Voices come at us from all directions. Some are loud, others are so soft they almost fade into the cacophony of our lives.

But volume doesn’t equal content. Sometimes the most clear insights are borne on softest voice, which we hear if we just listen. That’s what this column is about: Listening to many voices for insights and perspectives we might otherwise breeze right by. We’ve named this column Consider this, because we invite you to pause a few minutes every Sunday and do just that.

Here you have it: The five things that scare men about a commitment to a women: You’ll try to change him, no more sex, you’ll turn into a nag, you’ll go nuts, you’ll let yourself go. That according to an article in Cosmopolitan. What scares women? According to Althea (first names only were used in this piece), a 38-year-old retail salesperson, “No matter how charming, classy, or sophisticated a man seems to be, I’m afraid that as soon as he knows I’ve fallen for him, he’ll become a burping, farting, vulgar slob.”

Meanwhile, in the world of high-tech… Fact: More than a third of the world’s on-line users are women.

Fact: When Bill Gates of Microsoft fame held a technology summit earlier this year, of the 103 computer-types gathered, 101 were men.

(Source: Helen Cordes/Utne Reader)

His point of view: Writer David Jacobson offers this explanation for why men want to see other women: “Think of it as a cross between the grass-is-always-greener effect and the sheer fact that men are like 5-year-olds at Disneyland: Every ride looks good, and God forbid we miss one before the park closes for the night.”

Lasting words: Actress Geena Davis on women in Hollywood: “Let’s get rid of the token female. Let’s create a wealth of characters, girls and women, that cover the spectrum. Not just heroes, not perfect, virtuous role models, but real people. … Let them try and succeed. Let them try and fail. But let them try. … Those are the characters I want to see. Those are the characters I want to play.”

(Source: Marie Claire magazine)

Just among women: “I’m turning into my mother” - lament or boasting? If these words have ever passed your lips, we want to know what prompted the observation. Were you appalled by the insight that your actions resembled your mother’s, or did this revelation mark the arrival at a good place in your life?

, DataTimes MEMO: Susan English is the Weekend Editor at The Spokesman-Review; contact her by mail at 999 W. Riverside, Spokane, WA 99201; by e-mail at susane@spokesman.com or by phone at 459-5488.