Marketing to Women: Yahoo! Shine

Being a young, modern woman, I am of course appalled on a daily basis on how women are portrayed and the techniques advertising uses to try to convince us they have a "female friendly" product that I can relate to.

However, what irks me even more than women enjoying low-fat yogurt in a bikini is when products try to disguise themselves as forward thinking and blasting stereotypes, while at the same time, perpetuating them.

Today was the launch of Yahoo! Shine, a new social networking community geared toward women. Brandon Holley, the editor who seems to have a diverse background and a level head, writes in Yahoo's Yodel Anecdotal blog...

"What you won’t find on Shine: Advice on how to please your man and diets that urge you to “lose 10 pound fast!” What you will find on Shine: Why buying an expensive “It Bag” is a waste of money; how to make a meal in 30 minutes and how to make a face mask out of last night’s 30-minute meal (okay not really, but you get the idea); how to de-stress at your desk; sharp, opinionated takes on the news; and finally, that you aren’t alone in your “Dancing with the Stars” obsession."

Hmm... is it just me, or does what you won't find sound not too different from what you will find?

Upon visiting the homepage for Shine, I scrolled down and was greeted with a picture of a woman chowing down on a large chocolate bar, followed by an article titled "25 big-picture tasks to keep in mind at spring cleaning time." Somehow, that doesn't seem much more sophisticated then the topics they promise to avoid.

But hey, cleaning and chocolate is what women really care about, right? Thanks for the breath of fresh air...