Going the Wrong Way

There's a new online men's magazine that, unfortunately, is not a joke, though it thinks it has a sense of humor. It's called Real Man Magazine,

A press release announcing the digital magazine declares:

Real Man Magazine was founded as an alternative to other general interest men's magazines which often include less than manly content. Real Man Magazine focuses on articles and information that they believe real men care about; namely women, jokes, sports, drinking, smoking, gambling, guns, outdoors, movies, and more. Their articles are often humorous, but at the same time, thought provoking.

That probably tells you all you need to know. But if you do visit the site, you'll get such gems of below-80 IQ entertainment as "How to Avoid a DUI: Things you must do before you leave your house," or "Can Girlie Men (or Women) Review Movies for Real Men? Sure they can - and the tooth fairy leaves quarters under my pillow." In other words, stuff that grade school boys might find funny. Junior high school boys wouldn't; they're already reading Playboy.

With articles as poorly written as the press release, Real Man Magazine is basically a one-joke concept, and I guess we can't blame the publishers for trying to make of it what they can. But after years of lad magazines debasing men's magazines, I'm just not sure that Real Man Magazine has a market. I mean, you dumb down this crap any further, and you get to the men who can't read. I suspect so far, they're just going to get to the men who don't like to read. Same self-defeating difference.