A guy-friend, upon hearing that I've been a bit stressed at work, messaged me this on Monday: "I'll be around to lend you a listening ear, even though you know what are my thoughts about your industry."

Excuse me, Guy-Friend! What does "my thoughts about your industry" mean? Why do I catch a hint of condescension in your tone, like my work is useless, frivolous and not worth getting stressed over?

On a date yesterday, I proudly showed my date the August 2010 issue of CLEO. He made a face when I took out the magazine.

"Oh c'mon," he grimaced. "What does 'Gaga Ooh-La-La' even mean? I hate that line."

"What?" I said, "Have you not heard the song 'Bad Romance'?" I proceeded to sing a few lines in my best throaty Lady Gaga-voice.

"Oh well," Magazine-Hating Date relented and then shook it all off by saying, "But it's not like you produced this magazine for people like me."

OK. I think it is time we girls put a stop to this dismissive attitude men have towards women's lifestyle magazines. It's as if, in the whole universe of magazines, women's lifestyle mags are just one evolutionary step above a piece of blank paper. The men in our lives roll their eyes whenever they see us reading one ("They're just lying about that anti-ageing cream, you know, right?" ). When we tell them about how it seems cosmically fated that Justin Timberlake would still end up with Britney Spears, they yawn and make some sarcastic comment about how that is really going to help with world peace. How rude.

In the eyes of men, we are screwed up because of women's magazines!

Unhealthy body-image? Blame these magazines for using pictures of models and celebs. 

My thoughts? So you men would rather we women not care about our images? Hello! It's thanks to all that celeb-inspiration that we dress and look this good!   

The materialistic desire for all-things designer? It could only be women's magazines.

Yes, and the car and gadget magazines you guys read are really not trying to sell you anything and, like you'll still find us attractive if we keep showing up for our dates in the same Giordarno t-shirt and 3-for-$10 FBT shorts.  

Buying ridiculous fashion stuff like one-shoulder dresses and chunky necklaces? Check out the fashion spreads inside women's magazines! 

OK. Don't let me catch you trying to get a glimpse of my boobs the next time I wear that figure-hugging one-shoulder dress with that huge cut-out at the waist that shows off my abs. Remind me to stick to something boring ... like ... oh yes, a Giordarno t-shirt and a pair of FBT shorts. 

Men don't realise that it's THANKS to women's magazines that Singaporean women, on the whole, is a much better-looking bunch than Singaporean men. When it comes to grooming and dressing, we are light years ahead of our male counterparts. Yes, we do have lots and lots of pages about beauty and fashion but we also tackle very real topics like career, confidence, relationships and health. We make information accessible. We package information so that it is more digestible and appealing to read. What is information if people are not willing to read it or if people simply don't understand it?

"You know, you're right. Women's magazines are crap," I said to Magazine-Hater. "There shouldn't be anything wrong with wearing a linen, checkered shirt with black straightcut pants and suede moccasins - whether I go to the office or to a club?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Magazine-Hater, "You don't have moccasins. Besides, they are more like men's shoes?"

"Exactly," I said. "But that was how I dressed before I started reading women's magazines." 

Silence.

Deborah 1; Magazine-Hater 0. Point made.