This podcast episode explores the transformative impact women have had on the magazine industry, from early print to digital formats, through design, editorial leadership, and cultural influence. It highlights pioneering figures—past and present—who redefined magazine aesthetics, expanded representation, and turned magazines into platforms for empowerment and social change.
This podcast episode delves into the critical role women have played in shaping the magazine industry through design, editorial leadership, and cultural influence. While season one spotlighted individual designers, this episode zooms out to explore the broader impact women have had on magazine evolution—from early European publications to today’s digital formats. It traces how magazines shifted from reinforcing traditional gender roles to becoming empowering platforms, thanks to figures like Sarah Josepha Hale, Cipe Pineles, Bea Feitler, and Ruth Ansel, who revolutionized both visual style and editorial voice. The episode also highlights the contributions of Black women in publishing, who created their own magazines to amplify underrepresented voices and foster community. Today, designers like Jessica Walsh, Gail Bichler, and Gail Anderson continue this legacy, using bold visuals and innovative technology to push boundaries and expand representation. Through storytelling, activism, and artistry, women have transformed magazines into platforms for cultural commentary and social change—proving that their creativity and leadership are essential to the industry’s past, present, and future.
1663-1668 - First magazine-like publication (Erbauliche Monaths-Unterredungen)
1693 - First magazine for women created (Athenian Mercury)
1731 - Term “Magazine” first used in the The Gentleman's Magazine
1770 - The Lady’s Magazine began
1830 - Godey’s Lady’s Book, an American magazine for women, was started by a man named Louis A. Godey
1832-1852 - The Ladies’ Cabinet was created and sold
1855 - Photolithography is invented
1870-1927 - The Woman’s Journal, which would eventually merge with The Woman Citizen, was
released in Boston
1885 - Good Housekeeping first published
1891-1894 - Ringwood’s Afro-American Journal of Fashion Magazines were published and distributed
1899 - The Saturday Evening Post printed the first full-page illustrated cover
1916-1925 - Half-Century Magazine was created and distributed
1920 - Women were granted the right to vote
1932-1935 - Cipe Pineless works as assistant art director for Conde Nast
1945 - Ebony Magazine was first published
1954 - Dorothy Dandridge was the first black woman on a mainstream magazine cover
1961 - Bea Feitler is hired at Harper’s Bazaar
1965 - Bea Feitler and Ruth Ansel release famous cover of Jean Shrimpton for Harper's Bazaar
1974 - Ruth Ansel becomes the first female art director and the New York Times Magazine
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