Spot the sexist difference between these girls' and boys' magazine covers

A man was in a Kansas City library when he spotted two similar but very, very different children's magazines displayed next to each other.

Matt Frye, who has three daughters, shared a photo of the (unaffiliated) Girls’ Life and Boys’ Life magazines to highlight the start contrast between the messages being sent to young girls and young boys.

Girls’ Life, which is aimed at girls aged 10-16, had cover lines including "100+ ways to SLAY on the first day", and "Wake up pretty!".

Meanwhile Boys’ Life told its readers to "Explore your future" and "be what you want to be".

Many people were understandably infuriated by the photo, which has since been shared thousands of times on Facebook and Twitter.

Along with the photo, Frye commented:

A sad microcosm of what our society says being a girl vs being a boy means. With three girls to raise, this breaks my heart. I'll fight like hell for my girls to not exist in this reality.

Others were similarly outraged by the difference between the two publications.

Publisher and founding editor of Girls' Life Karen Bokram has defended the magazine, explaining that 85 per cent of the magazine's circulation comes from subscriptions, which are likely paid for by parents.

Speaking to The Stir, she said:

I don't ever want to apologize for the fact that we have lip gloss. I don't ever want to apologize that we have clothes.

Bokram added that it's up to parents to decide what media their children are exposed to:

I'm not out there to determine how you should raise a child. Ultimately it's for parents to decide.

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