Ami, ????? Tabboo subjects???

Mommy3.5

Sat, Mar 05 2011, 8:08 pm

Levtov wrote:

Mama Bear wrote:

I didnt even find the word yet. I keep scouring the geyores article trying ot find it, I might find it over shabbos. Levtov I dont know why youare making such a fuss over this.

ok, if you say that the gayores article alluded nothing about abortion or gay issues...I believe you. Thanks

I found the word gay....

Alef Bais

Sat, Mar 05 2011, 8:41 pm

I read the article and found what the original poster referred to. It was there when the rabbi referred the author to a new church and they checked it out and saw it stood for abortion and gay rights and they said it's not for them. I didn't think there was anything terrible about Ami having those words in the article in the context that they were. For people worried about their kids seeing such things, well, maybe kids should only read literature that is specifically for kids. Ami has their Aim magazine special for kids. I believe there should be magazines for grown-ups. We also need an outlet. If there was nothing for us, the only alternative would be goyshe magazines.

bashinda

Sun, Mar 06 2011, 12:08 am

Aw, thanks MB.

And I also completely missed that line! I guess I'm not as sensitized as the person who told LevTov about the article because it didn't ring any bells.

And I echo what everyone else is saying that this isn't a magazine for children or even teenagers. I would not be giving this magazine to my children to read. It's not geared towards them. That's what irks me when people complain using that excuse, like the letter in this week's Family First complaining about the mutilation article amd how she had to rip it out of the magazine.

Mama Bear

Sun, Mar 06 2011, 1:09 am

in all honesty it was surprising to me how many lines ami crossed this week, and this is with having a 'rabbinical board'... yes, they didnt go into 'detail' about gay rights or abortion, and teens arent meant to read ami living, but... this is the first time EVER that a chareidi, frum, heimish publication printed it. I have never seen 'gay' published anywhere in the frum magazine/newspaper circuit. and hten there was the whole thing about birds, how 'it's impossible to see on chickiens if theyre male or female, someone has to lift them up and check underneath them what their gender is'... ew. This isnt about being edgy or different, this is about standards. I will still buy them, what they wrote was really not the 'end of the world', it was just surprising. and this isnt the first time something like this has happened with Ami. Remember they recalled all the magazines in week 3 because of something that didnt meet their standards? how did this pass their screeners? How about the line about when this geyores would show up at WIC every time she had a baby they asked her "What mistake did you make this time?" and an article about nursing which wasnt so explicit that it should need to be banned or anything, but it went into way more detail than another publication would. whatever it is... some of the content would be fine on imamother, but not so much when it's sold in some really sheltered neighborhoods - I still dont understand how mishpacha cant be sold in wmsbg groceries but ami is, and people buy it. they really need to revamp their list of 'standards' and be more careful what gets through. and by the way NONE of this bothered me, I'm an adult and dont have teenagers in the house. I'm talking about a general rule here.

Levtov

Sun, Mar 06 2011, 1:18 am

Thanks, MB. This, not so sheltered lady, told me that she read Ami and was surprised to find stuff that crossed a certain line....Not that it revealed anything new, or bad. Btw, since Ami is sold in all stores, you can now get Mishpacha at Hatzlacha, Chestnut and Pyramid. Hopefully, all stores will be selling them soon. I, too, am an adult with no teenagers. Also, many of us read a variety of stuff. However, these magazines, till now were held to a higher standard. I, personally, am ok with it! Do we still need an apology?

Grandmama

Sun, Mar 06 2011, 3:25 am

Check out AMI magazine page 13 article by Miriam Jaffe.

Top paragraph on right hand side.

Specifically mentions things that I am sure many teenagers (and many adults) have never heard of.

Since when is a family magazine so explicit?

I read every word, and was shocked!

Mishpacha also had a shocking article this week, a few minutes with Harold Rhode page 18
to quote " a moderate Islamist is like a moderate Nazi, who only wants to kill a million Jews, chas vshalom.

Why would any magazine printed in English, print such an opinion?

sequoia

Sun, Mar 06 2011, 3:56 am

Grandmama wrote:

Mishpacha also had a shocking article this week, a few minutes with Harold Rhode page 18
to quote " a moderate Islamist is like a moderate Nazi, who only wants to kill a million Jews, chas vshalom.

Why would any magazine printed in English, print such an opinion?

Yes, Islamists are fanatics by definition. If he had said that about Muslims that would be untrue.

intrigued

Sun, Mar 06 2011, 4:05 am

Mama Bear wrote:

I still dont understand how mishpacha cant be sold in wmsbg groceries but ami is, and people buy it. they really need to revamp their list of 'standards' and be more careful what gets through. and by the way NONE of this bothered me, I'm an adult and dont have teenagers in the house. I'm talking about a general rule here.

Wow I really don't get that. Here where I live it is a very sheltered place and they banned Ami after the first week but they have no problem with Mishpacha. In fact I think one of the reasons why Ami got banned was because Mishpacha made them. I would really love to get the Ami but you can't get it in the whole country!!

beentheredonethat

Sun, Mar 06 2011, 8:08 am

It is with great chagrin that I read the responses to some of Ami's articles. It is no wonder, then, that our publications are so bland, so unrealistic and therefore so BORING! when a new magazine arrives at my doorstep I usually start out hoping to find something that will capture my interest, but before long I’m up to the last page and have read NOTHING. I was so heartened to see that finally a magazine such as AMI has hit our newstands! It is light, realistic, takes the bull by the horn and tackles issues head on. We are a community in which abortion, child abuse, child molestation, deep-set family strife, divorce, and at risk children/adults/families abound. Yet we choose to play ostrich, digging our heads deep in the sand while flaunting colorful feathers that hide the muck beneath. How are we to learn about the issues and challenges that beset our community when stories and articles tend to deal exclusively with "all is well that ends well" and when anything less benign than "they lived happily ever after in holy moly la la land" received caustic retorts from the community. It is time to stop making believe that our challenges start and end with "the Baal tshuva/Ger who found the light", that photographs may depict only men and children under 2 (women are shunned to the sidelines like in the Muslim countries), and that our bodies are composed of a head, a neck and perhaps hands and feet (the latter with great finesse of course).

Levtov

Sun, Mar 06 2011, 8:23 am

beentheredonethat wrote:

Granted, if you want to challenge our age-old standards, you can also revolt against all the tznius issues that our women have been subjected to, very similar to the muslim countries. Since we want to stick to tradition, we expect our magazines to go along those lines.

tzipp

Sun, Mar 06 2011, 9:11 am

I really don't understand the uproar here. What is the point of a magazine for adults if it can't discuss anything that actually occurs in real life?

If youwant to read a cookbook or a sefer, go ahead. BUT if you want to read about current issues, well, they aren't all pretty. Do those of you who protest, never get exposed to these issues at all, or quickly shove them under the carpet if they come up at all?

Then again, I have no problem reading non jewish magazines/newspapers so I guess I come froma different world.

Um, and btw, what are you all doing on imamother? It's not exactly scrubbed clean here. (The point of imamother would be lost if it was) and yes everything has some limits, that's not what we are talking about here, we are talking about women who don't wan't any word that is not 100% clean mentioned.

bashinda

Sun, Mar 06 2011, 9:17 am

Again, maybe mishpacha should change the name of their women's magazine because it's not for the whole family, it's for women. Same thing for Bina. So why does it surprise people that some of the articles aren't appropriate for children?

Upon further reflection though, I was surprised that the gay word was included.

Still, you have a very inspiring article (who would have thought a lady from Georgia becomes frum and so do all her children, and this one sentence, which probably should have edited, is the one thing that catches attention.

life'sgreat

Sun, Mar 06 2011, 10:48 am

I don't buy Ami because I don't like their layouts, and some of the 'feel' of the articles (which are negative, depressing and seems to just have an axe to grind), but I really don't get the issue with having an ADULT magazine written for ADULTS!! If it isn't intended for teens/kids, WHY do parents kvetch about stuff that's written in the magazine that isn't appropriate for such audiences?

Mommy3.5

Sun, Mar 06 2011, 11:25 am

bashinda wrote:

Don't all these magazines come with a kiddie insert? I never bought these magazines, but I got a bunch free, an all had separate kids issues. (never have seen Ami) there are books in my house that I read, but don't want my kids to read, how is this different?

MaBelleVie

Sun, Mar 06 2011, 11:51 am

The Torah discusses these topics, as well as others some of you probably consider "taboo." Do you want a rabbinic board to censor that for you too? I understand not wanting to expose younger children to these things, but I really don't think a Jewish adult needs to be so sensitive that the word gay is offensive. Do you refuse to listen to the kriah on YK that talks about forbidden relations? Scratching Head

Mama Bear

Sun, Mar 06 2011, 2:52 pm

1. grandmama: I didnt think female mutilation is 'explicit'. it doesnt explain wha it is. this week in mishpacha they used the term 'ritual immersion' which is also a euphemism for mikvah.

2. there is a VAST DIFFERENCE between discussing something on imamother and selling something similar in grocery stores in williamsburg. not everyone would come onto imamother. this is being brought into people's homes.

3. again - I PERSONALLY DO NOT CARE!!! I'm an adult, I dont have teenage kids. But there are families that *are* careful what they bring into their homes and they would never bring into their homes any publication which contains any material that they wouldnt want their teens to lay their hands on. so now we have to start locking up ami magazine in the privacy drawer so they cant touch it?

4. been there: I do not have complaints agains the TONE of ami or the TOPICS they tackle. kol hakavod. but some of these lines were unnecessary. 'abortion and gay rights' didnt add or subtract from teh story. and my point was simply that I am baffled how their censors did not notice things like that.

5. I reiterate: I PERSONALLY DO NOT CARE. I've read worse than that. I am not a prude, I am not sheltered. It was just a general question, regarding where does ami want to go and what do they want to be. Should they be sold in williamsburg groceries. Is this waht they want to be? Gezunterheit. But dont tell me this is the kind of material to take off the shelves in heimishe groceries.