A Canadian Women's Sexuality Magazine Concept

Magazines aimed at women have long handled sex through a narrow lens, usually pleasing a partner or chasing dramatic claims. A magazine concept described by its founder in an early-2010s interview was pitched as a different kind of title, one built around women's own curiosity.

The interview is a snapshot of plans rather than a record of what the magazine became, and nothing about its later course appears in the source.

The founding idea

The founder described sexual energy as a deep source of personal power, observing that women who carry themselves with authority have usually made peace with their sexuality. The project rested on the premise that women are just as interested in the subject as men, and it aimed for a tone that was sensual, subtle and cerebral rather than brash. For inspiration, the founder said she looked inward and asked what she herself would want to read, instead of studying other publications.

Format and subject matter

The magazine was imagined as printed bedside reading with a companion website serving as a resource. The planned menu of subjects covered sexual and reproductive health, erotica, the politics and legal side of sex, communication between partners and first-person essays, along with sensual and erotic artwork in many media.

Canadian identity

Early descriptions presented it as a first of its kind in Canada, a claim that cannot be verified here. Production was to be Canadian, with local content at the start and international material added later. Asked whether any sex topics are distinctly Canadian, she answered that sex has no borders and that national flavour would come mostly from governance.

Audience and business model

The starting readership was described as liberal-minded women in their late twenties to about forty, with spillover expected on both sides. Because no existing model could be followed, further research was planned. Advertising was part of the plan, as is common for print titles.

The gap it aimed to fill

The founder argued that much mainstream media frames sex around satisfying a man and leans on shock value, such as promises of multiple orgasms. In her view, women often sense a distance between what they assume is a normal reaction or desire and what they actually experience, and that distance feeds self-doubt. Open, unembarrassed discussion was presented as a way of challenging the idea of what counts as normal.