Is it too much to ask for a men's lifestyle magazine that sticks to an editorial mission that has integrity; a magazine that empowers men to respect women and their bodies, reinforces healthy habits, inspires intellectual curiosity, addresses pertinent and realistic life skills, and still remains entertaining? While this may not be possible, there are certainly some print and digital magazines that are making great progress.

Boys' Life Magazine has a readership of a little more than 4 million. Although, the target audience of Boys' Life's older edition is aged between 12 and 17 years old, the editorial content maintains a level of integrity much higher than the magazines designed for young men only a few years older. 

With Maxim targeting young men in their late teens and early twenties, it is astounding the difference only a couple years make in how these two magazines approach their audience members. The typical issue of Boys' Life opens with a letter from the editor that shares a story of a Boy Scout doing a good deed, or otherwise embodying the scout spirit. The editorial material is divided by very clear subjects such as History, Sports, Cars, Health, Space and Aviation, and many other departments that are shared with other men's lifestyle magazines. The key difference is the manner in which the information is presented. Nearly everything in Boys' Life has an educational or civil service spin to it. In the “Car” department, rather than reading about the newest, most expensive cars, readers will explore how a specific engine works or read a profile on big rig trucks. 

In the health department you can expect to find articles discussing medical professionals' quest to wipe out deadly diseases, not how to get biceps as big around as your head. Boys' Life aims to educate young men and instill in them a strong sense of civil responsibility, while Maxim openly admits that it doesn't care if its readers worry about making the world a better place.

Is this difference in editorial approach indicative of how boys are expected to mature from their teenage years to their young adult years? 

Men's lifestyle magazines, in a very broad sense, fall into one of two categories: magazines that speak to the “Average Joe” in a brotherly, fraternal manner, and aspirational magazines that present men with the ideal life of a sophisticated, urbane gentleman. 

This first category of magazines may be best represented by Maxim. Maxim is one of the best selling men's lifestyle magazines in the United States and describes itself as a place where men can kick back and be themselves without worrying about where to invest their money, how to eat healthily, or how to make the world a better place. Maxim has a total circulation of 2.5 million, with 80% of their readers being male, and 61% of their readers being between the ages of 18-34. That means that Maxim is informing approximately 1.2 million young men on men's lifestyle, in twelve magazines a year.

For a magazine that openly admits in its editorial mission to not be concerned with making the world a better place, it is easy to see what the bulk of their editorial content addresses in regards to constructing masculinity. Since making the world a better place does not deserve a seat at the editorial table, social and familial responsibility can be striped from Maxim's representation of masculinity. Maxim also lacks in a culture column, therefore highfalutin entertainments such as the arts and sciences, drama, and literature are not on the editorial menu. There is no editorial content mentioning education or scientific advancement and there are no associations with not-for-profit organizations or support for charities. You can, however, read about the five best chainsaw guns or enter in the annual Maxim Hometown Hotties competition. How does this short-sighted, juvenile content impact developing young men?