Sheridan Road Magazine is a “luxury lifestyle magazine that delivers a colorful and passionate telling of neighboring events, fashion, beauty, finance, and the pursuit of leisure” (jwcdaily.com). It “offers engaging insight into the extraordinary people and lifestyles that make up Chicago’s most exclusive address — the North Shore” (jwcdaily.com). The magazine is named after the main road that runs parallel to Lake Michigan north of Chicago. Sheridan road is home to exceptionally large houses, many with beach access, that are not the norm for the rest of the North Shore. All residents of the North Shore suburbs are automatically sent this publication. The magazine enforces beauty standards and social norms based on wealth through its articles and advertisements.
I made this collage from the February and March editions of Sheridan Road, highlighting the main values of the magazine and its portrayal of women. The collage is organized by common themes in the magazine: real estate, fashion, philanthropy, interior design, successful women, food and travel, jewelry, and body enhancement.
“Prestigious Lakefront Lifestyle“
The real estate part of the collage acts as a backdrop for other images from the magazine, just as the size and location of readers’ homes act as a backdrop for the magazine as a whole by dictating whom the magazine is sent to.
“Who Wore it When, Where, and Wonderfully”
This part of the collage features the fashion portion of the magazine and highlights the high standards of beauty that this magazine holds for women. Luxury boutiques selling high fashion clothes with expensive price tags are showcased.
“Living and Giving”
One regular segment in Sheridan Road is “the North Shore’s comprehensive social calendar to see what’s doing and who’s doing it”. It provides descriptions of events, dates, locations, and prices that go up to $1000.
“Love your Bathroom Again”
Not only are there advertisements for interior designers and furniture throughout the magazine, but there is also a large Home Design section dedicated to just that. As shown by the many real estate advertisements, having a nice house is incredibly important to this publication, and interiors are no exception.
Successful Women
Sheridan Road features articles celebrating successful women in business, but the emphasis on their success can be diminished by the extravagant photoshoots that accompany the main article, which shift the focus of the article to beauty and wealth.
“First stop…Bangkok”
The “First Class” section of the magazine is devoted to lavish vacations, expensive resorts and extravagant dishes.
Jewelry
Advertisements featuring large diamond rings, diamond necklaces, models taking up entire pages to show off their jewelry are a staple in any edition of Sheridan Road.
“Plastic Surgery Update: Tummy Tuck”
Various forms of body enhancement are always advertised throughout the magazine. They remind readers of all the various procedures that could “improve” their appearance even if they were not looking for a change.
Expensive Expectations for Affluent Women
Although, there are some positive representations of women, such as stories about successful women or generosity in fundraising efforts, even these parts of the magazine typically support standards of beauty and wealth. Ultimately, Sheridan Road portrays one uniform lifestyle that holds extremely high standards for women and is often inaccurate and undesirable for a large portion of its target audience. This was made particularly clear when I decided to make this collage and struggled collecting materials because my mom — and my aunts who also live on the North Shore whom I turned to next — had already thrown the magazine away.
Sources:
JWC Media. “About.” Sheridan Road, JWC Media, 2020, jwcdaily.com/sheridanroadmagazine/about/.
Sheridan Road. Vols. February 2020, Feb. 2020.
Sheridan Road. Vols. March 2020, Mar. 2020.
