love the atlantic, in many ways far more than the new yorker. but this string of cover stories about social trends -- the end of men, women can't have it all, we're not raising our kids right -- nearly every issue feels like a new variation on insecurity sales. it's cynical cage-rattling, and as bad as those women's mags with 17-year old models made up to look like they're far older, setting a impossible standard for women's bodies and thus keeping the beauty-products industry humming. buy this magazine to know how you're not measuring up!
this stuff, though, is aimed at middle- to upper-middle class types who do feel or SHOULD feel guilty about any level of comfort they've reached. done once a year, i get it. it may even be important. but every issue? i know it causes discussion, so everybody in editorial there is happy. but some marketing dept. type has figured out that the best way to get high-end eyeballs is to make their owners feel bad about their lives. every month.