Comments on: Expat Women’s Voice

By: Ubon Traveller

Ubon Traveller — Mon, 04 May 2009 06:17:20 +0000

Tracey, I want to thank you. Publishing a magazine like Acclimate is a wonderful idea. My sister has been a trailing wife before and I know the difficulty she went through to rebuild a life again in an unknown territory. More women from other places should come up with a magazine like this.

By: crocodilexp

crocodilexp — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:33:47 +0000

Good to hear that cover was meant in an ironic sense, mocking the stereotypes … with women these days, it’s not entirely clear. It looks a little too real to be ironic, in my opinion – you should have gone more over the top.

By: Tracey

Tracey — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 02:30:52 +0000

Thanks for this opportunity to introduce Acclimate to your community, Dan. And thanks for all the thoughtful replies from everyone. It’s exciting and interesting to hear the feedback. I’m grateful for the kind words and the constructive criticism.

That cover did spark more discussion than I imagined it would when we planned/shot it. Indeed, as Dan commented, we were trying to poke some good-spirited fun at one of the expat women stereotypes, as we did with our first cover that featured an expat woman all dressed up, on her mobile phone, carrying shopping bags, riding side-saddle on the back of a motorcycle.

Our next one, which will also feature a woman from our community, will be more in line with the Claire cover … definitely no controversy, but hopefully lovely and interesting. Look for it next week …

Thanks, Tracey

By: Robin

Robin — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:01:25 +0000

Thanks, BKKDan, for adding the magazine cover image to illustrate my earlier comment!

By: Sharon

Sharon — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:30:11 +0000

Hi Tracey

Reading your story is just like looking in the mirror. Only for me this was in Venezuela and later in Canada.

Publishing this kind of magazine is a great idea, and I believe it should be followed by many other cities around the world.

I could sure have used it both in Venezuela and Canada.

Lots of Luck
Sharon

By: KV

KV — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:25:35 +0000

Wow, I opened this page fully on my RSS reader to leave a comment about the cover but I guess everyone else had the same thought as I did: “Look at me, I am a colonial era lady taken care by these women, sweet!”

Hmm, also this I guess shows that still the most couples, it is the man who is moving for work, and not vice versa. Oh I wonder do they sell to Japanese and Korean and Chinese market too? They got lot of spouses too following for other halfs work.

By: Robin

Robin — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:36:00 +0000

I grimaced when I saw this cover because it underscores the stereotype of how expat women fill their hours here ... but at least the next month's issue featured Claire Deacon with a rescued soi doggie on the cover - Deacon is one of Soi Cat & Dog Rescue's most tireless volunteers, hence an inspiring example rather than a colonial throwback.

I wish Acclimate good luck but I do wonder, how long before they run out of fresh topics and devolve into being yet-another listings mag (i.e. "Where to find the best tailor/salon/foot massage/brunch/etc. etc. etc.")?

By: BangkokDan

BangkokDan — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:29:26 +0000

Maybe I shouldn't have published that cover. But as laura I understand it more as the women making mild fun of their own situation. Asked Tracey for the May '09 cover. Let's see what they're up to. BangkokDan

By: Talen

Talen — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 09:42:00 +0000

I have to agree something just doesn’t look quite right about that cover. I don’t see the stereotype of girls just want to have fun … for some reason I keep thinking “Look I have a servant women.”

I hope the magazine does well but with the way print is going these days it might be an uphill battle.

By: laura

laura — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 03:50:02 +0000

Give us girls a break will ya? There’s nothing more boring than typical expat talk. I find this cover a pleasantly refreshing depiction of a stereotype. Girls also wanna have fun.