How many times have you looked in a women’s magazine and thought “This is all tripe?”
I do it all the time, but I still can’t resist those glossy pages and stars on the covers when I’m standing in the cornershop waiting in line.
There are so magazines I religiously buy, mainly Glamour and Company and on the odd occasion, Look (just for the clothes).
As a Film and Media graduate, I understand the need for an overall polished look. But shouldn’t this be done by changing the lighting and composition of an image. Women already face scrunity for being women. We are judged by our bodies, too fat, too thin, too tanned, too pale… why are we struggling for perfection if it doesn’t exist?
When it comes to our bodies, shouldn’t health be celebrated? So what if you have cellulite or stretch marks, if you’re truly unhappy, then do something about it, just make sure you really want it.
I’ve seen one too many articles in magazines about losing weight fast or dropping a dress size in a week. They are all crap to be honest, and can leave you feeling terrible. Isn’t the secret to losing weight a good diet and exercise, we all know that, right.
Magazines need to celebrate body image, they focus too much on “get skinny quick fixes, without focusing on health and their reader’s backgrounds. Some races and backgrounds are more prone to being one way or another due to their genetics. Not everyone can be the same. Our differences make us beautiful, wouldn’t the world be boring if we were carbon copies of each other?
Another topic that really bothers me when it comes to reading women’s magazines is the issue of skin colour.
As someone who is black, I find that most of the beauty and hair features are tailored to white women. The UK is a diverse country and I would love to see a magazine out there that catered to this. Some have made a feeble attempt to do so, but it doesn’t really work. There will always be: pale, fair, then dark. I love Glamour magazine but they used an image of Jessica Alba to illustrate make-up for ‘dark’ skintones. Last time I checked, she was olive-skinned. I was actually shocked when I saw this, if Alba is dark, what am I? Do I even exist?
That is why I commend the rise in beauty blogs and YouTube make-up gurus. There is literally someone out there for everyone. If there isn’t, then start your own blog!
yourothermotherhere says
You are right.