Feminist, Fat, and Fabulous Blog: Real Women Don’t Need Mags
by Sonya Krzywoszyja
I used to be a voracious magazine consumer. It started with Girlfriend and Dolly in my younger years, moved on to Cleo and Cosmo in my teenage years, and settled at Marie Claire and Shop ‘Til You Drop in my … not so teenage years.
I’d pore through the pages, taking in every fashion spread, every column, every sex tip, and every bit of celebrity gossip.
I noticed a trend in the fashion and celebrity spreads. More often than not, they were white, slender to skinny, long haired and very very feminine looking.
To this white, fat, short haired and femme, but perhaps not overly feminine-looking girl/teenager/woman there was something wrong with that.
I didn’t identify with the women in the pages. My friends, both white and non-white didn’t identify with the women on the pages.
Even in the ‘real women’ spreads (and really, what constitutes a ‘real’ woman? Who decrees it? Do they get a badge and a gold sticker in the shape of a vagina?), the vast majority of women featured still fit the society-driven norm.
Even some of the ‘indie’ mags were guilty of this. Some still are.
I’m not usually one of those people who let my self esteem be determined by the fashion spreads in magazines, but sometimes I get disheartened. I know I was influenced when I was growing up by certain magazines and the advice that was given and to a degree still take to heart, even though I know I shouldn’t, even though I know about the magic of Photoshop and lighting techniques.
Cosmo, under Mia Freedman, did try and address these issues. I remember seeing models and people featured that weren’t the stereotypical type that usually graced the pages. I did feel a little better about this, despite the feeling of it just being lip service.
But I decided it was mostly time to give up reading magazines that made me feel bad about myself, my body and my self worth.
I don’t aspire to own a $10,000 dress which wouldn’t even fit my knees. I don’t care about the perfect bikini body and the food I need to consume (or not) in order to get it.
I don’t have New Year’s resolutions to lose ten kilos. I don’t want to feel bad about myself when I turn the page.
So I won’t.
I used to be the biggest magazine junkie too. I bought them all, fashion, music, gossip, womens, family.
But more and more they started to make me feel like I was somehow less than those women in the pages. And so I stopped. I feel better for it. And it saves me a motza too – mags are expensive!
The only two I like to buy now are Post Modern Ink, which is very “real person” oriented and certainly positive of body image messages, and Popular Mechanics, which feeds my nerd brain!
I definitely know the feeling. Even though I know it’s lighting, tricks and illusions, I was still feeling like I didn’t have anything together. I didn’t have the wonderful career, social life, clothes, man, body etc etc etc and it was getting to me (again, even though I completely knew intellectually that it was mostly smoke and mirrors, I still felt inferior). I still consume some magazines from time to time, as I just can’t help looking at pretty things, but not as much as I used to, and with far more of a critical eye than before.
Mags are expensive!!
I am a model, ha. I’m 14 and i am size 14-16 NOT 8. I have freckles and DON’T wear make-up. I am white, yes. I am nicely tanned, yes. i have bright blue-green eyes, yes. but i have scraggly hair and obvious scars. I am the second-most popular model in my region. I love people who accept people.