Hi,
I just had to do this. I'm asking that you forward this letter to Cosmopolitan (one of - if not the - best-selling magazine for women 18-49), and tell them that it's not ok to continue to play a hand in creating body image problems, body dysmorphia and eating disorders (and a host of other -isms). You can leave it as it is (it's generally worded) or you can add your personal touch to it. Then, write your name at the bottom of the letter, forward it to Cosmopolitan magazine and ask your friends to do the same. If you have a better email address/more direct contact, let me know too!
Re-cap:
1. Copy and paste letter below into an email (send as is or please add personal touch)
2. Type your name at the bottom of the letter and where you're from.
3. Send to cosmo@hearst.com
4. Forward this to friends and ask them to do the same.
Yours in Shit-Stirring,
Virgie
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Dear Cosmopolitan Editors,
Your magazine has a direct role in the numbers of women who experience anorexia and bulimia, who are chronically dieting, and who are ashamed of or worried about being fat or "ugly."
The doctored images on your pages create body dysmorphia and eating disorders. Your magazine is filled with fashions that put average people into debt. Your articles and advice encourage women to diet and gossip while you tout the word feminism. And I will not buy your magazine for these reasons.
What I would like to see in your magazine is more body diversity, more images that portray the spectrum of beauty, and more women of color (for whom European features are not a prerequisite).
Women deserve to feel beautiful in every shade and shape, and with a readership so large, you have a responsibility to women.
Posts
4 comments:
What's the evidence for the claims made in the letter?
Uhm.. well, anyone with eyes can see by looking through the magazine that there is a complete lack of body diversity and racial diversity. Consumer debt is at an all time high, esp. among women (and, conincindence-I-think-not, so are the figures for advertising $$s..), the age of girls experiencing eating disorders is getting younger and younger, the images are obviously doctored as the women in them don't even have pores (let alone wrinkles). Cosmo's articles profess to "add fun to feminism" (one of their taglines), when, in fact, they have advice pieces on how to please your man better and I read an article once that advised women to talk less in order to salvage their relationships. I won't be giving you citations, Ptah, because I'm sure you have time to google it. :)
Thank you for the very nice "fuck you, asshole".
But I would appreciate a more constructive approach, since I actually could use some real references.
But I guess unsupported claims are OK as long as it is for your own cause.
Makes me very sad.
Oh, ptah! Stop being a ginormous pussy! I still love you! I suppose it's just that I've studied and read up on these things for years and years, and from the data I've read, the claims put forth in that letter are as obvious as law of gravity. I don't have time to look up the references, but I know that with a little umph, you can find them. And I think the search would elucidate you far better than I could.
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