pyrrhosrepublic:

jgh2:

lipstick-feminists:

ninapedia:

You know, usually the media’s obsession with skinny women is seen as a kind of fluffy feminist issue, and sometimes I agree with that. There’s more to feminism, of course, than the scale readings of wealthy white women.

But Jesus pigfucking christ. This caption - “Jessica BALLOONS” makes me feel like an orca that just washed up on Blubber Bay, and I’m only a bit bigger than Jessica.

The message is simple: be “fat” like Jessica, or be a stick like Ashley. Either way, you can’t win.

The message is: It doesn’t matter that Jessica Simpson pulled in 800 million dollars last year as a successful businesswoman. She hit the Chunky Monkey too hard! She’s failed as a human being.

Can you imagine what goes through the minds of the 13 and 14-year-old girls reading this cover line?

When I worked at a similar magazine, you wouldn’t believe the fat-shaming that went on behind closed doors at editorial meetings. “Oh, we won’t run that picture of her. She’s looking chubby today.” (The starlet in question might have been about 125 pounds soaking wet.) No one spoke up and said, “Hey, this is fucked. She’s actually not fat.” The one time I did, I was promptly told that there were “differences” in the publishing world and I should respect them. Um, OK then.

Well, it’s not OK. The “rules” of the publishing world should not be respected. THIS IS FUCKED UP.

This stuff is insidious, it’s hurtful, and it’s morally wrong. Young people should not be exposed to such nonsense.

I totally agree that this kind of cover is morally wrong. The high visibility of these magazines adds to the problem as well. I’m not a magazine reader and I don’t watch celebrity-focussed TV but I’m pretty familiar with the current weight status of various celebrities just because gossip magazines line the checkouts in the supermarket. Even if young people are surrounded by positive, healthy role models in real life, it must be nigh on impossible to filter out the bizarre, unhealthy, and blatantly untrue message that a woman’s weight defines her worth when it’s being shouted at you from all angles.