Monday, July 5, 2010

Really, More Magazine???

Caution: Rant ahead. Oh, and I'm linking a couple of nude pictures - tastefully done, but still, nekkid women - so click at your discretion.

The June issue of More magazine has me peeved off enough that I'm thinking about canceling my subscription - not that it would do any good. Two articles really set me off: first, in My Body as a Work of Art, there are pictures of nude women, supposedly embracing their body image...and while I am glad there are normal- and large-sized women depicted, they have been airbrushed so much that hell, I'd pose naked if I thought I'd look like that! What really, really got me was one woman who said she "gained 80 pounds and had a traumatic cesarean" - so where is her c-section scar? Where are her stretch marks? Now, I'm sure she had them coming into the photo session, but come on, More magazine...what are you trying to say? By airbrushing out this woman's battle scars, you are erasing the real woman. You might as well have just put a picture of a Barbie doll for all of the impact this article had.

As if this wasn't enough to irritate me, a few pages later I came across an article titled "Showdown at the Biggest Loser Boot Camp" - sounds interesting, right? Well. The woman who wrote the article did not have a weight problem. She came to the Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge, all 5'10" and 145 pounds of her, as a lark. A fun thing to do with her sister and mother - all of whom had normal BMI's and weight. They were obsessed with the television show and decided that going through boot camp would be fun - and hey, they might just lose five or 10 pounds! Not surprisingly, other campers - people who actually needed to lose weight - were a bit ticked off. Now I know everyone has their own journey in life, and if she had the money to spend at Fitness Ridge, I'm sure they were more than happy to take it. But a funny and introspective article about a week there could have been written by someone who actually did have a weight problem, and it would have carried a lot more weight (pardon the pun). As it was, the article More published only served to showed me how out of touch they are with real people.

Do you find yourself becoming more impatient with things like this, or am I becoming a cranky old lady?
Posted by Shelley at 5:00 AM

26 comments:

  1. Its not just you as I've gotten more mature I have less patience with a lot of the stuff they put in magazines.
    I guess they included the article on BL Resort to "sale" magazines not to educate the public on what happens at that ranch.
    You had a great race yesterday btw!
    Have a great Monday!
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  2. You most certainly are not a cranky old lady! That stuff ticks me off too!
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  3. I agree with you. More was one magazine I thought was different. A real magazine for real women - and so I too, become more than peeved when they do crap like this.

    I'm wondering if they have changed editorial staff or something because I don't remember it being this way when I received my subscription as a gift some years ago. I've been subscribing ever since. Perhaps I should reconsider as well.
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  4. Magazines and news outlets really irritate the crap out of me many times. That is why I don't subscribe to any of them. If it isn't the articles themselves, then it is the advertisements that adorn the pages oftentimes selling what the magazine itself is preaching against. I won't purchase hypocrisy.
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  5. This hardly qualifies you as cranky. You have every right to expect "real" and not airbrushed from this magazine. Having said that, I dropped my More subscription for similar reasons last year.

    Regarding the Biggest Loser article, while I haven't read it, it ticks me off that the writer and editors would take the subject of weight loss so (for lack of a better word) lightly. That shows total lack of judgement and sympathy for its readers. But what I really hate is when naturally and all-their-life thin people think they could possibly understand what it's like to be overweight. It's OK to not try to know! This is one subject you almost have to pick me up off my soapbox, kicking and screaming, to get me to shut up, so I promise to not go there here on your blog, hon :)
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  6. Oh, I like this rant very much. You're definitely not becoming a cranky old lady!
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  7. Oh, don't get me started on More magazine. It was a lot better when it first launched. After it published the unretouched photos of Jaime Lee Curtis, it seems to have gone downhill. Now, it's so materialistic and unrealistic.

    "I was standing in line at the bank when I met a man who admired my scarf. I told him that I made it myself, and he gave me a million dollars to start my own company. Now, I'm worth six trillion dollars and I travel all over the world. And, I can afford all of the ridiculously priced clothing advertised in More magazine!! I'm such an inspiration! You can do this, too!"

    Uh......OK, what bank was that?

    I bought a long-term, cheap subscription through a fundraising activity. Can't wait until I no longer see it in my mailbox. It should be called: "More of the Same Immature Obsession With Perfection and Material Possessions as the Other Magazines and the Media".

    I'm "in" on the rant!
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  8. I agree. I read an article about that BL camp in another magazine. It was crazy I thought!

    As for the pictures, I totally agree! I read a Glamour article about beauty at any size and the "plus size" model was rediculous. If that was plus size, then I must be HUGE.
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  9. can't blame you for feeling this way! Airbrushed people suck ;-)
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  10. Truthfully. I doesn't bother me. I have come to just expect it from media. They are out of touch. Though I did think the pics were beautiful. No you're not a grumpy old lady.

    I am getting caught up on you. Love your new bag. I have to go check my mail box. The outfit was super cute and I loved the shoes.

    Love your run pics as well. Sorry it was kind of a hard run for you. Sweat in the eyes is NEVER good. Ouch!
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  11. Nope, it bothers me as well. Or maybe we're two cranky old ladies :)

    I remember one time that I did this weight loss course at my gym. It was about 10 weeks. As you know I'm not that overweighted but I was one of the biggest people there. Some had a body I would kill for but still they found they had to lose some. But what bothers me most was how much they were complaining about their body even though they looked good. Never did something like that after that, I've had enough.
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  12. I read that article and laughed - no flaws visible in those pictures. And I do agree with Genie sbout the miraculous success so many of the contributors seem to experience in the second or third acts of their lives. It always makes me feel badly for just being a school teacher instead of starting up some kind of empire.

    Compared to some other magazines, though, More is pretty positive about the advantages that come with being over 40, and I do like it for that reason. I just have to keep reminding myself that one of the advantages is the chance to just lay on the sofa drinking tea and not starting up any new businesses at all.
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  13. Ok, I guess I'll be a dissenting opinion about the BL article. When I first started reading it, I was just sad for the author. Imagine feeling that bad about your body when you're a perfectly normal weight. Here's a woman that's been obsessed over her weight her whole life for no reason. Think about how much energy she wasted on all those diets. Once she gets to the ranch, she admits that she has no business being there, but she still learns a lot about herself and does things she thought would be easy, but ended up really challenging her. With all the blog talk about celebrating our successes no matter where they occur or how big or small, I think a lot of people are dismissing the author because she isn't overweight. Obviously, she has her own hang-ups and I really enjoyed the article.

    Just for the record, I'm 43 and have never had a BMI in the normal weight range, although I'm getting closer after having lost 100 lbs. So, I have nothing in common with the author except for trying to reach the place where we are happy with our bodies. I think it's elusive for most women.
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  14. Wow...that was an interesting read. I love the biggest loser. Thanks for sharing.
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  15. Sister, I CAN NOT STAND THAT MAGAZINE.

    myriad reasons.
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  16. Oh, I'm with you on this one!! I was hopeful when the mag first came out, but then noticed the disconnect between their articles and my life, month after month, after month... Whether it was the fashion layouts with $495 black slacks, or the air-brushed models, or the Manhattan executives, the magazine just didn't speak to me, so I let my subscription expire (years ago now), and haven't missed it since, and now you've reminded me why :) There is a real market out there for a mag aimed at middle-aged women, but the publishing industry sure hasn't tapped it.
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  17. A few years ago I decided that More was becoming more and more (pun intended) aimed at very young 40s or even 30ish women. Due, in large part, to articles like these. I stopped my sub cold.

    And may I just say, I like Cranky Shelley!!
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  18. Shelley!

    You called them out! Well done! I will surely link your post b/c well, after the whole MORE votes thing, I was bit peeved, too. The contest info was missing a few key pieces, which seemed to affect voting opportunities, um, GREATLY, and then you couldn't reach anyone to ask questions. FAIL.

    I also noticed that their articles and fashion choices (read: high $$$) are geared to a very specific demographic (not me, though a 40-something professional). FAIL.

    A cancellation may be looming.... they really need to pay attention to bloggers. Damn it.

    Be cranky. Speak your mind. Own your journey. Love ya'!!!!

    HUGS from Orlando....!!!
    r.
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  19. If a publication or media outlet is only serving to the lowest common denominator, then it is time to move on. Why pay to have your intelligence insulted?
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  20. I agree! Let's see what some "real" people look like without the airbrushing. I want to see the stretch marks and cellulite, and then we can call it a true work of art!!
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  21. I came back to read the comments and I noticed mine wasn't there...oops! Anyway, my point was just that I appreciate that they are taking nude portraits of "normal" women and I definitely get the beauty in that BUT I agree that they have been photoshopped to hell. Everyone is so SMOOTH....where is their cellulite!? If I was that smooth I'd probably be naked most of the time!
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  22. You probably are a cranky old lady. I know where my Caesarian scar is - hiding under a belly. When the oncological surgeon did my hysterectomy, he made the scar even pretty.

    Those skinny bitches have their own camp. It's called the beach. Poor deformed things...145 and 5'10" -- that's my right leg!
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  24. I read that BL article too. I just shook my head about how many times the author circled around and then completely missed the point.
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  25. Are you a cranky old lady? I don't know, and I sure ain't about to say anything to stir up your crankiness.

    I'm a 67-year-old man, but I don't think I'm cranky. As I've gotten older, I've learned that getting upset about stuff doesn't accomplish much except to raise my blood pressure and heart rate. I don't nee to have a heart attack.

    But those pictures of neckid wimmen did raise my blood pressure and heart rate. It'll be your fault if I have a heart attack. :)

    Jim
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  26. I just clicked the link and read the Biggest Loser article, that author was probably the most annoying person on the planet.
    PS I would love to read what Big Jim really thought about her on his blog, LOL.
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