hi! i was really intruigued and appreciate your posts on the tabloids. i have a lot of images that reflect what you’ve been discussing and that utterly disgust me, and this is the only way i could send them to you!
http://cache-04.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/39/2009/02/STAR021809.jpg (victim-blaming)
http://www.olsen-twins-news.com/show/olsen-twins-news-0f622d9b33379cb6c9a36e1d52a3ae38.jpg (media’s double standards for women)
http://jenniferanistonphotos.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/angelina-jolie-dominates-tabloids-2278-2.jpg (the ever-present “female feuds”)
http://www.celebitchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/starmagazine1.jpg (this one is also relevant to the “female feud” obsession; what disturbs me most is the glib mention of mischa barton’s suicidal state in the bottom left corner)
http://www.hollywoodcelebgossips.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/jennifer-aniston-pregnant-life-and-style-magazine-story.jpg (pregnancy is the only thing that can make women happy!)
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/39/2009/12/500x_mmstarcover.jpg (WHY DO WE EVEN CARE?)
http://c1611692.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/139508_486x.jpg (this one explains itself)
in comparing these two: http://c1611582.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/92586_486x.jpg and http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/39/2010/01/500x_ok_cover_0106.jpg (oh, but kim, i thought you were happy with your body and loved it?)
and finally….
http://www.1dollarparty.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/e25bd_500x_lifestyle3210.jpg (RAAAAGGGGEEEE)
do what you like with these! i know your commentaries would be insightful and powerful.
This was submitted by one of my followers. It’s where a bulk of my posts came from this morning. I don’t have the stamina to post all of these pictures, but its super worth posting so everyone can see just how idiotic the tabloid industry is.
and if you don’t think tabloids are damaging, just think at how inundated with their imagery we are. They’re at every check out line in basically every supermarket that exists. Even if we don’t purchase them, we at least see the covers all the time enough to ingest their stupid, brainless messages.
thanks for the sumbission tigersmilk!
The most disappointing part of this cover is the angle the magazine takes. The headline could just as well read: “women pushed to be too thin by bullshit beauty standards that don’t make any damn sense.”
okay, i guess that wouldn’t fly either but you get the point. these women most likely pushed themselves to maintain such unhealthy weights because we live in an asshole culture that does nothing but pick at everyones flaws. we’ll remind you on a daily basis that you’re too fat until we start noticing that you’re too thin. either way you’re not enough, and the internalized self hatred just grows & grows…
More tabloid madness! [thanks to an awesome follower of mine =)]
Here’s what is most damaging about female feuds, the emergence of our girl v girl fascination in pop culture completely undermined the progress made by the entire second wave of feminism.
Prior to this, feminism was based on sisterhood. Not necessarily “lets hate men and only date women” {though, lesbian feminism was a large subset of feminism at one point} but “if all those who are oppressed stand together we can make shit happen” kind of way. (Basically, what we do on tumblr by sharing posts with one another and empowering each other.) But then, pop culture decided that it was a LOT more fun to show women turning on one another while pretending to be empowering and feminist-y.
Sure, movies like Charlies Angels shows women kicking butt (whoo?) but actually look at the movie - 3 women, who are under the rule of some random faceless dude, are kicking butt, however they’re kicking the butts of OTHER women. [not to mention the fact that they have to hide how much they kick butt from their BFs because… don’t wanna scare them off with their un-feminine strength.] Thanks to many movies, TV shows and images with this theme, society went from understanding feminism as a “women, and even men working together to fix inequality” to this ass backwards “i’m a feminist because i kick butt!” ideology that completely erased cooperation from the equation. It totally skewed, undermined and took major leaps back on the progress feminism was making.
THIS IS WHY we have women who are afraid to say they are feminists - we no longer understand it as a movement that we’re all in together.
I could go on for days about this. It’s insane and stupid. And this stupid tabloid just feeds into it more & more. Moreover, it just feeds into the “women are passionate and illogical and love to fight about stupid shit” idea.
a divided house can’t stand, and i’m not going to say that there’s a media conspiracy to keep women oppressed by encouraging that we turn on one another at any chance we get so we can’t organize and fight oppression… but it sure looks that way…
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
first of all, why are we still thinking about bikinis in the winter.
second, fuck them, that chick with the tats looks badass
third, never in my life have i seen anyone describe Julia Roberts as “lumpy & frumpy.” never.
fourth, they actually used the phrase “double wide” to decsribe snooky. 1.THATS RUDE - SHE’S A HUMAN. 2. SHE BATTLED WITH EATING DISORDERS.
why would you want to be that guy? why would you want to publish a magazine cover that someone is going to pick up and see something horrible written about their body? why would you WANT to be responsible for making someone feel ashamed of their weight. someone please help me understand.
Counterproductive Picture of the week:
Can we stop and look at this for a second. At first i was glad that, even though she’s way overexposed for someone who’s just famous for being famous, Heidi is talking about how plastic surgery is NOT worth is and is stupid and you should really just leave you face the way it is. But then i look at the corner, and what do i see? some no-name Kardashian reminding us to worry about our weight during the holidays with her “how i stay thin” bullshit. I wonder what the secret is? I make weight loss and eating one of the most important issues in my life and only focus on that instead of focusing on accepting my body the way it is and being happy? Probably something along the lines…
