‘Do not ready beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly’ says the infamous Baz Luhrman line from Everybody’s Free to Wear Sunscreen. Like all the other lyrics in that classic song, its so very true.
When I was younger, I used to think the reason it was true was simply because all of the models in it were so beautiful that was why it was a bad idea. It makes you feel bad by comparison. But the truth is, its actually more heinous and toxic than that.
Firstly, there is a level of airbrushing and photo shopping that now makes the images of models so unattainable. It warps our sense of how we look. Representation is everything and when you don’t see someone who looks like you, when what is held up as beautiful doesn’t look like you, then you don’t feel beautiful. Even if the image isn’t photoshopped, there have been hours spent on a model’s hair, make up and styling, meaning that look is unattainable for the majority of us.
My biggest issue with beauty and celebrity gossip magazines (#notallmags) though (and a clear example of this is the Daily Mail) is the language they use about women. They rip women apart. The front cover of most women’s magazines are littered with headlines/images like ‘JLO cellulite shocker’, Kim Kardashian looks huge when pregnant etc. Jennifer Aniston’s ticking biological clock. Sometimes it can be tempting to pick up a magazine like that. I have cellulite and I used to enjoy seeing which celebs had it too as I thought it made me feel better but actually, the subliminal message is cellulite is bad. It’s mocking the women for it, shaming them. Its not celebrating it. The women themselves aren’t in control of these images. It’s usually a paparazzi shot, gained by nefarious means. Its not like a body positive Instagram account when a woman is choosing to show off her body in order to empower herself and others.
The underlying message is that cellulite/fat/a un-made up face etc is shameful and gross. Which leads straight into them selling you products from their advertisers that can ‘fix’ these so called problems which weren’t a problem until their industry made them one. They are making women feel insecure and then profiting off it. And we walk right into it and hand them our money.
And whether you intend to our not. You compare yourself to these other women. You judge yourself and them harshly. That’s just not ok. We should be supportive of diversity, each other and ourselves. Its not just bodies either but love lives, achievements, parenting etc. Basically, anything you can criticise a woman for, they commercialise it and turn it into a spectator sport. You spend some time on the Mail Online celebrity pages and I guarantee you’ll end up feeling worse about yourself for about a year afterwards.
Cherry Healy covers this really well in her recent book, Letters to my Fanny ‘…It’s like we’re made up of different appetites, and we can choose to feed or starve different parts of ourselves – and – these magazines feed a not-very-nice side of our beings. It’s the side that compares ourselves to other women, that thinks we are what we can afford to buy, that judges someone on where they go on holiday or how cool their shoes are. In our right mind we know these views are puerile views but if we’re absorbing them, its hard to remember that.’
This is one of the reasons why I love blogging/vlogging as an industry. We are often criticised by the traditional press and journalists but blogging and vlogging is great for body positivity and diversity. Most vloggers will vlog with both make up on and off. Most bloggers/vloggers will be brutally honest about their lives, thoughts and feelings. Its accessible. You don’t have to be young, white, skinny and pretty to make it as a social influencer (although obviously, success seems to come easier to them as is often the case). Those that make it and last, tend to be authentic. I post live videos of myself every day on my instagram stories, I rarely have my make up on, often I’ve just got out of bed and haven’t washed or brushed my hair. About as many of my YouTube videos have me without make up as with and we often sign off our vlogs in our pjs. I’m not even wearing a bra in loads of my vlogs. I feel a duty to keep it real. To not pretend. I’m not a model or actress, I’m a regular woman who is just trying to get through life the best I can and hoping to make others feel a little better about themselves along the way.
If you are going to be advertised to, then don’t pay for it!
When I see a woman reading a celebrity gossip magazine I want to rip it from her hands and set it on fire. Its like a turkey voting for Christmas. I honestly think there is little worse that you can consume as a woman. I think there is a huge gap in the market for a women’s magazines that are empowering. Ones that don’t have 72 pages of advertisements in them. You know bloggers get so much shit for doing ads but we disclose, you often don’t get that with magazines. When I write a blog post that is sponsored with money or I am given a product for coverage I notify my readers both with a banner at the top of the page, within the body of the text and then again with a full disclaimer at the bottom. If you are to trust me, which I want you to, then you deserve my honesty, integrity and authenticity. It’s the least I can do.
But magazines literally never declare when something is gifted – and all of those products were. Those hotel trips and mini breaks were given to the journalist who wrote about them in the magazine. Advertisers might say ‘we’ll take an ad out in the next 6 runs if you feature or products or don’t feature our competitors’, so even the posts that aren’t sponsored are heavily influenced. And you’ve paid to buy this! With a blogger, you are getting the content for free because we advertise and we are super clear about it. Yet we are held to a higher account as an individual providing free content than a multi staffed magazine that you’ve paid to manipulate you. But I’ll have a rant about that another day! So I’ve made a concious effort to not buy or read these trashy mags anymore. Really, I think we shouldn’t be asking consumers to pay for content at all anymore, ESPECIALLY if that content has advertising as it’s the brands who should be paying, not the consumers.
So where can you get your fix instead?
- Instagram is great these days. Curate your feed to be like a magazine, love fashion, then follow fashion bloggers who have the style you like. I love home style accounts so follow a lot of feeds with interiors. Whatever you love, follow those people and for the love of the goddess, stop following people who make you feel like shit.
- Find bloggers who write about and share things you like, whether it’s activities or fashion or tech, there will be a blog for you. You can go on Bloglovin and set up a feed for your favourite bloggers so they show in one place.
- If you love celebrity gossip then find it in less misogynistic places, like Just Jared or Jezebel instead of the Daily Fail.
- Join Facebook groups full of inspiring women and fun posts. I love Punky Moms UK – full of alt fashion and meme drop mondays which make me ‘megalol’. Join my Facebook group, The Nomipalony Freehouse where we chat about feminist issues and anything else we fancy. Can I Breastfeed in it? Is a fun Facebook group where women share high street finds that are suitable for breastfeeding in, it’s a lovely community.
- Start a Whatsapp group with your pals where you can share articles, celeb gossip and clothes etc that you love.
- If you need a paper fix then find magazines that are better, like Riposte Magazine, Fourth Trimester magazine and the Happy News.
- Start listening to Podcasts, they are a great source of easy information that you can listen to in your spare moments. I listen on my commutes and when I’m doing chores like cooking or stacking the dishwasher. My favourites are Jonathan Van Ness’ Getting Curious, Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert, Dirty Mother Pukka and Emma Gannon’s Ctrl Alt Delete.
- Obviously, it kind of goes without saying but read books instead.
Whatever you do, fill your life full of positivity and inspiration and stop buying messages from companies headed by men that profit from making you feel less than. Magazines may seem like a frivolous topic but I think its a small, easy to make change that could have a much bigger impact. Now, are you with me?
Do you have any recommendations for magazines that fill you up instead of tear you apart? Let me know in the comments.
If you liked this post you might also like my inspiring feminist blog posts round up!
If you have enjoyed this post or found it useful, here are some quick and easy ways that you can support Nomipalony or say thanks:
- Share this post with your friends
- Follow Nomipalony on Facebook, X, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube or Tik Tok
- Pop over to my Amazon Storefront to see what products I have been buying and loving from there recently, including my health and fitness products list.
- Click here to buy me a virtual cuppa
- Sign up to my mailing list
- Women can join my feminist Facebook group – the Nomipalony Freehouse
Psychologies magazine is a good one.
Ooh thanks Kelly, I’ll check it out
Such a great post as always. I kind of like reading the North East lifestyle magazines now but then (I wouldn’t buy them – more so when you’re somewhere and they are free to read) but I do still get annoyed at all the undisclosed adverts in them so maybe I should stop reading them too.
It goes without saying that blog posts are bae for me. I read blogs from my Bloglovin feed every day.
Thanks Sam. I think when you are in the business you can spot the undisclosed ads more easily but when you speak to colleagues in the magazine business you realise actually the vast majority of editorial is influenced by advertisers in some way. I wish my bloglovin feed was like that. I need to sort it out!
Bloody love this.
We can fight this madness if we just speak up, and do a lot of talking with our wallets.
Exactly Rachel, thanks
Fantastic post Nyomi! When I was younger I used to buy trashy magazines every week and never really thought much of it, it’s not until you get a little older and wiser that you realise how awful they are .. how on earth do they get away with plastering such toxic photographs all over their front covers, it’s just disgusting!
I used to buy them all the time too. Could you imagine the backlash if bloggers wrote anything even half as bad!
Is it bad I’ve got pictures of them all looking perfect on me fridge so I don’t snack and can imagine I’m going to look like them one day? #tryingtoloosebabyweight
You’re right though, I totally don’t give myself enough credit for what my body has done and by keeping comparing myself to these just doesn’t do my physical or mental health any good!
Love this post and I agree with everything you’ve said. These magazines are so spiteful! And would love a magazine that empowers women and diversity.
Thank you Laura!
I gave up on women’s magazines so long ago for all of this. Every now and then I pick one up and flip through the pages while I’m browsing the bookstore, and they never seem to improve. Occasionally, there will be a good article come out of one of those magazines (either online or in print), something smart and useful and not about being pretty, but it’s overshadowed by all the other nonsense 🙁
Exactly, it undermines everything else!