The other day I was standing in checkout line at my local bookstore. In front of me was a display of magazines. Usually at the bookstore I’m used to seeing things like Time, Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair, that kind of thing. But right there in the middle of the rack was Men’s Health and Women’s Health. If you ever needed a visual example of the differences in how women’s and men’s bodies are treated by the media, this is it:
I mean, where do you even start with this level of garbage? First, we have Joe Manganiello completely clothed on the men’s magazine, whereas Maria Menounos is pretty much naked. So this says to me that women’s health is actually about how thin you are, how much skin you dare to bare, how beautiful you are. Sorry, but that is pretty far from my (and the actual) definition of “health.”
Of course both of these magazines have ridiculous headlines, crap about having sex with your exes, the self tanner of your dreams, and of course the importance of abs. I’m not sure how they even get away with having the word “health” in their titles, frankly.
But as problematic as the men’s headlines are, the women’s magazine is just ridiculous. You want to know how Maria Menounos got a belly THIS flat? First, by being naturally thin. Second, by having, as most celebrities and wealthy people do, a team who helps her to focus on her body all the time. But mostly because she’s genetically blessed. And the message here is that if you buy this magazine and read this article, you will also have the ability to have a belly THIS flat. What it doesn’t mention is that you too need to be genetically blessed like Maria.
It’s sad that so many women buy this magazines and others like it. It really breaks my heart to think of young girls seeing the title and believing that they’ll get good advice inside. It’s fantastic to want to be healthy, I encourage that at every turn! But this isn’t about health, it’s about being thin. The flatness of your abs will not improve your good cholesterol or lower your resting heart rate. But I guess that’s not what’s important – that’s not what health is about – at least according to these magazines.
Fighting the media is an uphill battle. We can start by not buying their magazines, by not supporting the businesses that make health only about aesthetics, and by talking to our children (especially our daughters) about what it really means to be healthy.
