Comments on: “Say No To Fat Talk”: a worthy message or a double standard?

By: Ashley

Ashley — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:30:22 +0000

I think we could all realize that it is at least a step in the right direction. I don’t know why it is expected that a magazine can’t have ANY contradictory ideas. It has to be on a side. But you know what also has tons and tons of mixed messages within their text? This site called About Face. Did you ever think about that one?

By: Corie

Corie — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 23:27:59 +0000

Reminds me of when Hapers Bazaar put “plus size model” Kate Dillon in their pages about 10 years ago to promote healthy body image. Good on them, but I find it interesting that it was the only time they did it (as I can recall), and that she had a prior career gracing the pages of HB as a size 6! Hmmmm…

By: Hannah

Hannah — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 21:19:50 +0000

Perhaps someone at Cosmo took advantage of the opportunity to use such a wide-reaching magazine to spread a positive message. Do magazines like Cosmo continue to perpetuate the thin ideal through articles, images, and advertising? Sure. But so do magazines like Glamor, and you placed that magazine in your gallery of winners. I think we need to see this as a positive step. It takes time to see serious change when it comes to social justice issues, but I see this as forward movement. Perhaps by encouraging this instead of having such an attidute of scrutiny and skepticism, we can positively reinforce magazines when they do make small steps.

By: Chani

Chani — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 17:36:54 +0000

Cosmo will do whatever it can to sell magazines. This includes throwing in the occasional article or headline that denounces the thin ideal, to trick readers into thinking they care, and ultimately buy the magazine. If Cosmo was really concerned about fat talk and the harm it does to women (and men) everywhere, they would totally rework their magazine.

By: Lola

Lola — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 19:05:11 +0000

I’ve heard similar stories before about different women’s magazines. Cosmo is at least taking it a step further than just including a single “accept yourself for who you really are!” article in one issue, but the level of hypocrisy is still ridiculous. It makes me like these magazines even less.
On a side note, how can Cosmo keep generating thousands of sex tips a year? There has to be some recycling of material.

By: caitlin

caitlin — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 09:38:06 +0000

I think this is a great message and I would love to see women’s magazines embrace these ideas- but sadly, I think most of the time it is completely undermined by the rest of the content in the magazine. Magazine like Cosmo just reinforce the notion that women’s roles are to be sexy and please men, under the guise of promoting being a happy, confident woman. I don’t expect this will ever change- each page is a reminder of how we don’t “measure up” as women.