Could women's magazines be making matters worse for us girls?

I read a really interesting blog this week, and I felt it was extremely relevant in terms of our vision here at Liberti. 

Entitled “Women’sMagazines and the Cult of Hypocrisy”, Laura Bates complains of “a disturbing and growing trend of women’s magazines affecting a superficial stance of concern about issues that they themselves are often guilty of causing or exacerbating”.

I couldn’t agree more. I’ve said on several occasions that I avoid most women’s mags at all costs because they make me feel inadequate and insecure. One minute they’re deriding celebrities for their spots or cellulite and the next they’re showing airbrushed images of how they think we should all look. And woe betide you if you don’t look perfect, because you’ll never get that job you want or the man of your dreams…

Laura gives a great example of this. “Last week, two editions of Now Magazine appeared on newsstands in the UK,” she writes. “The weekly issue featured a dramatic photograph of model Abbey Crouch, emphasising her prominent collarbones and hollow thighs.

“The headline read ‘Oh no! Scary Skinnies’, while a caption warned: ‘Girls starving to be like her’. Inside, a feature revealed that ‘worryingly, pro-anorexia sites are using her figure as a skinny role model’.

“The other magazine was the Now Celebrity Diet Special. Its cover was emblazoned with a photograph of the same model in a glamorous bikini, under the headline: “Bikini body secrets…stars’ diet and fitness tricks REVEALED.”

According to Laura (and I fully agree): “There is an undeniable disparity between the caring, concerned tone magazines adopt, and the actual pictures and features they continue to publish week in, week out.”

The blog points out that 75% of teenage girls feel depressed, guilty and shameful after spending just three minutes leafing through a fashion magazine, and that a coroner recently held the fashion industry and photographs of wafer-thin girls “directly responsible” for the death of 14-year old schoolgirl Fiona Geraghty, who had bulimia.

“It is time for women’s magazines to stop pretending to advocate for solutions and admit they are part of the problem… Women’s magazines must pay attention to their legacy,” she writes.

When Bekah Legg took over Liberti magazine, her vision was to produce a women’s magazine that was interesting and engaging, but one that would build women up rather than tearing them down. It’s about empowering women to become all that God created them to be – regardless of how they look.

Most women I know have things about their appearance they would like to change, but Liberti encourages us to focus on faith, family and freedom for women across the globe rather than spending all our time wishing we looked like Abbey Crouch (or not!).

Liberti discusses issues such as eating disorders, domestic violence, racism, death, relationships, poverty, human trafficking and many others in a frank, informative way. Rather than focusing on me, me, me, it is designed to get us thinking about our God-given purpose within a world that has so many problems and prejudices. 

There’s no airbrushing or attempts to do others down to make our readers feel better about themselves (which clearly doesn’t work, anyway). Like Laura, we want to leave a lasting and positive legacy for our readers and they people they connect with.

If you're fed up with the typical women’s mags on the high street, why not give Liberti a read? It costs just £12 a year to subscribe and will arrive right on your doorstep every three months!