Love yourself? Let First magazine know

14th August 2008

Love yourself? Let First magazine know

First magazine routinely features dieting and weight loss information, but the women’s magazine appears to be turning over a new body-size acceptance leaf. It’s put out calls for submissions for several body-positive stories in the past few weeks, including the one that I responded to a couple weeks ago.

Now the magazine is looking for women who are specifically making New Year’s resolutions to NOT diet. Here’s the call:

“First For Women magazine is not looking for [U.S. and Canadian] women who have made New Year’s resolutions to diet, get a size smaller or go without carbs. No, we are instead looking for women who have, in the past, made New Year’s resolutions to love themselves/their body. Does this sound like you? Please get in touch and tell us more! I need your full name, city/state, age, and a photo. “

If interested in participating, contact writer Amy Kuperinsky at akuperinsky at bauerpublishing. com by 5 p.m. Friday.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, August 14th, 2008 at 9:00 am and is filed under Body Image, Body-Affirming. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On August 14th, 2008, April D

said:

Hmmm I wonder about that “have, in the PAST” part though. I wonder if it is just a set up to portray that decision [to not diet for a yearly resolution] as a bad one with the story ending “And now look at the fatty who THINKS she likes herself! SNARK!” But hopefully that is just a bit of pessimism on my part today and unfounded on my part. *crosses fingers*

posted on August 14th, 2008 at 10:28 am

2 On August 14th, 2008, Ai Lu

In response to April D:
I suspect that they want to know if you did it in the past in order to find out what your experience was like. It’s a different thing altogether if they ask a bunch of women to set that goal on Jan. 1, 2009, and then wait to see what happens — it is not nearly as genuine as if you already decided to do it for yourself, and not to support a magazine feature.
Ai Lu

posted on August 14th, 2008 at 10:42 am

3 On August 14th, 2008, April D

Ai ~ Ohh good point. Well then I really look forward to hearing what some people say. Thanks for the different spin on that phrase too….negative mood today couldn’t let me see it another way. This brightened things a bit!

posted on August 14th, 2008 at 11:27 am

4 On August 14th, 2008, Rachel

April — If I had any suspicion that the magazine was being disingenuous, I wouldn’t have posted their call. They’ve issued several calls for submissions in the past few weeks for body-positive stories which leads me to believe that they finally realize that making their readers feel bad about themselves isn’t the best way to go. Magazines are feeling the same pinch of the economic recession. This may just be another marketing plot to sell issues, but its a step in a more constructive direction.

posted on August 14th, 2008 at 11:30 am

5 On August 14th, 2008, emmy.

i went on a hunt for the First website and stumbled over one of those, “get your subscription!”-only sites for the magazine instead. the front cover of the advertised edition read, “drop 9 lbs in 72 hours!!”

and they want to know how we love our bodies?
they’re going to have to stop printing articles like that, first..

posted on August 14th, 2008 at 5:54 pm

6 On August 14th, 2008, Rachel2

It’s great that they’re making a step in a more constructive direction! Whether or not it is to just bolster sales, I’m glad that there is some last shred of decency left in the media. One tiny diamond in the multitude of rough. Hopefully, things will continue in that direction.

I can dream of a day when people, women especially, are down-to-earth and sought after because of their skills, not how many crunches they’ve done on a daily basis or how much toxic goop they put on their faces for “beauty appeal.” Where more women like Rachel Richardson here at The-F-Word.org are recognized for their wicked intellectualism as opposed to the endless sea of crap that is plastered across every shopping lane checkout counter. I want to read about genuine issues like what is going on with the Georgia-Russia conflict, NOT “How to please your man by morphing your body into a twisted mess of bones and then expecting to actually have the energy to please him! Just $5.99!”

I yearn for a time when I don’t HAVE to go out of my way for the media that I want: the issues that are real and today. The issues that I come here to read about. That I read from many sources that are NOT the crap at the checkout lane. I don’t care about Martha Stewart’s dining room. I can arrange my dining room by myself thankyouverymuch. I don’t care that Britney is pregnant with her 5th child with a 5th different father. I don’t care about Paris Hilton. Or Lindsay Lohan. Or who’s “Scary Skinny”. Period. I can only avert my eyes so much. Unfortunately, I read lightning-fast, so I really can’t escape this crap that’s shoved into my face as I’m buying food at the grocery store. It’s bad enough that A.) I can’t afford it to begin with, so when I DO buy it, I try to buy carefully. Then, to add insult to injury, I get this crap dumped on me to make me feel worse about myself that the food that I AM buying isn’t the prepackaged “Diet” garbage, OR that I cannot afford all of the neat little “organic, fresh, raw” foods that are becoming vogue at the moment.

Anyways. It’s a wonderful thing that First magazine is actually going out on a limb and promoting self acceptance as opposed to all of the aforementioned crap that isn’t productive anyway. I could probably send in my own self-acceptance story, but I’d have to get there first. I WILL, however, make the same un-resolution that I made last year and not worry about making resolutions.

posted on August 14th, 2008 at 7:28 pm

7 On August 16th, 2008, Liza

I suspect they wouldn’t accept me because I happen to be losing weight and learning to love myself at the same time.

Besides, I’ve apparently missed the deadline because I don’t check blogs often enough. Poo.

posted on August 16th, 2008 at 9:53 am