The Positive Role of Magazine Images

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The Positive Role of Magazine Images

Most controversy over magazines is about the images they portray. According to the writers, Amy Malkin, Kimberlie Wornian, and Joan Chrisler, "Women and Weight: Gendered Messages on Magazines Covers," women's magazines insist on dieting, exercise, and cosmetic surgery to achieve the ideal body. This is in no way true. Yes, magazines show pictures of beautiful women and have articles that relate to dieting, exercise and surgery. However, magazines have no other purpose than to inform. Also, magazines do not cause women to feel inadequate; they are useful tools in which women can find informative articles on the issues at hand.

America has become a society of relatively sedentary people that do not exercise or worry about their health. Magazines that show pictures of healthy models are simply saying that women can achieve this look if they practice healthy and beneficial lifestyles. The opposition might argue that magazine covers, and articles, force women to feel inadequate an in turn they diet, exercise, and use cosmetic surgery in an attempt to enhance their looks. The issues on dieting stem from women being health conscious rather than, being self-conscious. Articles on dieting and exercise give information on ways to help improve health and to still maintain active family and business lives, and because it is only suggestive information it is not harmful to ones self image. Cosmetic surgery is an approach that both men and women consider to improve their self-image. Articles that discuss information on these procedures are not only informative, but necessary. For instance, those that are uninformed settle for cheap renditions of surgery and are left scarred and mutilated. ...

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...my Malkin, Kimbrlie Wornian, and Joan Chrisler, argues that women magazines more than men magazines makes the individual feel inadequate due to the appearance of articles relating to diet, exercise, and cosmetic surgery. Conversely, today's women are health conscious and are looking for ways to balance their health, beauty, and their everyday lives. In conclusion magazines just simply play the role of giving the individual the option of being informed. Also, magazines that appeal to men do not always appeal to women and that is why content differs.

Work Cited

Malkin, Amy R., Kimberlie Wornian, and Joan Chrisler. "Women and Weight: Gendered Messages on Magazine Covers." Sex Roles: A Journal of Research. Plenum Publishing Co. Rpt. in Writing Arguments. 5thed. Eds. John D. Ramage, John C. Bean, and June Johnson. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2001. 514-21.

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