Hello KH Chronicle devotees and a belated Merry Christmas to you all! I hope Santa spoiled you rotten and that no one found any lumps of coal waiting at the bottom of their santa sack. And if you did, well... you're in for a prosperous year of charcoal drawing.
Let's skip the part where we swap New Years Eve war stories (because I can assure you, mine will trump anything you have to offer) and the part where we confide our New Years resolutions, because we all know they are made with a confidence no one can hope to maintain. And while we're at it, let's forget how terrible a blogger I have been over the last few months and charge The KH Chronicles upwards and onwards into 2010 with the speed of 1000 gazelles.
Let's skip the part where we swap New Years Eve war stories (because I can assure you, mine will trump anything you have to offer) and the part where we confide our New Years resolutions, because we all know they are made with a confidence no one can hope to maintain. And while we're at it, let's forget how terrible a blogger I have been over the last few months and charge The KH Chronicles upwards and onwards into 2010 with the speed of 1000 gazelles.
So why not kick off the first post of the new decade by jumping on the band-wagon that is the February issue of Australia's marie claire. It's made headlines this last fortnight (as, no doubt, was it's mission to begin with) by putting a very tanned, very enviable, very naked Jennifer Hawkins on the front cover.
While full credit points go to Jackie Frank who takes responsibility for this media brain-child and to Jen for getting her kit off, I'm afraid I remain a little dubious of this 'let's-all-love-our-bodies' publicity stunt.
While full credit points go to Jackie Frank who takes responsibility for this media brain-child and to Jen for getting her kit off, I'm afraid I remain a little dubious of this 'let's-all-love-our-bodies' publicity stunt.
For starters, who, in their right mind, wouldn't be willing to strip down to their birthday suit and pose naked on the cover of a nationally-distributed magazine if they looked like Jennifer Hawkins? The woman is trim, tanned, toned, terrific - possessing the kind of goal body image I keep in the forefront of my mind when I'm sweating it out on my afternoon run. Which I suppose, is exactly why she was picked for the job in the first place.
However, it seems Jackie Frank and I are kinetically connected because she addresses this very point in her Letter From The Editor, saying "Now, I'm sure some of you are thinking that if you looked like Jen, with her girl-next-door looks and endless legs, you'd be happy to pose naked on a cover, too. But it's not that simple... while she's naturally stunning, you might also be surprised to know that Jen has her share of body hang-ups, and works hard to maintain her figure and glowing skin by following a healthy diet and exercising regularly."
While this may all be well and true, there's something about this cover and supporting feature that still doesn't fly with me. As a dedicated magazine reader since the days of Disney Adventure and now a journo myself, I'd like to think that the big-wigs behind the magazines I turn to for both pleasure and employment think I'm a tad more switched on that that. There's nothing I dislike more than magazine moguls who pretend their readers can't see through the thin media-veil hanging before their eyes, and this is a perfect scenerio - taking body image (which is already a horse that's been flogged to death since the day dot) and undressing it up.
Give us some more street-cred and don't pretend like we don't really know what's going on. Either give body-image to us as it is by putting some average-every-day-Patsy-May on the front, complete with her love handles and saggy boobs, or continue to dress the cover with skinny-minny-celebrities who we ordain to look like. Don't cross-dress one with the other and sell it to us as an inspirational favour. There's a whole lot going on behind Jennifer Hawkins' motivation to maintain a killer body and when stripped back, it's got nothing to do with inner confidence. Some of us make a life for ourselves by serving coffee and some of us make a life for ourselves by continually looking fantastic - guess which category JH falls into?
If you can flick past the Jennifer Hawkins publicity, this issue of marie claire has really got some solid reads to chew over with a cup of coffee and left over Christmas cake. There's a beautiful feature about the Letters To My 16year old Self - notes penned by our favourite celebrities in teenage reminiscence - followed by a rather stomach-twisting story about middle-aged Japanese men who 'date' body pillows emblazened with their favourite female Anime characters, often depicting girls of the age of 6 or 7. It's kind of creepy and sure to cause a stir if talked about over the dinner table.
But in the mean time, I'm now going to go stand infront of the mirror and contemplate all the ways in which Jennifer Hawkins and I look nothing alike.
Ciao for now. xo
While this may all be well and true, there's something about this cover and supporting feature that still doesn't fly with me. As a dedicated magazine reader since the days of Disney Adventure and now a journo myself, I'd like to think that the big-wigs behind the magazines I turn to for both pleasure and employment think I'm a tad more switched on that that. There's nothing I dislike more than magazine moguls who pretend their readers can't see through the thin media-veil hanging before their eyes, and this is a perfect scenerio - taking body image (which is already a horse that's been flogged to death since the day dot) and undressing it up.
Give us some more street-cred and don't pretend like we don't really know what's going on. Either give body-image to us as it is by putting some average-every-day-Patsy-May on the front, complete with her love handles and saggy boobs, or continue to dress the cover with skinny-minny-celebrities who we ordain to look like. Don't cross-dress one with the other and sell it to us as an inspirational favour. There's a whole lot going on behind Jennifer Hawkins' motivation to maintain a killer body and when stripped back, it's got nothing to do with inner confidence. Some of us make a life for ourselves by serving coffee and some of us make a life for ourselves by continually looking fantastic - guess which category JH falls into?
If you can flick past the Jennifer Hawkins publicity, this issue of marie claire has really got some solid reads to chew over with a cup of coffee and left over Christmas cake. There's a beautiful feature about the Letters To My 16year old Self - notes penned by our favourite celebrities in teenage reminiscence - followed by a rather stomach-twisting story about middle-aged Japanese men who 'date' body pillows emblazened with their favourite female Anime characters, often depicting girls of the age of 6 or 7. It's kind of creepy and sure to cause a stir if talked about over the dinner table.
But in the mean time, I'm now going to go stand infront of the mirror and contemplate all the ways in which Jennifer Hawkins and I look nothing alike.
Ciao for now. xo
Yay, good to see you posting again!
ReplyDeletePersonally, I don't mind if they airbrush JH or not, I'll still take a gander.