Being fair, making a good point

[trinityvixen]

Warning: feminist approach to the news ahead!

I've been meaning to mention this story about Oprah since I got my Newsweek on Monday. It's a great read, and a scary one, about the particular problem of fame that Oprah faces and, alas, more often than not, abuses. When one has a bully pulpit like a talk show in addition to having billions of dollars, and one also has a talent for ingratiating oneself with the common person (to be frank: the common woman) despite those other things, then one has a lot of power. That power buys influence. It sets opinion. (Look at the rise and fall of James Frey, for just one example.) Oprah's a kingmaker, but she's also a queen. Because she actually has power, her picks for health and safety and beauty royalty are unassailable. This is a dangerous, dangerous sort of situation. (Really, do read that article. It is quite chilling.)

BUT? Putting a cover on this story that makes her look like a deranged bag lady is, to say the least, inflammatory in the extreme.


I have no problem with the magazine attacking Oprah's support of quackery (nor its probing of her self-serving guests who conveniently "forget" to mention while on camera the problems with the treatments they advocate). But this picture adds nothing to the discussion. Indeed, it prejudges Oprah's physical appearance in a way that not even Mahmoud Ahmadinejad got on the same magazine a week or two before, and I think we can agree that even Oprah's subversion of science isn't nearly as bad as the things that guy prattles on about.

And this is a problem. When I complain about sexism in reporting, that's what I mean. For no reason at all, we have to assist a credibly reported story about why a particular woman with power is using it irresponsibly by visually showing her to be a loony tunes. (Some of the pictures inside the magazine aren't any better.) This is Us Weekly crap. This isn't news. So knock that shit off already, Newsweek.

Comments

[anarchicsquirrl.livejournal.com]

Remember Oprah has her own magazine and she graces the cover of it EVERY month always looking perfect next to all the headlines of the stories she wants her fans to believe/care about. I think the Newsweek cover will be an interesting contrast to that on the newsstands.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Good point. Hadn't thought of that!

I still don't think it was a necessary step to take. I also think you give them too much credit. The Newsweek guys are all over MSNBC, and I doubt they're as smart as they'd have to be to recognize that contrast...

[saturn-shumba.livejournal.com]

That article seriously disturbed me on multiple levels. What is with all this New Age ra-ra science bullshit?

And agreed about the cover. It's stupid because it falls back on the easiest of stereotypes: judge a woman by her looks. And so, deranged bag lady photo.

It kinda reminds me of that whole Susan Boyle Britain's Got Talent thing where they just went on and ON about how someone so "homely" could sing so beautifully. It's dumb and offensive.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

The article scared me a lot. Because people love Oprah and she's a snake-oil saleswoman on a lot of this. What's more dangerous is that she doesn't commit to an ideology but compounds several bad ideas over time. Yeesh.

Interesting that you brought up Susan Boyle. The fanfare around her performance is...troubling to say the least. That an average-looking woman can sing beautifully should be no surprise to anyone. But I'll be fair and say that most people do judge you on appearance and the way the clip with her was set up (and how she introduced herself) was almost sure to induce such skepticism about her ability. What I find more problematic is that the judges and audience who came around on her first stanza were pretty awful about how they didn't apologize for judging her before hearing her. The judges all went, "Gee, we were sure you wee going to suck, but you didn't, so bully for you." Instead of, you know, going "I'm a total ass for not believing in you because you don't look like the models on TV."

And then there's the debate on whether or not she should get a makeover. Well, PS, that's up to her, and the people saying she shouldn't because "being homely is her thing" are just disgusting.

[saturn-shumba.livejournal.com]

What really bothered me about the whole Susan Boyle thing is how it holds up next to that cell phone salesman that could sing opera. He wasn't exactly Mr. Fucking Darcy and yet there were no comments about his looks in regards to his singing ability.

And the pressure on him was way less. He won and got to record some opera albums. Susan (barely) lost and fucking goes to a hospital for exhaustion because of all the pressure and obsession about her looks and her voice and whether or not she should get a makeover and blahblah die.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I hadn't followed the story beyond the initial event, so I hadn't heard. That's ridiculous and awful and yeah, now I'm all grrrr-y.