Diet Grrrl: An Example

From: T G

Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2002 11:27 am

To: [email protected]

Subject: letter

Dear Madam,

Allow me to be one of the few readers – at least according to your letters page – not to start mine with the words, “Thank you for…”.

I am so disappointed with Marie Claire recently. I first started buying it about a year ago – a friend recommended it to me as a more intelligent choice of magazine. And the spine-line: “The Only Glossy With Brains”. At least you’ve had the honesty to remove that, as Marie Claire has become one of the most vapid and inconsequential publications on the newsstand.

A few more specific comments:

-You DON’T need a celebrity on the cover every issue. Seeing Andrea Corr or Nicole Kidman on the cover has actually stopped me from purchasing because I don’t want to waste money on a puff piece about a woman with nothing real to conribute to the world except MOR music or her latest affected performance.

-No more “How I survived carjacking/a hostage situation/gang rape”. You’re doing nothing but portray women as victims, and in every single issue! I know there are women who will have suffered similar ordeals, but putting their story as filler in an already bare magazine shows them no respect. Why not print self-defence tips? Something to encourage things like this don’t actually happen.

-The fashion spreads. They seem to be the only thing you actually try at any more, but guess what? There’s only so long you can look at pretty pictures. Probably 70% of your readership can’t actually afford designer clothes, perhaps the same couldn’t fit into them.

-The overall lack of articles. Not enough, what is there is too padded out with glossy photos.

-I used to think Marie Claire wanted to promote female role models. I don’t think three pages tucked away at the back is doing them justice. Perhaps there aren’t enough to write about, but what you produce is hardly enough to inspire anyone.

-And of course, as mentioned above, the TOTALLY UNREALISTIC portrayal of the female body.

RAISE YOUR GAME, MARIE CLAIRE. You’re letting a generation of women down.

Yours faithfully,

T

Dear T,

Thank you for taking the time to write to Marie Claire with your comments about our magazine.

I am sorry you have been disappoined with our magazine recenlty, however your response is much appreciated. We value all feedback from our readers, no matter how critical, as it helps us to know how they feel about some of the articles that we publish.

Once again, thank you for sharing your comments with us and I hope that you will enjoy reading Marie Claire in the future.

Best Wishes

Marie Claire