Marie Claire is one of my favourite magazines. I always thought that it was a cut above the rest of women's magazines, a bit more intelligent and balanced.
I changed my mind when I read this little spiel in an article entitle "Could Women Rescue the World?":
"For example, try to imagine what a government made up of women would be like. Visualise Cheryl Cole, Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, Victoria Beckham and Cate Blanchett all sitting around the cabinet table. What would they say? Let's invade Iraq and crush an ancient culture under our feet? Develop a terrifying nuclear weapons programme? Let greedy bankers have free rein on the economy? No, they wouldn't. Because as a rule, we don't like to fight, or shout, or express our emotions through the dumb prism of a football match." And so it continues.
Ahh. Where do I start?!
Firstly, what an odd choice of women for the hypothetical all-female cabinet. Cheryl Cole? Victoria Beckham? Really? Really?! Are there no intelligent, articulate, politically savvy, capable women that she could have mentioned before these so I could actually try to imagine a cabinet of women? As it stands, all I can imagine them doing in terms of issues such as the NHS is redesigning nurses' uniforms. And not very tastefully. If she wanted to go for a generic celebrity to patronise her readers, because of course the only people we'll know of are those plastered to the pages of heat magazine every week, even Angelina Jolie I could have understood more. At least she seems to have a broader view of the world than what exists between the pages of Vogue.
Next, her stance on the recent government 'mishaps' is a little sweeping, patronising to the reader and some of the worst journalism I think I've ever come across. And I've read "Pick Me Up."
Onto 'as a rule' we don't like to fight or shout. Just plain wrong. Firstly, a 'rule'? That just annoys me. Innapropriate cliche. Yuck. I know plenty of women who just love to shout and argue pointlessly. They bloody love a good drama. And I also know men who are very reasonable and thoughtful. Gender does not determine rationality.
And lastly, men expressing their opinions through the dumb prism of a football match? How... how.. just... urgh! I'm not a particular football fan but I would never call it a dumb prism. It is perfectly reasonable to express emotion when a team one strongly identifies is successful or not so. In fact, it shows humanity.
In attempting to push forward her feminism, this women has only served to show why so many people are disdainful of it. It shouldn't be 'Wow, aren't men idiots, women are like, totally better and stuff.' It should be trying to dissolve the gender gap and to establish that one's gender is not a determinant of one's value. All this article does is draw further boundaries in big black permanent marker between men and women and again increase hostility. It is unbearably counterproductive and regressive.
And Cheryl Cole?! Really?
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