Girl Power: a sad but true story

Having forgotten my reading materials, waiting at the doctor's office this past week, I decided to pick up a copy of the Summit County Women's Journal. The thin magazine dedicated to women's issues in my area seemed, at least, moderately interesting. February is Heart Awareness month, and Heard Disease is still the number one killer of women in this country. I was expecting at least a few pages dedicated to adjusting my eating and exercise habits, and maybe some yoga promos, since that's all the rage now.

I was disgusted, however, when I began leafing through the pages and found that the first 3/4 of the publication (this is not an exaggeration) was dedicated to cosmetic surgery, a few pages about hair replacement and thickening followed, and the magazine ended with articles about teeth whitening. I put the magazine down and picked up the larger volume next to it called the Women's Health Journal, a nationally circulated magazine. This publication, or at least the first 1/4 of it (I couldn't bear any more) dealt primarily with natural weight loss (for aesthetics only, no health reasons were given), and the toning of the thighs and buttocks. Spring is on it's way, you know.

"Thank goodness" I thought to myself, "that women in this area don't have to deal with issues like violent crime, the glass ceiling, rape, eating disorders, child rearing, or anything in the political arena, we can all rest easy and focus completely on our warped body images, primarily induced by media bombardment". If you don't understand sarcasm, you shouldn't be reading this.

Aside from the variety of proposed legislation that clearly limits women's rights on state, local, and federal levels popping up in the media over the past several months, I think that these publications are a somewhat reliable indicator of what concerns women according to the media. I hope that these issues are not women's number one concerns. I, personally feel that there are at least a few things that I find more pressing than the shape of my buns or how full my head of hair is. Reading materials like these make me fear for the well being of my entire sex.