By the way that is pronounced "Bree-guee-te", the German way. It's a women's magazine, the most popular there is in the language of Goethe. I used to buy it from time to time while living there, although I must say that the gossip tabloid-like Bunte was more appropriate to my Deutsch proficiency.
A year ago, they announced that they would soon stop using professional models for their shoots. This month's issue is the first one in which this new rule has been observed, and the US website Jezebel currently runs a feature on what it looks like. Spectacular, if you want my opinion! The pictures look amazing, and the women portrayed just look so full of personality and real. Not that models aren't real, but you know, it's their job to showcase a product, not to pose as themselves. You rarely see their name or for the matter, any kind of information about them. Whereas, on an article about black clothes where horses are used, Brigitte used real-life mounted policewomen, and added a paragraph about each of them, adding to their "relatableness".
Of course, some were quick to point out that these women were not exactly average-looking, rather all quite beautiful and thin. Some also said that the magazine did not present much ethnic diversity... And it's all true... But Germany is still not very multicultural. It's far from the "melting pot" of the American society model, or even the "mosaic" of the Canadian one. Most non-German people living there are still of European descent - as far as I remember, 10 years ago, the two most important "visible minority" groups were Turks and Croats. So I think that in their own way, by presenting some women who were not the North-European blond type, they do offer a sample that is realistic for their own society... Like this woman below:
And about the biais against beauty/thinness... It's kind of sad and harsh, but also a reality of life: beauty is attractive, beauty pleases, beauty impresses, beauty sells. I'm in no way opposed to showing a greater diversity of body types and non-traditional facial features and what not. But ultimately, it's still the world of fashion and magazines we're talking about. The big revolution isn't for tomorrow, but I'll take these baby steps. I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but when I open a magazine (whether fashion, or design, or cooking, or whatever), I'm looking for a little dream, not really "every day" and "average."
2 comment(s):
That is so cool. Must make reading the magazine so much more interesting. I wonder how it's changed the working lives of the people who work on the magazine. it must be so different working with amateurs instead of models.
I totally applaude them! I hadn't heard of this. I'm behind on Jezebel. As I am with everything these days :)
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