{"id":133,"date":"2012-04-23T19:36:12","date_gmt":"2012-04-24T00:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wholemama\/?p=133"},"modified":"2012-04-23T19:36:12","modified_gmt":"2012-04-24T00:36:12","slug":"the-hypocrisy-of-oprah-magazine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wholemama\/2012\/04\/the-hypocrisy-of-oprah-magazine\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hypocrisy of Oprah Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Admission:\u00a0 I like O<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n

I sneak it into my cart when Ian isn\u2019t looking.\u00a0 I check it out at the library when he is, but under a pile of biographies.\u00a0 When he discovers issues hidden under dirty laundry in the bathroom, he chides me:\u00a0 Ames, if you want this, let\u2019s just get a subscription.<\/p>\n

But, of course, I can\u2019t admit that I want it.\u00a0 In Reformed circles, Oprah is on par with Deepak Chopra\u2026Feministic.\u00a0 Edgy.\u00a0 Man-hating.\u00a0 Liberal.\u00a0 Touchy-feely.\u00a0\u00a0 Do you blame me for shying away from any association with her?<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s just enough that appeals to me to shun it altogether:\u00a0 The emphasis on decluttering appeals to some deep part of me that struggles with a childhood spent knee-deep in \u2018stuff.\u2019\u00a0 The emphasis on self-improvement appeals to those areas I\u2019ve never been able to pray away.\u00a0 The emphasis on \u2018accepting yourself\u2019 scratches a forty-something-year-old itch that started in somewhere between All we like sheep have gone astray and never hearing the words, I love you, until I was 18 and forced from them a begrudging, and most uncomfortable \u2018love ya\u2019 in response to mine at the end of a college phone call.<\/p>\n

Sitting here with my newest issue, I realize that, no matter my semi-verboten enjoyment of O<\/em>, the magazine is a sham.\u00a0 Way beyond the debate about Oprah\u2019s spiritual state (I\u2019m exhaustified of my sorts trying to peg her into any particular theological heresy), what hits me is the O<\/em>\u2018s in-your-face-how-can-we-not-have-seen-it hypocrisy:<\/p>\n

Accept who you are!\u2013(Yet, How to get better with age! Rev up your metabolism! Refresh your style! Recharge your spirit!)<\/p>\n

Be original!\u2013(Here, dress in this cool $895 outfit, try this new $98 skin enhancer, copy the liberated lives of these five uber-original women who have\u2013surprise!\u2013ditched their husbands to find fulfillment!)<\/p>\n

Declutter!\u2013(But first buy this Physician\u2019s Formula lotion\u2013Look 6 years younger in 4 weeks:\u00a0 We promise!\u2026Buy these four books actor Bill Paxton recommends, Try one or all of the ten books Oprah herself recommends!, Fill your closets with these no-fail outfits sure to get you attention in the spring!\u00a0 And the ever-so essential wide-brimmed hat for only $58!\u00a0 And the shampoo to eliminate that pesky dandruff!\u00a0 And these neat new ceramic containers that double as a colander AND a serving dish for strawberries!\u00a0 And these neat, new, green versions of the wing-tip gold shoe that no truly fashion-aware woman dare not have stuffing up her closets!<\/p>\n

Have mercy.<\/p>\n

I know mags are in the business of making money, and, in large part, this means selling advertising.\u00a0 But to have actual articles pushing material goods right next to articles espousing the importance of giving or sacrificing or bettering the world via anti-materialism is, if nothing else, ironic.\u00a0 Oprah, or whatever bobblehead is running the cash cow called O<\/em> mag is living\u2013and selling\u2013a contradiction.\u00a0 If those associated with O<\/em> mean even a fraction of they claim to mean, their magazine ought to prove this.\u00a0 They ought to declutter their obnoxious advertisements.\u00a0 They ought to refuse to accept any ad for any beauty product, whatsoever.\u00a0 They ought to get rid of any column or article promoting the seasonal necessity of this or that buckoo-bucked outfit.<\/p>\n

If you believe what you claim you do, O<\/em> mag, live\u2013and publish\u2013like it.\u00a0 No matter how you draw me in with the occasionally-decent and authentic article, if you can\u2019t align what you print with what you claim to believe, I\u2019ll find a mag who does.<\/p>\n

Ian will be ecstatic.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Admission:\u00a0 I like O magazine. I sneak it into my cart when Ian isn\u2019t looking.\u00a0 I check it out at the library when he is, but under a pile of biographies.\u00a0 When he discovers issues hidden under dirty laundry in the bathroom, he chides me:\u00a0 Ames, if you want this, let\u2019s just get a subscription. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Hypocrisy of Oprah Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Admission:\u00a0 I like O magazine. 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