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Today I want to share an article from The Guardian with you - because I really got furious when I read it (and it is absolutely irrelevant whether you are 48 or 60: the Vogue speaks of women over 30!). I'm not a subscriber of 'Vogue' - which I regret, because otherwise I could unsubscribe now.
"...it appears that Alexandra Shulman, editor of Vogue, feels that elderly women trying to be fashionable are "slightly ridiculous and absolutely hideous" (When fashion ends at 30, G2, 5 November). !
from this I quote: "Shulman, who says: "I don't think people do really want to look at older women as … exemplars of fashion and beauty." Why? Because they would look not only "slightly ridiculous" but "absolutely hideous". Vogue may talk about older women, but it doesn't show them. Older for Vogue means over 30."
I cannot imagine that any woman, being a few days over thirty, will support that magazine.
This was the link that made me find the insult:
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/nov/08/older-women-hideous
Jeunism, wherever it occurs, is an ugly thing, but I think the ill-considered statement of Alexandra Shulman stems from her own self-loathing. She needs a bit of counseling.
ReplyDeleteDear Geo.,
ReplyDeleteyes, you are right: jeunism (and most other things with -ism) is weird. I would expect from a magazine that sells mostly to older women (who has the money? ) that they tell her a few words.
But then I looked up photos of her on Google - and now I know you're right. She needs a bit of counseling - even on fashion :-)
Hi
ReplyDeleteThank you for the link. I read the article. That is probably the most prejudiced comment I have ever read concerning elderly women. Hmm. It seems to me that Alexandra Shulman herself must be very afraid of getting older and older.
Dear Sapphire,
Deletethank you! I am still fuming - but think of using her words for something new - an sarcastic article or so. Yes, she must be frightened, and as Susan Scheid writes: she should read 'The Gifts of Age', which Susan recommended to me years ago as a very interesting reading.
She needs to read The Gifts of Age, doesn't she? (Although she may just be beyond redemption.)
ReplyDeleteDear Susan,
DeleteI utterly agree: a beautiful and wise book. But I also love your sentence in brackets - hahaha!
Britta... I couldn't access the link, but how ridiculous! As if age has anything to do with beauty or wanting to look one's best! How very sad for a woman in her position and with the platform she has to demean women in such a way! She has much to learn!
ReplyDeleteDear Susan,
ReplyDeleteof course I share your opinion: beauty is not a question of age. It might be easier to see the beauty of a soft peach skin - but I also see it in a face that has lived, with lines and expression. In the book "Advanced Style' by blogger Ari Seth Cohen he shows beautiful older women - he saw them in the city and asked their permission to be photographed - and though some of them are on the very, very vivid side of clothing style, no one of them is invisible - everyone a person with character and zest.
I can understand your feeling angry about Ms. Shulman's comments, but perhaps she was quoted out of context? If she did mean what she said, she has probably helped sell more issues of the mag. Unfortunately, unsavory attitudes and behavior seem wildly popular. She will probably get a pay raise or bonus for her efforts:(
ReplyDeleteDear Walk2write,
ReplyDeleteI now managed to put the link to the article in.
I can't see how Mrs. Shulman's sentence can be quoted out of context - nor why women over 30 - who are the one's with the money to buy the expensive clothes and cosmetics that Vogue propagates - should buy a magazine that is insulting them? If I were the owner of that magazine, Mrs Shulman would have to apologize to her readers - or would have to look for a new job.
Oh, maybe I got it now, dear Walk2write - by another article in the Guardian on fashion, about a creepy fashion phtographer. They write: "Because scandal in their eyes is the same as fame, and creepiness is confused with edginess,." Yes, that might be so - and then I can understand what you mean.
DeleteI wonder how old Ms. Shulman is? Think she'll hang herself when she comes of a certain age?
ReplyDeleteHow ridiculous. I hope the magazine fires her butt. (And the rest of her, too.) I don't care two cents about the latest fashions or what other people think about the clothing I wear, so I don't care what that "lady" opines about my appearance, but for her to insult all women over the age of thirty is absurd. As one of the many post-WWII babies, I think most of us aren't actually insulted by what that pipsqueak has to say, because her words don't spring from the wisdom of her mind; they come from her uninformed ass.
Dear Susan,
ReplyDeleteI laughed a lot: I like Texas' frankness! Your language is so vigorous, and you say clearly what you mean - great! I can't say that I don't care about what other people say about my appearance (have to work at that) - otherwise I can sign every word of yours!
My dear Britta,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. Write to that "woman" to take a look at Anna Wintour manager of Vogue U.S.A. and Franca Sozzani manager of Vogue Italy... both are not girls!!! They have perfect style ... stupid woman, do not buy Vogue!!!
Bisous, Babi
Dear Babi,
ReplyDeleteI utterly agree with you! She must have been out of her mind, maybe she was just of her 30th birthday next day... :-)
I hope he gets his just desserts. How horrible.
ReplyDeleteI wonder. I have a lot of young friends on Facebook who fight against a lot of things they think are unjust (with words at least) - but they were not very excited about this one. Though: when I were their age, I thought that all people over thirty were - old... (but I never thought 'hideous' - on the contrary: I looked at very elegant Ladies and thought: yes, that's it!)
Delete