So I was scrolling through twitter when I came across a post from Everyday Sexism (a twitter account that pretty much does what it says in the handle and highlights the everyday plights of women everywhere) and @thisisdara. From the cat calls from builders to the magazines that should be on our side but simply aren’t. Today they picked up on a piece in Company Magazine – blatantly an advertorial from hair removal brand VEET that aimed to basically tell young women that in order to secure that dream job, impress your potential boss by ensuring your legs are waxed. Yes it is truly as daft as it sounds. While adverts like this can make us chuckle and roll our eyes as we flick the page over, for many these messages, especially those searching for a job it is another constant reminder that women never seem to be judged on skill and merit alone. As a product for women the magazine and the brand should be working together to champion women not knock them down, telling them that their job success is not about skill and merit but about the smoothness of their legs. While we all want to look our best we are in a dangerous place where we strip young girls of pride in their work and achievement and place to greater emphasis on always having their lipgloss and cleavage at the ready. While this was an advertorial, magazines need to share some of the social responsibility and work with brands to give a more ethical stance on their messages to young women everywhere. So Dear Company Magazine, we know the competition is tough and you have to make as much cash as possible to finance your publication, we get how publishing works, but please don’t sacrifice all the positive body image pieces you’ve ever done by throwing nonsense like this Veet advert out there. Just because you didn’t make it, it made it past your editorial team unnoticed and that I’m afriad is just unforgivable.
