<i>Vogue</i>: The Anorexic Issue Starring Tina Fey

Because of Fey's face on the cover, I thumbed through the previously avoidedand while disgusted by rail thin models in need of help, found an actual thought provoking article about a gifted writer.
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On a recent Saturday, while in search for something to flip through while I ate my breakfast, I spotted the March issue of Vogue my mother-in-law had just borrowed from the library. While not a fan of women's (or men's) fashion magazines, as writer and actress Tina Fey was gracing the cover of this particular issue, I decided to risk the parade of ultra-thin models about to assault my senses to find and read the article about the accomplished and very talented Fey. Mistake.

While mostly ignorant about the fashion industry and its magazines, I am aware of Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour and her reputation for being about the best in the business. Clearly, Wintour knows exactly what does and does not work for her magazine and her bottom-line. That said, as a knuckle-dragging male, I was still shocked when I realized that I had to flip 230 pages before I found the masthead of the magazine and 458 pages before I found the article on Tina Fey. Come on!! I never did find the table of contents and suspect that it was secretly wrapped around a cube of cheese and then eaten by one of the starving models in the magazine.

Actually, it was the dangerously thin appearance of the vast majority of female models in the magazine which launched me toward my keyboard. Realizing that they've become a cliché and that few truly care about the condition or health of these young women (least of all the industry which continues to exploit them), I still felt it important to speak out while also saying I expected a bit more from Tina Fey, who somewhat addresses the issue in her cover article.

In the body of the piece Fey wisely observes, "I don't weigh myself. I just go by if my clothes fit. I try not to participate too much in the incredible amount of wasted energy that women have around dealing with food. I just feel like being healthy is sort of a job requirement to be on TV, and being a writer is so much coping with fatigue and stress, and you just eat..."

But then in the very next paragraph, Fey basically contradicts her, "I try not to participate too much in the incredible amount of wasted energy that women have around dealing with food" line by unadvisedly saying, "People will say, 'Oh, fashion magazines are so bad, they're giving girls a negative message' -- but we're also the fattest country in the world, so it's not like we're all looking at fashion magazines and not eating..."

While I get -- pun intended -- that Fey was trying to promote her new film Date Night (excellent -- go see it) by throwing a bone to the Vogue writer, she's still an extremely bright and aware woman and knows full well that the obesity problem in our nation does not cancel out the tragically real cases of anorexia and bulimia which plague thousands of young girls. I say that knowing that the 21-year-old daughter of a very close friend of mine just had to have emergency surgery to try and save her life from the pounding her frail body took from years of bulimia.

Later in the article, Fey points out, "...I have an hourglass figure; I do have a waist, but I do have full hips..." For me, (and I suspect most men) Fey was one of the most beautiful women in that issue of Vogue. Period. While I understand Vogue is a "women's" magazine aimed at a certain demographic, Wintour and the women who read the magazine should still understand that the vast majority of men actually prefer curves and an hourglass shape. It's bad enough getting a paper cut in the office. Who needs to get one in bed?

When it comes to anorexia and bulimia, while Wintour and her kind will continue to be part of the problem, Fey, with her growing audience, can be part of the solution. You've got superpowers now, Tina. Use them wisely.

Speaking of Fey's increasing power and influence, and as an independent conservative who has worked a few presidential campaigns, I have to say I was surprised and amused by something the writer and Fey said later in the article. The writer asserts that Fey's parents are Republican and that she is an independent.

Independent? Really? It was the "independent" part which caught me by surprise. Maybe "independent liberal" would be much more accurate and absolutely nothing wrong with that.

With politics in mind, Fey then naively at best, talks about some of the heat which has come her way because of her biased and calculated "impressions" of Sarah Palin. Said Fey, "There are people now who hate me now because of that..."

While those who hate (on both sides) should be condemned, Fey should hardly be surprised that her attacks on Palin have elicited some ill-will from the right. Back in the 70's, proudly liberal Chevy Chase admitted that his harsh "impressions" of then President Gerald Ford were meant to damage Ford's election chances against Jimmy Carter. Just as Chase knew what he was doing in the 70's, Fey knew what she was doing in 2008. It was her intention to step into the political arena and damage Palin. To say otherwise would be disingenuous.

That said, the independent liberal Fey does say something about the self-destructive nature of our political system which this independent conservative finds himself in complete agreement. Says Fey, "The partisan nature of politics continues to appall me. I'm almost paralyzed by my inability to see things in black and white. I encountered a lot of hard-core Democrats who are just as rabid and hateful, and I found that just as shocking..."

Whoops. Watch out, Fey. Some on the far-left may demand another mean-spirited impression of Palin as penance for that line.

No matter. Because of Fey's face on the cover, I thumbed through the previously avoided Vogue and while disgusted by rail thin models in need of help, found an actual thought provoking article about a gifted writer armed with intelligence, opinion, and...curves.

So who knew?

Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official and an author.

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