TRASH mags

Don't buy "Look" magazine... This is a new chick magazine, a free sample of which was being given out in WHSmith this weekend. I took one because I used to have a Saturday job in WHSmith and know how difficult it can be to get rid of the promo mags. Still feeling a little fragile later on I sat down and started to flick through the articles. Now generally I don't read girly gossip magazines as a rule - they are incredibly damaging, arrogant and full of slander that is simply put in place to destroy people out of some kind of spiteful jealous hatred. This is not the kind of material that I want entering my head whilst trying to be 'salt and light' in this world. However, there are times when my curiosity gets the better of me and I long to find out what people are being fed and what is influencing culture. I have to say I felt sick, ugly and dirty after reading just a few articles.

Charlotte Church was slandered for having gone from a size 8 to a size 14. She is now trying to get down to a size 8 again for the summer so that she can wear a bikini. Her boyfriend doesn't mind what size she is but is pleased that she is 'deciding to eat more healthily' and 'cooking all her meals and snacks for her to make sure she is not eating too much'. He also made fun of her because of her weight. This doesn't add up...? In other words, he cares very much about how she looks. Now I must admit, I am not a huge fan of Charlotte Church, but what is wrong with being a size 14?!?!? They failed to mention that she was probably a size 8 when she was about 11 years old - now she is a woman and women ought to have a figure. Why should women feel that they are simply not allowed to wear a bikini if they are anything over a size 8? Bring back curves!

Some other film star (can't remember who) has had a bout of anorexia and the magazine showed a photo of her which resembled a walking skeleton. Apparently she is now back up to 'a healthy 8 stone'. I was appalled at this. I dropped half a stone to 8 stone this week due to illness and could barely walk - I am 5'6" (fairly average) and according to the nurse I am meant to be about 11 kilos heavier than my normal weight. So how the magazine (with a clear conscience) drill into the heads of women that 8 stone is a "healthy" weight?!

I was then cross to read about new cosmetic hand surgery for stars who have veins appearing in their hands because of 'strict dieting and fitness regimes'. For a start, REVELATION, you have got veins in your hands. every so often they might appear!! Secondly one of their examples was Madonna!! Of course she has the odd visible sign of aging, she is aging!!!

There were lots of articles about celebrity breakups and who they have immediately now got together with, an article that really annoyed me about what wonderful parents celebrities who had decided to adopt children due to their own failed relationships were (HELLO?!?!) A generation of children with names such as "Maddox", "Lala" etc being brought up by rich single parents who go through partners like clean socks, who suffer from eating disorders, drug and emotional problems and who use their parental status to compensate for the emotional hole left by another failed relationship or media slander.

Is it not time to make a magazine that is positive? I don't know a single girl my age (including myself) who feels confident about the way they look or who isn't taught and fed trashy slander. The high level of insecurity in women of today is fed in a vicious cycle by this media hatred, stirring up a sentiment of flaw-finding and nit-picking. I regularly find myself walking down the high street practically being spat at by other women, often being barged out the way and often being greeted by foul looks and comments under the breath. I have no idea why this happens, but it is particularly obvious in shops, where female assistants are perfectly nice to JT because he is a (rather gorgeous) man, but then really horrible to me because I am a woman! They usually bark and snap their orders at me and refuse to even look at me during the transaction. They sigh loudly and smack my card down on the counter before giving a foul look as I leave. If you are in a supermarket they will literally throw your shopping at you and then sigh and drum their fingernails until you have finished unraveling the carnage and badly packing your bags!

I was so chuffed yesterday in Dorothy Perkins when a really cheery girl was really polite and kind at the checkout - it made such a difference. Can we not somehow reverse the culture and get everyone to love instead of hate? Yes, the only way is through Jesus. It is only love (and God is love) that can reverse a culture of hate because love is the opposite of hate. This means sowing positivity in the face of negative image, loving the shop assistant when they are hating you, apologising to the woman who has smacked her shopping bags or buggy into you, encouraging the one who makes you feel like a piece of dirt on the floor and maybe even making that magazine....?

I was challenged by Mark Clements, because Sophie was telling me about how he chats to the shop assistants in the supermarket and is really kind to them because they are human beings and it can be easy to overlook this simple truth. Is it really surprising then that we get treated out of their attitude of neglect? I tried it in Wilkinson (possibly one of THE most frustrating places to shop) and simply asked the lady if she had some time off at Christmas. She visibly softened and almost fell off her chair with surprise. She then chatted away for a while as I packed my bags and paid and I felt better too. What else can we do? for a start, don't buy "Look" magazine!!