Wolff, David_Newstand Reflection_September 11th 2013

As I stepped into the aisle of magazines in Safeway it is hard to say whether I was more blown away by the sheer quantity of faces staring down at me or by the enormous amount of unwaveringly similar of messages being thrown at me. The first and foremost of these messages was the massive importance of sex appeal. Everywhere I looked were gorgeous people; beautiful women, buff men, and of course, a barrage of celebrities. There were differences in how men and women were portrayed. Men were portrayed in front of either a solid, black or white background, while women’s backgrounds bright, exuberant, and flashy. The lettering surrounding most women was multiple different colors and fonts while men’s lettering rarely wavier from one font and the color scheme was black, white, or red, with little variation. The result was the men seemed much more stoic and intense, whereas the women tended to seem bubbly and fun. The major theme would be the value of good health. Admittedly this is almost entirely portrayed through sex appeal. Of course there were more than a few images of delicious and health conscience treats and goodies. The significance of good cooking is another main theme that ties in nicely with the previous. Soups, salads, sweets, and seafood stood before me, each one claiming to be tastier, healthier, and easier to prepare than the last. Almost as important as cooking, is proper home care. Having a perfect bedroom or backyard has never been so easy, not to mention keeping them clean. Lastly there were magazines for all sorts of things I don’t have; cars, guns, motorcycles, cameras, tools, bikes. One interesting consistency between all the various genres of magazines was the allure of secrets. I was promised secret sex tips, 10 day diets, survival tricks, power workouts, crocheting techniques. Every message seemed to have a really low opinion of me. I needed to get hotter, healthier, homelier, and a whole lot more money. It can be argued that the media causes this type of negative self-evaluation among the population. It can also be argued that this type of negative self-evaluation among the population is the reason the media publishes this type of material. Or you could cop-out like me, I consider it a circular-paradox.

GO WARRIORS!