So Long, SELF magazine

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{Photo credit: Facebook/GlamRunner}

Oh SELF magazine, how could you? You were the magazine that I ‘graduated’ to once I outgrew that juvenile “SEVENTEEN”. Who needs all that talk about boys, when there were smart and inspiring articles to read about my own health and fitness and goals — and all that still with trendy fashion bits thrown in for good measure. Well, our days are done.

You have probably seen the story that has gone viral in the last few days.  This is how the story goes: Monika Allen was contacted by the magazine seeking permission to use a picture of her and a friend running in colorful tutus. Upon first glance, one might think “how nice. They sought to obtain permission to use the photo.” In this era of a digital consuming, info-sharing marketplace, we know that is not always the case on the interwebs. Content is borrowed stolen all the time. So you think you’re getting ready to give them props for doing the right thing.

Think again. They ended up using the photo in their “BS Meter” feature with a blurb about how people are wearing these tutus in Central Park because they think they make them run faster.

SELF did not know at the time that Monika, wearing the wonderful wonderful WONDERFUL Wonder Woman outfit, was finishing up chemotherapy and celebrating her first race as a brain cancer survivor. This was the LA Marathon for pete’s sake. Running a marathon, in ANY outfit, deserves props in my book. Let alone the obstacles she endured in undergoing treatments.  To me, she IS Wonder Woman personified. She and her company, Glam Runner, even make those tutus and donate proceeds to Girls on the Run, an awesome charity which empowers young women. SELF would be wise to take a message from their playbook.

The editor of SELF has since apologized – in the modern way of course, which is to say she Tweeted a (very short) apology. While it may be sincere, there is something noticeably missing. They never apologized for being misleading about the intent of the use of the photo to begin with. As a former journalist, this makes me sick.

SELF says it would like to do a future article on Monika. Good luck with that.  They also say they will be donating to Girls on the Run. I plan to do the same. What about my fellow Shrinkers here at the Sisterhood? Won’t you join me? How about we  show Monika that there are women out there who actually do lift each other up and cheer each other on, tutu or no tutu, we wear the big gold-winged “W”, front and center.

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