Power, Corrupted

[captainsblog]

The Buffalo News hasn't has its own Sunday paper magazine section for years; every week, they carry the nationally syndicated edition of Pomade (as I've always called it since the National Lampoon made that the name of  the magazine in its Sunday newspaper parody); and every month or so, they include a high-production-value glossy thingy called Buffalo magazine. It comes free to our home with the Sunday paper when it comes out, although you can buy it separately at newsstands near you for almost twice the entire Sunday paper cover price.  It's clearly an attempt to compete with Buffalo Spree, another high-end-oriented glossy mostly-monthly that's been part of local media for years. And there's a key disclaimer on the Buffalo masthead:

This magazine was prepared by the Marketing Department of The Buffalo News. The Editorial Department of The Buffalo News was not involved in its production.

This month's issue contains some things I like. My trainer is featured in a prominent article about her recent years of transformation and dedication in the world of fitness, and the article, written  by a local freelancer, is a well-written explanation of the commitment that Sally has made.  And that's great.

Also in the magazine is a piece titled "Six local powerhouses tell all." It profiles six women who have excelled due to their own accomplishments, and intelligence, and attitudes- from a city deputy mayor, to a senior executive at the biggest local hospital chain, to the CEO of a business focusing on environmental sustainability, to.... well, three others with similar resumes based on what they've done and why they're good at it.  And that's also great.

What's not so great, though? Is the face of "Women and power" that leads off all of these great stories, on the cover o f this magazine in the Sunday supplements and on the newsstands of Western New York this weekend:



That's not Sally, nor is it one of the six experienced and committed women profiled elsewhere in its pages. No, it's a Barbie doll of a marketing myth that positively irritates me.  It's clearly implied to be a lawyer, from the musty Federal Supplement bound volumes behind her (and the "photo shoot" was shot at the offices of one of Buffalo's oldest and largest law firms, duly credited on the masthead), but it's actually a model. A model in a leather skirt and suit jacket, adjusting her glasses in a 2014 update of the "sexy librarian" trope that's been a part of men's quasi-porn since the True Detective serials of the 1940s. (A fuller shot with the article itself reveals that skirt to half a slit halfway up the thigh, and with Ivanka Trump gladiator heels  to "finish the look.")

That is not how I view the lawyers of that gender who I encounter, and respect, each and every day. They "ponder" their "power" by being smart, and considerate, and dressing for the weather rather than for whatever THIS model is dressing for.  They, not this model, are the role model for the young women in both of my offices, who deserve better than whatever THIS grrl is selling.

So read and enjoy the pieces about the women who made it based on who they are, and on what they've done, rather than on what they're wearing or how they're posed.

Comments

Thanks for the Buffalo blogging

[fiddlingfrog.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your observations about events in and around Buffalo. It's a part of the story I never hear when I talk to my parents.

Re: Thanks for the Buffalo blogging

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I try:)

[audacian.livejournal.com]

Blarf.

[oxymoron67.livejournal.com]

That outfit is hideous.

Also, yes, that isn't professional attire... and... oh, you said it all so well.

[warriorsavant.livejournal.com]

Dang. Now there you go, destroying all my X-rated fantasies about lawyers. I did think they ALL looked like that (and you were the male equivalent).