Dear Maxim Magazine Editor (circa 2008),
I realize this advice is somewhat belated, however, I didn’t write this advice column in 2008 and though it is now 2024, I still think this advice is relevant, so here you go. I was reminded of the need for this issue when a read a post that mentioned seeing the inimitable, Sarah Jessica Parker (“SJP”) in passing on the way to laundromat. Please enjoy that post here.
When I read this post, I was reminded of SJP’s heyday. It was around 2008 and Sex and the City was huge and everyone, yes everyone, knew exactly who SJP was. Having curly hair and being around the same age myself I used to get stopped all the time and asked if I had ever been told that I looked like SJP (or more frequently that girl on Sex and the City). It happened so often I started to think I knew what it would be like to be famous and recognized in public. I mean, quite literally, people would stop and stare. For a while, I contemplated ways to monetize my look-a-like status. I mean I had the look but the not the rest and I thought frequently about what it meant to be a look-a-like. And there are some great look-a-like stories out there. For example:
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (AKA Elaine) “Look-A-Like”
I quite enjoyed SJP’s fame vicariously or, more accurately, Carrie Bradshaw’s. I wanted to be writing a column, living in New York and enjoying female friends while at the same time dating Mr. Big. I went so far as musing over whether I should start giving away autographs and booking speaking engagements.
But then, Dear Maxim Magazine Editor (circa 2008) you publish this drivel: Maxim Names Sarah Jessica Parker Unsexiest Woman Alive
Oh, for shame! For shame! For shame! How could you allow that article to be published! I may have been angrier than SJP herself!! How dare you impugn her good name, looks and talent. And what an incredibly nasty headline!! Engaging in mean girl tactics to sell magazines seems to me to be beyond the pale. Besides, maybe you’re not aware, but she is married to the most free-wheeling, school skipper, Mr. Ferris Bueller himself (well, Matthew Broderick but I’m sure he’s fun too) and I’m sure he begs to differ with your narrow minded and mean-spirited article.
The real issue though, is this: there’s an overall bigger problem here! Aren’t there other ways to write about woman without insulting them?! Not encouraging them to tear each other down by ranking each other according to a subjective, superficial and shallow standard! Is there nothing else that you could think of to write about to sell magazines? As Carrie Bradshaw herself once said:
But so what? Who cares? There’s more to life than perfect hair, and:
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” – Ferris Bueller
So please, take my advice: no more mean girl articles! We’ve had enough!
So Let it Be Written, So Let it Be Done,
Felicia
I could not agree with you more!