Jezebel: Redbook

Magazine Tells Moms To Lay Off Each Other Already

Erin Gloria Ryan — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:30:00 EST

Crisis alert: America's experiencing a wave of mom-on-mom judgment. Moms can't walk down the street without getting eyeballed and evaluated by other mothers, and they can't resist doing the same in turn to other moms they encounter. It's gotten so bad that soon we may be able to replace the word "judge" with the word "mom," used in this case as a verb meaning "to judge." Who's going to put a stop to it? More »

Jenna Fischer Shares Insider Info On Hollywood's Weight Obsession

Dodai Stewart — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:18:00 EST

The Office star Jenna Fischer is Redbook's March 2011 coverlady. In inside, Fischer zeroes in on why actresses feel so much pressure to stay in shape. More »

The Magazine That Refused To Put Kim Cattrall On Its Cover

Jenna Sauers — Thu, 20 May 2010 17:20:00 EDT

Earlier today, we learned that Kim Cattrall nixed a hackneyed cover-photo concept involving posing with a cougar — and that the magazine, which the actress calls "a significant magazine for women over 40," nixed her cover in response. More »

Tyra Turns To Fiction; Lady Gaga Will Take Your Questions Now

Jenna Sauers — Tue, 11 May 2010 11:30:00 EDT

Tyra Banks has signed a deal to write three YA novels that will marry modeling with Harry Potter — the protagonist having been accepted into an academy for "intoxibellas," or supermodels-in-training who "harbor unknown powers." What, no vampires? [Galleycat]

No Sex Please, We're Women's Magazines

Irin Carmon — Mon, 10 May 2010 18:20:00 EDT

It turns out that women's service magazines — what's left of the staid Seven Sisters — are rather, um, tight-lipped when it comes to sex, and advertisers like it that way. But the dirty Internet threatens this precious order. More »

The Annotated Guide To Making Faith Hill 'Hot'

Anna Holmes — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:00:00 EDT

Redbook has a photo editor named Bruce Perez so we are going to be reverse-sexist and, instead of the magazine's female creative director, blame him for the fact that Faith Hill looks very Carrie Underwood on the cover of Redbook. More »

Photoshop Of Horrors Hall Of Shame, 2000-2009

Dodai Stewart — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:00:00 EST

Slimmed thighs, whittled waists, smoothed skin: Digitally altered women were de rigueur in the 00s. There were many, many Photoshop Of Horrors images to choose from, but these are the 15 most egregious examples of image retouching in this decade. More »

Does Carl Jung Still Matter?

Anna North — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EDT

The upcoming publication of Carl Jung's Red Book — a record of his fantasies and hallucinations during a sort of breakdown — has excited Jungians the world over. But is Jung still relevant today? More »

Faith Hill's New Redbook Cover: Photoshopped Again!

Tracie Egan Morrissey — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:00:00 EDT

Redbook Cover: Photoshopped Again!" alt="Click here to read Faith Hill's New Redbook Cover: Photoshopped Again!" src="http://cache.jezebel.com/assets/images/39/2011/11/small_7b7ea6c1db31b7285a3f4ef629a5300c.jpg"/>

As reported yesterday, notorious Photoshop-victim Faith Hill is gracing a trio of Redbook covers... as Twiggy, Brigitte Bardot, & Grace Kelly. Unfortunately, the mock-ups have no cover lines, so we added some electronic magic ourselves. More »

Faith Hill Lets Redbook Alter Her Again

Dodai Stewart — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 09:45:00 EDT

Redbook Alter Her Again" alt="Click here to read Faith Hill Lets Redbook Alter Her Again" src="http://cache.jezebel.com/assets/images/39/2011/11/small_2d96c39847131850e89664083aea6165.jpg"/>

How did Redbook get Faith Hill back after that Photoshop of Horrors cover we unveiled (which Redbook's EIC called not a photo but an image)? They let her pose as other women. [WWD, People] More »

Alert: Ladymags Down

Dodai Stewart — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:45:00 EST

O, The Oprah Magazine; Redbook; Teen Vogue; Glamour; Harper's Bazaar; W; Marie Claire, and Allure all reported double-digit declines in the second half of 2008. Which will survive 2009? [WWD] More »

Top 10 Of 2008: Carrie Bradshaw, Cute Animals, & Creeps

Maria — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:00:00 EST

It's that time: The Jezebel Top 10 of 2008 list. Inside: Celebs, Photoshop, Obama, Real Housewives, dating, Sex and the City, fashion, breastfeeding, and animals. Sounds good to us! The full list, after the jump. More »

Yes, On Our Blog You Will

Anna Holmes — Mon, 05 May 2008 13:00:00 EDT

You probably heard, but the NY Times' 'Sunday Styles' section was chock-full of goodies this weekend. There was that surprisingly-unannoying 'Modern Love' column (gem of a passage: "As we ate, we theorized about the effects of pornography on romantic relationships. Dinner ended; he had to go pack for his trip. I asked casually when I was going to see him again. He sighed. "That's a loaded question." I asked what he meant, because I thought the question was fairly straightforward"); a story about the "branding" of Burma/Myanmar; and dozens of weddings. (So many weddings. Including one starring a Rockefeller!) More »

The New York Observer's "Off the Record"...

Jessica G. — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:45:00 EST

The New York Observer's "Off the Record" media column asked some of the editors of the so-called "seven sisters" magazines — which include Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, Good Housekeeping and Woman's Day — whether or not they would endorse Hillary Clinton, since they have always had a cozy relationship with First Ladies. The answer from every editor was a resounding NO. Woman's Day EIC Jane Chesnutt told the Observer's John Koblin, "We go to press with our November issue before the conventions are even held. So to endorse anyone is, you see — even if you assume the candidate is set — a physical impossibility." Chesnutt then added, "I have to say that I don't sense this monolithic support for her among women." [Observer] More »

Dear Huffington Post media critic Rachel...

Anna Holmes — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 11:45:00 EST

Dear Huffington Post media critic Rachel Sklar: Thanks! We love you too! Dear Folio writer Dylan Stableford: What? No mention of Redbook's Photoshop chop of Faith Hill in your Year In Magazines feature? (Fuck InTouch.) Dude, we made the Today Show! What about the black hair controversy that had Glamour editor-in-chief Cindi Leive organizing an entire event as reparation? Nothing on that? Maybe you need to start reading the ladymags more; or, at the very least, Jezebel. [Huffington Post, Folio] More »

There's a video on Advertising Age about...

Moe — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 14:45:00 EDT

There's a video on Advertising Age about BLOGS STEALING CONTENT from magazines and OMG HOW THE MAGAZINES ARE GOING TO SURVIVE OUR PITILESS ASSAULT ON THEIR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY and you don't really need to watch the video because I can sum it up thusly: many magazines simply do not deserve to exist. Seriously, when I came to work for this blog I was like "Anna, the cool thing about this is, whereas it was actually a little painful for me to see newspaper content repurposed so relentlessly on blogs that they couldn't make any money on the internet and had to lay off all the reporters not in charge of covering gruesome crime/heroic dogs, we could kill women's magazines entirely and I would not feel ONE TWINGE of remorse!" Anyway the video brings up that unretouched Redbook cover with Faith Hill that we ran a few months back, which is ironic since it's not like they were doing anything with it, which gave us a great idea! Why don't magazines just make back all the ad revenue we're stealing running the before/after photoshop jobs on their websites? And they could make a branded reality show about the photo department. Like Six Feet Under meets The Hills! Do it before Harvey Levin "steals" the idea first! [Ad Age] More »

Fascism And Communism Are Bad For Fucking

Moe — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:43:10 EDT

Russia is full of cheap vodka and girls who look like Natalia Vodianova so fuck if I can understand why they need Hitler Youth type sex camps to get laid. This is fresh on the heels of the condom industry's discovery that the average Chinese loses his or her virginity at 22, so maybe it's a creeping sphere-of-influence thing. Anyway, Vladimir Putin is behind a scary new eugenics-y sex campaign because no one in his increasingly facist country is procreating, which reminded us that scary ideology is not sexy, even when it is being worn by Cameron Diaz, which is why we're using her as our picture, because we think it would be nice if you agreed with us and also, that "The Revolution Will Be Accessorized" is the most obnoxious tag line ever. More »

Dear Haters: Everyone Has Cellulite. We Consulted Our Ass

Moe — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 13:07:54 EDT

Dear Ad Age media critic Simon Dumenco, More »

Faith Hill To Fan: Hands Off My Man's Junk!

Tracie Egan Morrissey — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 12:30:09 EDT

Like 'Redbook', L'Oréal Loves The Phrase 'Industry Standards'

Jennifer — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:00:11 EDT

Okay boys and girls, what do we do when we hear the ~~word~~ phrase of the day? We scream REAL loud!

Until now, regulators have voiced few objections to the use of cosmetic fakery in advertisements, and the techniques used by L'Oréal are standard in the industry.

[screaming] Yup, this latest bout of gross rationalization vis-a-vis a little "industry standards" is in regards to the outing of L'Oreal for using fake eyelashes in a mascara commercial featuring Penelope Cruz. But the advertising community is having none of industry regulators' scorn. More »

Aspiring To Anorexia

Jennifer — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 12:55:46 EDT

Uh, remember that little segment on the Today show yesterday? Something having to do with, oh, women and body image and magazines that do brutal retouching jobs on their cover subjects thus inspiring self-hatred and impossible standards of beauty — all in the name of "industry standards"? Yeah, we caught that segment too! And remember how Men's Health editor David Zinczenko and that psychologist kept saying that it's totally okay that magazines do this, because everyone knows that said magazines are "aspirational"? Well the word 'aspirational' is only two letters removed from 'inspirational', Mr. Zinczenko, especially with regards to young girls. More »

That Faith Hill Photo Wasn't Actually A Photo, 'Redbook' Editor Explains

Moe — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 14:23:25 EDT

This morning the Today show aired a segment on how we "uncovered" that un-retouched Redbook cover photograph of Faith Hill and milked it so relentlessly we would be ashamed to even post this clip if not for the awesome explanation of Redbook editor-in-chief Stacy Morrison, who explains to the show: "In the end, they're not really photographs. They're images." Um, yeah, images taken by photographers using cameras with photographic lenses! Well, forget Stacy, even longtime "aspirationalism" fetishist David Zinczenko of Men's Health tells the show he thinks it was morally wrong what those cruel people did to poor Faith Hill's arm, in this clip featuring Kate Winslet, numerous rain-soaked tourists from Laredo and our very own Anna Holmes, who surfs the internet and talks without saying "like" in this powerful feature on... um, thought there was a way we could get through this post without the phrase "unattainable beauty standards perpetuated by the media"? Wrong again! More »

'Redbook' & Faith Hill: Different Day, Same 'Ol Story

Anna Holmes — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:10:48 EDT

For those of you arriving at Jezebel for the first time (thanks to a little morning program called The Today Show) and wanting to learn more about our coverage of Redbook magazine and its airbrushing of country singer Faith Hill, your first stop should be our original item. After that, consider checking out our 'annotated guide' to exactly what Redbook airbrushed out of the original picture; why we're pissed that stuff like this goes on; and a reader-created cover of Redbook with the unretouched image of Faith Hill. We think you'll agree she looks absolutely beautiful as is... laugh lines, crow's feet and all. More »

The Week You Gave Us 'Faith' In The Internets

Jennifer — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 19:02:49 EDT

We never expected the outcry that ensued after More »

Keira Knightley: Just Like Us?

Anna Holmes — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 11:10:32 EDT

For those of you who've always wanted to see Keira Knightley, Jennifer Aniston or Jennifer Lopez with about 30+ pounds added to their frames, it's your lucky day! The Photoshopping experts at PlanetHiltron.com have done the opposite of Redbook and given some of today's biggest boldfaced names "normal" makeovers, which, More »

The 'Redbook' You Should Have Seen On Newsstands

Moe — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 14:55:07 EDT

[Cover composite created by Carlton Swift]
More »

Our Commenters: Is There Not A Newt Gingrich Amongst You All?

Jennifer — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:22:21 EDT

One of the best ("best" = soul-wrenching!) parts about working on Jezebel is reading what Jezebel readers have to say back. So we were practically drawing straws for the chance to wade through your thoughts on our decision to pay $10,000 so we could run an un-retouched Redbook cover featuring Faith Hill. (Yup, Baby Spice "won" this assignment!) We braced ourselves for who among you would meet us, as Women's Wear Daily did, with contempt and disapproval that we would undermine "one of the few venues where celebrities are spared the warts and all coverage of the tabloid age." But none of you did! Nice ethics, bitches! Anyway, what your observations taught us about anatomy, Victoria Beckham, back fat, and Photoshop, after the jump. More »

Soldiers, Not Just Celebrities, Get Sanitized Too

Jennifer — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 15:30:36 EDT

Our friends over at the Huffington Post caught word of our little contest and made mention of it to their readers, who had the following to say:

Now if there was just a way to photoshop the Iraq war, or New Orleans, or healthcare...

And then:

There is... it's called Fox News.

Our own readers' thoughts on the Photoshopping debacle — rife with further provocation of a very different nature — later today! More »

Dear Mssrs. Klein, Zucker, Moonves, And Oh Yeah, Ailes: About That Faith Hill Picture

Anna Holmes — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 14:25:41 EDT

Are you a representative of a nationally-recognized media outlet looking to hear more about our Redbook/Faith Hill story? A representative of a not-so-nationally recognized media outlet? Or just, you know, a Representative? (We love Barney Frank!) Doesn't matter! If you want quotes, images or what have you from our end, there's an easy way to get in touch with us: Email. Try us at press@jezebel.com. And yes, our (male) bosses made us do it. Proof that the patriarchy is alive and well! More »

Faith Hill's 'Redbook' Photoshop Chop: Why We're Pissed

Anna Holmes — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 11:30:00 EDT

Imagine a scenario in which a powerful, self-made, self-possessed woman deigns to follow the orders of a much-less powerful, egomaniacal foreigner and crash-diets herself to aesthetic "acceptability" so she can appear on the cover of an American magazine available to the public for, at most, 4 weeks. That scenario is exactly what happened when Oprah Winfrey was asked — and agreed — to appear on the cover of Vogue's October 1998 issue. As the story goes, Winfrey spent months whittling herself to Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour's exacting standards so that she would look acceptable in a Steven Meisel-photograph for the cover. "If you want to be on the cover of Vogue and Anna Wintour says you have to be down to 150lbs - that's what you gotta do," Winfrey told the BBC, adding, tellingly, "I didn't think for one moment 'Now I am going to be a Vogue model' nor even did I think I could hold that weight." More »

Harper's Is Bizarre; H&M Is Where We Shop

Jennifer — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 10:20:52 EDT

Harper's Bazaar editor-in-chief Glenda Bailey is appearing as a Simpsons character in the magazine's August issue. No, see, it makes sense because of the eight-page Simpsons fashion spread! [WWD, 1st item]

Responding To 'Redbook''s Cover Lines

Anna Holmes — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 17:40:48 EDT

We decided to craft a little (and admittedly throwaway!) response to Redbook's diet-and-image obsessed July 2007 cover, in light of, well, our earlier post! Check it out after the jump. Have any of your own you want to share with us? Email us, or put 'em in the comments. More »

The Annotated Guide To Making Faith Hill 'Hot'

Moe — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 17:01:56 EDT

Redbook happens to have a photo editor named Bruce Perez so we are going to be reverse-sexist and, instead of the magazine's female creative director, blame him for the fact that Faith Hill looks sooooo very Carrie Underwood on the cover of Redbook. We don't know Bruce, but here's what we imagine he told the underling charged with this Photoshop task... after the jump. More »

We Hope We Don't Destroy Faith Hill's Chances With This Gentleman

Anna Holmes — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 16:15:28 EDT

Faith Hill In July Redbook Magazine [Superior Pics Celebrity Forums] More »

'Redbook' Tells Readers To Love Their Obese, Cancer-Stricken, Tragic Financially-Strapped Lives

Moe — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:08:20 EDT

The new mantra over at the just-redesigned Redbook magazine is "Love Your Life" or alternately, "I love my _____ life," which is such an obvious invitation for us to use the word "fucking" we figured editor Stacy Morrison was slyly suggesting we pick up the July issue of the magazine. But after reading about a woman whose husband hid $1 million in company debt from her, a woman who got a tattoo to commemorate her dead daughter's sixth birthday, and a bunch of women who couldn't afford insurance anymore after getting cancer, we have to agree (no slyness about it!) I Love My Goddamn Insolent, Indulgent, Sedentary Irresponsible Life. This magazine is so depressing you'd think they'd dropped "aspirational" from all their advertising materials. It actually reminds me of the time we were brainstorming over names to call this site, and Lock suggested "Dreamhater" as a joke, and I thought it was perfect, but I didn't know what the fuck I was talking about because I have never read a glossy magazine so utterly grounded in the very cruel radiance of what is. More »

Will 'Redbook' Blogger Trade Anal For Home Furnishings?

Moe — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 17:54:05 EDT

We've heard Redbook Magazine is trying to reach out to younger readers. In a development that has succeeded in wooing at least one of those, they have replaced their last blogger, "Sex And The Single Mom"'s Emily Listfield, with the real-but-anonymous "Jane," who is married but, er, just ever-so-slightly more forthcoming about her bedside manner. As she herself points out, "all the wine, Pilates, and little bits of Xanax I scrounge from my friends cannot free me from my stress like a big O can." Don't we know how it is! But she's not hopping into everything: More »

'Marie Claire' Makes Us An Offer We Can Totally Refuse

Moe — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 17:21:08 EDT

The July issue of Marie Claire — perhaps because it is the magazine for slightly-older, more cerebral "smart girls"? — suggests women make videotapes of themselves having sex... so they can have an expert, uh, ANALYZE them. The service, laughably, costs around $100 — it's kind of like the opposite of being paid a small stipend for one's amateur porn skills! — but, seriously, would anyone actually DO this? More »

Mary J. Blige Continues Milking Her Marriage For Attention, Gives Herself Family-Friendly New Look

Anna Holmes — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 14:35:10 EDT

Did you hear? Mary J. Blige's marriage to record producer Kendu Isaacs saved her from a legacy of rage, resentment, and self-destruction. Of course, that's the softer, gentler, feature-friendly image that onetime wild-child Mary J. has been pushing (and pushing!) in interviews and acceptance speeches over the past few years. But lest you still think of Mary J. as more hardcore hip-hop singer than hardcore housewife, just take a look at the new issue of domestic-goddess mag Redbook. (Mary J. Blige? In Redbook? Yeah, weird.) Apparently, Mary J. "requested" that the magazine's editors airbrush her tattoos for her cover image on the May issue. Gone from her famously-toned bod: "a cross on her left arm and her name in English script letters on the other," reports WWD. More »

Vagina Monoblogs: Alyssa Shelasky Not Only A Bad Writer, She Also Has Bad Taste In Writing!

Moe — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:05:31 EDT

Alyssa Shelasky, to whom we will heretofore refer as Real Estate Mogul Alyssa Shelasky since she is no longer really a dating blogger since she does not actually ever blog about dating, excerpts this new book by the frigtards behind Collegehumor and she quotes her favorite lines:
People will generally be happy with free booze and snacks, no matter how they taste. Unless you give them all food poisoning, then you're on your own.
Fucking LOL!

Redbook: Bringing Back Gross

Moe — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 12:32:35 EST

One tiff we've had with the otherwise unimpeachable JT is that we never really thought "sexy" needed bringing back. We were pretty sure that of all human virtues, "sexy" was kinda low on the whole "What the World Needs Now" list. But we digress. Today we're celebrating a new bringer back of a trait we think needed bringing back EVEN MORE than sexy. And that would be: Gross. Haha! Kidding, of course. Gross is very much a part of the zeitgeist, as we addressed with yesterday's post on trends in fine art, and we love that Redbook is becoming the first of the married lady mags to embrace it wholeheartedly, if this story about how to revive your sex life is any indication. More »