I expounded so much on one of my coulda-blogged ideas that it became a real, genuine blog post! I was writing about Judith Hanson Lasater's Letter to the Editor in Yoga Journal. Let's flashback to that post....
The latest copy of Yoga Journal (YJ) is noteworthy for a few reasons. It's the 35th anniversary issue of the magazine. There's a time line of the last 6000 years of yoga history outlined inside. Sarah McLachlan is on the cover in Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana. And, in the "Letters to the Editor" section, there's a letter from Judith Hanson Lasater (one of YJ's founders and a frequent contributor) expressing her concern about the advertisements featuring naked or half-naked women that have popped up with more frequency in YJ (check out Toesox ads if you want to see what the fuss is about).
Lasater writes, "These pictures do not teach the viewer about yoga practice or themselves. They aren’t even about the celebration of the beauty of the human body or the beauty of the poses, which I support. These ads are just about selling a product." She goes on to request that YJ stop running ads that exploit the sexuality of young women to sell ad space or magazines. (You can read more from her letter here.) As someone who considers herself a feminist and who would NEVER attend a naked yoga class, let me just say, "RIGHT ON, SISTER!"
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| Nude Toesox model Kathryn Budig, in clothes! |
AND then, I kept blogging:
So while looking to see if YJ had a link to this letter online (can't find one if they do), I came across this 35th Anniversary Cover Gallery, where one can look at every cover of YJ over the last 35 years and vote for best covers in four categories. I started perusing, thinking about the human form, particularly under-dressed (or revealingly dressed) young women. And I noticed some things.
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| OMG, LOOK AT HER BACK FAT! |
- First, before 1999, YJ didn't always feature a slender, spandex-wearing woman between the ages of 20 and 40 wearing in asana; illustrations and portraits of yoga teachers, noted psychologists and physicians, and spiritual teachers were just as, if not more, often featured on YJ's covers.
- Second, I don't think YJ has ever featured an overweight, heavy-set individual in asana on the cover (though the Hammer-style pants that the gal on the July 1983 cover did make me stop to pause). In fact, there aren't any pictures of pregnant women on any of the covers, which I was sort of shocked by, given the amount of special "health" issues (cancer, AIDS, depression) and "family" issues (midwives, spiritual parenting, masculinity and fatherhood).
- Third, the last male shown actually practicing yoga asanas on the YJ cover was on the April 2003 cover.
- Lastly, I noticed that that the last (& maybe only) person with visibly white hair featured actually practicing asana on the YJ cover was John Friend on the December 2002 cover.
You can draw your own conclusions about all that, but me? It upsets me. When I go to yoga class, yes, there are a good number of slim, younger women wearing tights and short tops. But there are also PLENTY of slim, older women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and up, with white hair galore. And there are certainly men, slim and young, slim and old (though the female to male ratio is still like 6:1). There are also women and men with big asses, thunder thighs, love handles, arm flab, and beer bellies. Plenty of that stuff on practitioners of all ages.
I just want to say that, although the asana practice of yoga IS hard and while many people who practice regularly do have awesome bodies, yoga is accessible for bodies of all shapes and sizes and ages; even the slimmest, prettiest young thing in class has her limitations, poses she can't do because her hamstrings are too tight or she has limited back mobility. There is a yoga class for everyone, even nudists.
Just keep your clothes on around me.
Ta-da! Namaste!
