337 2015-16 | Page 30

A better body equals a better
after’ weight-loss narrativ
©Images copyright Slimming World and Weight Watchers magazines

There has been a shift in the
way in which women choose to
lose weight in recent years:
celebrity
endorsements
in
women’s magazines for ‘fad’
diets such as the Master
Cleanse Diet and the Baby Food
Diet have put immense pressure
on ordinary women to conform
to the standards of a society
obsessed with thinness. Many
cultures circulate the notion
that a woman who is thin is
the “ideal woman” and thus
“accepted by society” (Reese,
2008, p.4). With only five percent
of people who lose weight on
crash diets keeping the weight
off for longer than five years
(O’Meara, 2015), there are more
tried and tested methods of
losing weight; specifically,
slimming clubs.
Since their establishment in
the late 1960s, slimming clubs
such as Weight Watchers and
Slimming World have remained
incredibly popular worldwide
and their magazines have
remained a constant on the
shelves of British retailers.
Ostensibly, the aim of such
magazines is to act as a form
of support for those following
the diet. These magazines are
designed to support and inspire

slimmers. One way in which both
magazines do this is through
their real life sections, which
detail the body transformations
of real club members. A large
majority of the content in these
slimming magazines consists
of “before” and “after” weight
loss narratives. The focus is
not on celebrities, but on “real
life” people who have “won at
weight loss” (Slimming World,
Nov/Dec 2015, p.9). Thus, weight
loss with that particular diet
is attainable. Not only that,
subliminally it is necessary:
the terminology of “winning”
against weight conveys to
readers that this is a war in
which excessive weight cannot
be tolerated and women must
overcome it.
Susie Orbach, writer of Fat is
a Feminist Issue, argues that
companies like Weight Watchers
and their merchandise “sell you
the idea that your life will
become a whole lot better if you
join them" (Bearn, 2002). Orbach’s
claim leads to questions about
what else slimming magazines
sell to readers along with
their diets and presumed weight
loss. Such magazines often make
claims that through weight loss
you can have a better life, by
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