I've decided to give up my subscription to "O Magazine," Oprah's publication. I've been a loyal subscriber for about five years now, but I am about to let my subscription lapse. Even those last chance offers I am getting in the mail are not able to lure me back. It has become more of an "assignment" than a joy, for me.
Why? Well, let me tell you. I SHOULD be telling Oprah herself, but I guess I don't think she would "get it." She'd never get my email, either, I don't think.
It has to do with the "billowing shirt" that sells for only $350 and the "ruched dress" for $550 that appear in one recent edition. It's not just this one time. It's month after month that I've been reading price tags of the pictured clothes, so don't accuse me of "walking" because of a one-time happening. Oh sure, there is a cheap dress in that same article for only $18 at Walmart, to try to make me and others on a budget feel as if we belong in the clothing market promoted in "O," but I am not buyin' it!
I don't mean I am not buying the clothes. I am not buying the whole thing. Oprah Winfrey came from humble beginnings, and is, in fact, one of my favorite famous people. I admire her more than I can say. Her photo hangs on my classroom wall, along with a quote about doing her best to be successful. I watch her program religiously, and will truly miss coming home to her, once her last show is broadcast.
I know Oprah doesn't write the magazine, okay? I know she has people who do this for her. I guess I just feel that those people don't realize that readers are not going to rush out and spend the heat and water money on a "ruched dress" any time soon. I am sure that there is a woman somewhere who WOULD, of course, so I will eat my words here and now, but MOST of us are not going to do so.
Reality is what this magazine needs a dose of, I think. Those writers and clothing-selectors need to find out a little more about the subscribers. ASK us if we have a skirt that cost over $900..........(there was one in there recently.)
My husband tells me that these pricey clothes are in there so that "O" can have advertisers, and that is what pays for publishing the magazine. He's probably right. I just don't care, frankly.
I am going to receive my final issue of "O" in June. I will miss Dr. Oz's articles and the questions and answers to Dr. Phil. I will miss the uplifting messages telling me that I can achieve and succeed if I only believe in myself. I will miss finding out what Oprah "Knows for Sure." Maybe I've read enough of those messages, though, and I know some things for sure, myself.
I HAVE achieved and succeeded. I love myself. I am a work in progress, getting better each and every day! I know, for sure, that a hugely expensive dress is not necessary to make me who I am. Oprah knows that, too, I think.
................and even if I COULD spend $900 on a skirt, I WOULDN'T. I'd spend it on food, electricity, water, housing, transportation, books, travel, gifts for my family and friends, and still be able to donate something to benefit people who have NO clothes or food. (Besides, I can spill a cup of coffee just as easily on a $50 skirt as on a $900 one, thank you very much.)
I am not waiting for Oprah to call me, by the way. I know she won't even know I've left "O." But now YOU do, and you know WHY.
copyright: KP Gillenwater
