Nudity, celebrity and women abuse:Marie Claire's 2009 ‘The Naked Issue’ edition

Abstract

The consumer magazine Marie Claire was publicly condemned for using a sensationalist approach in putting forth a case against women abuse in its 2009 'The Naked Issue' edition. In this edition a large section of the magazine was devoted to nude photographs of celebrities and their partners. The photographs were accompanied by text in which the celebrities openly spoke out against women abuse. Against this background, this article employs qualitative interviews to gain insight into readers' views on the use of nudity in a social developmental initiative such as the Marie Claire 2009 'The Naked Issue'. In the interviews a diverse range of responses were elicited about the use of nudity in a women's magazine in an effort to address a social developmental issue such as women abuse. These views were interpreted against the backdrop of the scholarly traditions of development communication and popular culture. It appears rather difficult to create awareness about a social development issue in a world saturated with mass-mediated messages, especially if the social development issue is a topic not often discussed publicly. Here it is argued that if women abuse is to be covered in a women's magazine, nudity might be acceptable to readers if the public image of the celebrity is congruent with the particular social cause, and if the use of nude celebrities appears to be justified. Interviewees gave a range of responses: some felt no congruence was evident, while others felt the use of nudity was justified. The latter category thought the photographs portrayed that celebrities and their partners had healthy relationships. Interviewees furthermore suggested that the 2009 Marie Claire efforts could have been linked to other campaigns with similar messages in South Africa. This view is in line with the development communication principle of a contextual understanding of social development problems.