Magazine Cover of the Week: New York Goes Behind the Candelabra.

While it may be “An Issue About Television”, this week New York magazine is all about the made-for-TV movie, Behind the Candelabra, based on the autobiographical novel of the same name about Liberace’s relationship with a much younger man, played in the HBO film by Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, respectively. 

It’s interesting to note that the subject matter of the film was deemed too risque for movie theatre audiences, so it was shopped around the TV networks until boundary pushing HBO snapped it up. I’m loving Michael Douglas’ androgynous look on the cover, and I can’t wait to see the film.

Image via ExtraTV.

Magazine Cover of the Week: Gwyneth Paltrow is People’s Most Beautiful Woman.

Something changed about Gwyneth Paltrow in the week between being named Star magazine’s most annoying celebrity and People‘s Most Beautiful… At least, the public perception of her has.

Transforming from uptight, cookbook evangelist and Goop editor to knickerless, boundary-pushing *Iron Man 3 spoiler alert* superheroine.

While I’ve never been one for Gwynnie, her media appearances of late have been rather personable and, dare I say it…?, likeable.

Elsewhere: [Daily Life] Gwyneth Paltrow Tops Irritating Celebs List.

[Daily Life] Look of the Day.

[Daily Life] Is Gwyneth’s Goop Sexualising Girls?

[TheVine] In Defence of Gwyneth Paltrow.

[Musings of an Inappropriate Woman] The Gwyneth in My Head.

Image via HuffPo.

Magazine Cover of the Week: Malala Yousafzai Exerts Her Influence.

She arguably should have been crowned Time‘s Person of Year in 2012, but Pakistani girls’ education activist Malala Yousafzai has taken her rightful position as one of the magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2013, along with other cover stars Jay-Z, Jennifer Lawrence and Rand Paul. I haven’t had a chance to crack open my copy yet—one of my most anticipated issues of the year—but I’m excited to see who else they name as the tastemakers and influencers of the year ahead.

Related: Magazine Cover of the Year.

Image via Facebook.

Magazine Cover of the Week: Emma Watson Goes From Pretty Woman to Pretty Wild.

Despite the tired Pretty Woman get-up Emma Watson’s sporting on the cover of GQ I’m quite intrigued to see her play a fictionalised version of Alexis Neiers, the former star of reality show Pretty Wild and the ringleader of “the bling ring”, a group of teenagers who stole millions of dollars worth of designer clothes and jewellery from the Hollywood homes of celebrities, in Sofia Coppola’s film about the events, The Bling Ring.

While I’ve only seen Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides (and even then, I was quite young and can barely remember any of it), I’ll be interested to see how she portrays the debauched entitlement of rich L.A. kids, and I guess that’s what the somewhat misguided GQ cover is trying to tap into: from ’90s prostitution to covert burglary missions, Hollywood’s come a long way baby…

Image via HuffPo.

Magazine Cover of the Week: Sunday Life & Style Rookie.

When Tavi Gevinson first came on the scene as the 12-year-old blogger at Style Rookie I thought she was a bit overrated and pretentious, what with her pink rinse and grandma-esque style.

But fast forward four years and she’s a writer and feminist after my own heart at online mag Rookie marketed to teen girls but encompassing a much broader audience.

While this isn’t the greatest Tavi profile out there, I’m loving the cover and seeing her get some more mainstream exposure now that she’s transformed from clotheshorse to perhaps “the voice of her generation”, to borrow a line from Lena Dunham.

Image via Facebook.

Magazine Cover of the Week: Obama’s in Vogue.

It’s kind of a boring cover (though is American Vogue really that well known for its groundbreaking covers?) and, at the risk of sounding blasphemous, I’m not FLOTUS’ biggest fan, but seeing a strong, black woman that isn’t Beyonce gracing the cover of one of the most influential magazines in the world is nothing to scoff at.

Image via Business Insider.

Magazine Cover of the Week: AnOther Cultural Appropriation Controversy.

AnOther day, AnOther magazine cover/fashion line/TV show/Halloween costume appropriating Native American culture.

British fashion mag, AnOther, is the latest culprit, dressing Michelle Williams up in a headdress, wig and braids. There’s been a lot of controversy over labelling the cover a demonstration of “red face”, when the image is in black and white so it’s unclear whether Williams’ skin colour has been altered.

To me, that’s by the by; as Sherri Shepherd said on Wednesday’s episode of The View, if a community of people (in this case, Native American people) are coming out to say they find the image offensive, then it probably is, regardless of whether white people are crying ”politcal correctness” or not.

Image via CocoPerez.

Magazine Cover of the Week: Why You Gotta Be So Mean to Taylor Swift?

I find it so rich that Taylor Swift to cries sexism in the latest issue of Vanity Fair, which she also covers, over her portrayal in the media, not to mention going after famed feminists Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

Swift is the orchestrator of her own image as a virginal victim, so if anyone’s to blame for her coming across as “some clingy, insane, desperate girlfriend in need of making you marry her and have kids with her”, it’s you, TayTay. You do nothing to further the plight of women as anything but “clingy, insane and desperate”, so don’t try to use sexism to your advantage now when you’ve clearly stated you’re not a feminist.

And as for Fey and Poehler’s comments about her staying away from Michael J. Fox’s son at the Golden Globes, Swift says “there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women”, borrowing from Katie Couric who was borrowing from Madeleine Albright. Again, you don’t help other women by portraying them as anything other than victims or sluts who steal boyfriends and not identifying as a feminist. While I have my own problems with Fey’s alleged feminism, you’re barking up the wrong tree here, Taylor.

Related: Taylor Swift—The Perfect Victim.

Why is Feminism Still a Dirty Word?

Image via Celebitchy.

Magazine Cover of the Week: Kim Kardashian & Privacy.

Recently, Kim Kardashian said the takeaway she gets from her relationship with Kanye West is a newfound respect for privacy… Then comes this cover of L’Officiel Hommes in which her and Kanye look to be in the throes of lovemaking. I’m sure this cover was shot and its release set in stone months ago, so I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt on that one, but it does echo Kim’s proclamation a few years ago that she was done with nudity, but then posed in nothing but silver body paint for W‘s art issue. Well, if it’s art…

Image via Fashion Loving.

Magazine Cover of the Week: Beyonce’s a Gentlewoman.

2013 is shaping up to be the year of Beyonce. We’re not even three months in and she’s already had a lip syncing scandal at the Presidential inauguration, performed in the SuperBowl halftime show, had a Destiny’s Child reunion, been named the sexiest woman of the century and, most recently, last weekend had a doco air on HBO. Phew!

I’m already starting to get a bit sick of her…

Related: Beyonce Named Sexiest Woman of the Century.

Image via That Grape Juice.