While standing in line at Barnes and Noble the other day, I glanced around and noticed Jessica Alba, looking stunning as usual, on the cover of a magazine. Then I noticed that it wasn’t the usual Allure or Cosmopolitan, but Forbes.
Highlighting “America’s Richest Self-Made Women,” the magazine chose Alba, who founded the Honest Company, for its cover. So while I hate to go on the same old tired, clichéd, feminist rant, the cover bothers me. Jessica Alba is beautiful, in fact I think she might still be my husband’s favorite celebrity girl (his freebie, if you will). But with the article focusing on her accomplishments as a businesswoman, why is her cleavage front and center? I’m not saying we should put a paper bag over her head and hide her body in a burka, but I have yet to see a man on the cover of Forbes with his shirt off, or mostly unbuttoned, or “sexed up” at all.
To check my theory, I did a Google Image search of Forbes covers and here is what I saw:
It’s a lot of men in suits. I scrolled for a while and found another woman on the cover.
I kept looking and found a handful of covers with women in suits, but … yeah I’m annoyed.
Jessica Alba’s company is focused on safe products for our children and families, and that magazine cover says something pretty different. Does it bother you? Am I overreacting and being a prude?
The Reluctant Long Islander 
No, you are wrong…Forbes Magazine once had a cover photo of Steve Jobs with some of his scrotum showing…so they objectify both men and women.
Really, the problem is multifarious. Mostly because I just wanted a chance to use that word. Start with no one really needing to see her cleavage–other than the fact that it will help sell magazines. Then figure that the term “self-made” is just propaganda–no one is self-made…we all had help getting where we are…and Jessica could very well be just the image of the company with other people doing all the real work, and the article is just one big advertisment for whatever companies are listed. They probably had to place ads in whatever other magazines Forbes owns to be included on that list.
Anyway, what do you expect from a magazine founded by Malcolm Forbes, one of the biggest freaks in human history. The guy made Hugh Heffner look like Mother Theresa.