Think twice before you buy the 99 cent gossip magazine staring at you from the checkout lane. I'll admit, sometimes I'll rifle through if the story grabs my attention, or if an actor I love has an interview. However, each time I decide to glance through, I'm always frustrated and disgusted with humanity.

Most of the magazine is just after page of low blows, cruel assumptions, and childish mockery. Lists upon lists compare celebrities to each other, "Who is prettier?" or "Who wore it better?" so much so that the celebrities become enigmas: people who the public deems unpeople. Enough is enough.

Just because someone is in "The public eye" does not give "the public" the right to bully, torment, and harass people.

People with feelings.

Sensitive people.

Actors are sensitive, and the argument, "Well if she didn't want this level of scrutiny, then she shouldn't have been in that movie," is a victim-blaming, selfish answer. Ask yourself: would you be okay if your photos and persona were manipulated? Would you be okay if those articles and lists about you spread lies and unwanted ideas about yourself that you have no control over?

The answer is no. Celebrities don't deserve to be racked through the mud just because you may like to watch it. Tabloids and gossip magazines will still sell as long as curious and sometimes vindictive people buy them.

In order to buy them, the publishers, and gossip writers have come up with a special algorithm: cruelty + money = funny.

I don't consider most tabloid writers to be journalists, rather I think of them as slander artists. Being a bitch is an art that is easily pathetic. These "writers" sit in a semi-circle and view people as objects to play with, and when they are done they don't hesitate to destroy a person's reputation. Twelve men wearing clip-on ties and mismatched socks will discuss fashion don'ts. The whole industry is rife with hypocrisy and sensationalism. Everything they write is not out of the goodness of their hearts, rather the thickness of their wallets.

1. They pry, humiliate, expose, and judge peoples private lives.

My photo

My photo

2. They mock, belittle, degrade, and smear people's (especially women's) bodies.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BktLtgYnHUe/?hl=en

My photo

Notice the differeance in wording and acceptance during crisitisicms of male versus female bodies...My photo

No one is safe from body policing.My photo

They create unrealistic expectations based on Photoshop, Personal trainers, and Media pressure.

They also either elevate or condemn women and men based on any weight gain or loss. If someone gets too skinny, they are "worried" about a possible eating disorder. When a woman gains weight (baby weight or not) they shame them into said eating disorder.

https://instagram.com/p/Bk6CLOAD0TV/

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bj9uMDulP0a/?hl=en

3. They pit people against one another, promote hatefulness and jealousy, and make unfair moral and social judgments.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_(magazine)

Why do they need to pick a “winner"?My photo

My photo

4. They spread lies!

https://instagram.com/p/Blg0Fq9gA_b/

https://instagram.com/p/BgubOcpH5Sv/

At the end of the day, we have a choice. We can choose to buy these magazines and in doing so exploit and encourage cruelty — or we can say somthing, and do somthing. Don't purchase the magazine. Email the editors and creators. Post about it. Let it be known that we are not okay with the state of things.ok

Media can and does shift according to public opinion, and if public opinion screams “NO MORE!" they usually listen.

#Boycott toxic tabloids today.