Women's magazines - give us a break at Christmas

[feistyflora]

Hi Lexilou

No I haven't contacted them but perhaps I should! It's not just sad cancer stories though, I don't understand why some magazines are full of doom and gloom in general at Christmas. I enjoy the heart-warming articles such as "I found a new man under the mistletoe" or "look how happy my rescue dog looks now" but articles like "my nights of hell" or "the turkey gave me the squits" or "I was in agony and couldn't attend the Carol concert because my painful piles were the size of giant baubles" don't put me in the festive mood! Then, to add insult to injury, when they have made me feel thoroughly depressed I turn the page and notice that the heading says "Celebrate - it's Christmas"!!!!  It's thirsty work all this typing so I'm off to have a Snowball (the type that comes in a glass ).

[lexilou3]

Hey Fiesty lady,
Wish i had been there with you, i live coffee and cake and company. (My 3 c's but i flip the c word to any lovely uplifting one to suit the occassion)!
Have you contacted said publication to make them aware of your dismay at their brutal storytelling ?
much love from one who cares, cuddles and camps in your corner on this issue x x

[Jenifer]

I understand what you mean. It used to be cancer wasn't talked or written about very much but nowadays I think the whole thing has gone too far the other way.

[feistyflora]

I was sitting in a café having a coffee and a bun, enjoying a break from Christmas shopping (how wonderful it is to be fit enough to walk without feeling tired) and remembering how different it was last Christmas when I was bald, having chemotherapy and couldn’t eat properly. I opened my magazine in anticipation of a cheerful uplifting read, only to see a weepy story about someone who had died of breast cancer at Christmas. It completely ruined my upbeat mood. I wondered how on earth women who have only just found out that they have cancer, are due to begin their treatment in December and have posted that they are “scared” and “frightened" would feel if they happened to buy this magazine. I glanced at the end of the article hoping that I might read “but thankfully treatment is improving all the time and more and more women are now surviving breast cancer” but no, there were no words of comfort or reassurance at all. I felt so angry on behalf of users who are new to the forum and just about to begin their treatment in this ‘season of joy’ that I vowed that I would never buy that particular magazine again.