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Nikki Kaye treated like a bruised apple

Thu, 20 May 2010

Question: What is National MP Nikki Kaye doing in the May issue of Next magazine?
Answer: Who the hell let her out of the kitchen in the first place?!

I’ve never been a Next magazine buyer – deeming it more the territory of Aunty Cassandra – but its May issue really stood out. Solid stories about ethical diamonds and 42 Below’s Justine Troy (who has a new book out, by the way), along with a witty piece by the august Deborah Hill Cone all boded well for a good read. It looks as if, with the talented Christina Sayers Wickstead at the helm, Next is really packing a new punch.

But its feature on National MP Nikki Kaye is a fly in the ointment. Ms Kaye, for the uninitiated, is Auckland Central’s first National MP at just 30 years old. A former head prefect at Corran School, she has a degree in genetics and has done everything from acting as vice-chair of the International Youth Democratic Union to serious multi-sport and knocking off a law degree in her spare time.

With a CV like that, it’s sad to see her subjected to the sort of treatment you’d expect in a 1950s finishing school. Given a makeover, she’s scolded over her aesthetic shortcomings like a bruised apple at the greengrocer. “No makeup,” one caption cries. “Hair needs shape and defining,” another caption reads decidedly. “Quite ‘nice’ ensemble, but skirt could sit on knee to flatter more,” claims another, employing the dreaded unnecessary quote marks. And finally: “Tut, tut. Too busy running country to have manicure.”

Well stap my vitals and slap me senseless with a fish stick. Did we accidentally hop into a time machine and land ourselves back in 1956? I can’t imagine, say, Labour’s Darren Hughes being subjected to similar scolding captions in the likes of M2 magazine.

Ms Kaye is taken out of her own outfits, given the hair and makeup treatment, and poured into a cocktail dress and an evening gown. Sure, she looks amazing. But there was nothing wrong with her appearance in the first place. She’s perfectly attractive and cuts a brilliant figure in her usual garb.

I’ll admit, even to make that statement is fundamentally wrong, for making an appearance-based judgment on a woman with a stacked CV like hers is just a crock.

The rub? The final verdict from the makeover fairy: “I said to her, you’ll be prime minister in 10 years if you keep dressing like that!”

It’s more likely she’ll be prime minister in 10 years if she ignores her aesthetic detractors and concentrates on the job at hand. Can you imagine a young John Key being told he’d be prime minister in 10 years if he would only get the “right” haircut and maybe put on a few coats of “manscara”? I'd say he's got better things to do.

Using appearance as a detractor is nothing new. The 70s were famous for it. “Few fully understood how thoroughly politically such focusing works,” wrote Naomi Wolf in The Beauty Myth. “In drawing attention to the physical characteristics of women leaders they can be dismissed as either too pretty or too ugly … [beauty] is required as proof that she does not mean anything too serious … to neutralize the achievement of the women involved.” It's sad that Next has bought into this.

On another note, year-on-year readership figures for magazines came out in Australia this week. The traditional glossies are suffering, with the likes of Cleo down 11.95%, Cosmopolitan down 4.05% and Notebook down 11.27%. In stark contrast to that, the health monthlies are doing very well. Women’s Health (which recently closed its New Zealand edition) is up 24.45%; Healthy Food Guide is up 18.90%; and Diabetic Living has increased 18.97%. Health is where it’s at, obvi.

The stats:
Next magazine, $7.80
Publisher: ACP
Editor: Christina Sayers Wickstead
IFC: L’Oreal (Schwarzkopf, Avon, Elizabeth Arden)
OBC: Elizabeth Arden
IBC: Lindt
DPS: $14,500
FP: $7,500
Circulation: 53,064
Readership: 371,000
44% socio 1-3 readers
51% female readers

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Nikki Kaye treated like a bruised apple
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