Hands up who cares about Margie Abbott’s weight?
Margie Abbott fascinates me. In interviews I’ve found her to be articulate, warm and full of empathy. She’s the type of woman I’d like to sit next to at a dinner because there are 100 things I’d like to ask her. And none of them have to do with how much Margie Abbott, wife of our Prime Minister, weighs.
From Margie Abbott: ‘Tony doesn’t have a problem with women.’
Which is why I found it ‘jarring’ when on my Facebook feed yesterday I saw this:
What the what?
“How Maggie Abbott lost 20 kilograms”?
Let’s be clear. This is not a slap down of the Australian Woman’s Weekly. That’d make me a hypocrite. I BUY the Weekly. I’m a fan. And not least because they’re bold enough to put women like Rosie Batty on the magazine’s April cover.
BUT. The other cover line.
This is how magazines think they’ll sell me a story on Margie Abbott?
It’s a rare-as-hens’-teeth, in-depth interview with Australia’s First Lady and it’s hooked on her weight-loss? Do we really think her WEIGHT is the most interesting thing about her?
I will now confess to the fact that I’ve haven’t read the whole article. I can’t. The April edition of the AWW isn’t out until tomorrow. But I don’t need to. The extract on the AWW website tells me the “wide-ranging” interview covers Margie’s thoughts on Peta Credlin, her struggles with being Australia’s “First Lady”, her feelings on the prospect of the Prime Minister being turfed from office, how Margie met Tony, their first date and the night he proposed. I’m assuming it also covers Margie’s former work as the director of a community childcare centre in Sydney. And yes, the feature article ALSO covers Margie’s recent 20-kilo weight loss.