Yoga Journal: more questions than answers
By Laura L. Plummer
The Problem
When I came back from a writer’s retreat at Kripalu in 2010, I began receiving complimentary issues of Yoga Journal. Now every month when it arrives, it invariably goes directly into the recycling bin along with the other junk mail. When I received the August 2012 issue today, something inspired me to open it, and what I found was basically exactly what I expected: a white-bread, exclusionary fashion magazine masquerading as a legitimate source of holistic wisdom. Determined to find out if YJ differs from your average consumer beauty rag, I summoned my inner scientist.
The Method*
I counted all of the adults pictured anywhere in the magazine, including both covers and all advertisements, however small. (Yes, this took awhile.) Those counted had to be in focus, i.e. not in fuzzy background images, and enough of the body pictured to determine racial category, (so, no disembodied limbs). I counted only photographs, not artist renderings or computer-generated images. I then compared the demographics of the issue to a 2008 Yoga Journal study on yoga in America.
The Results
I counted a total of 157 adults: 129 women and only 28 men. That’s 10% more women than the 72.2% of female yoga practitioners revealed in the study. Also, there are no discernible gender-variant individuals in the magazine, nor did YJ release any data about transgendered yogis.
83.4% of adults pictured are white. YJ did not include race in its demographics, even though that would seem an obvious oversight to most people. Of the 157, 114 are white women, over 70%. White men come in second at 10.8%, followed by Asian men and women, who only total 6.4% combined. Indians total 3.8%, as do those of mixed or ambiguous race. Black men and women together comprise a pitiful 2.5%. Of the 157 images, a black male appears only once. Those who are obviously Hispanic or Native American are not featured at all. By the time I got to the full-page ad for White Yoga Montreal 2012 (page 33), an annual outdoor yoga gathering where participants dress in white, it struck me how redundant that title is. According to Yoga Journal, yoga and whiteness are inextricably linked.
Only two of the adults pictured could be considered overweight or even have a body shape outside of the culturally accepted ideal. 98.3% of women pictured appear to have nearly identical measurements, and are invariably slender. This statistic reinforces the myth that fat people can’t or don’t do yoga, or that you cannot have a curvy or pear-shaped figure and be a yogi. There are people who can do yoga every day of their lives and their bodies will never fit the narrow parameters defined by Yoga Journal’s models. As in any other fashion magazine, the body types pictured represent a very small percent of the actual female population.
One lone person has an obvious disability, and none of the women are visibly pregnant.
Finally, only five individuals of the 157 could be considered “old.” In this case, old is anyone who could potentially be over 55 (sorry, Mom). That’s only 3.2% of adults pictured, compared to the study that puts those over 54 at 18.5% of yoga practitioners. Of the five in this month’s issue, one is female, and she is not even practicing yoga! The four males are all bearded Indian gurus or renowned healers. This finding is particularly disturbing, and it raises more questions than answers: Does Yoga Journal believe that old people can’t or shouldn’t do yoga? Or does the magazine just hesitate to feature someone whose yoga bum might not be as perky as a perceived ideal? Either way, it makes yoga look like a creepy youth cult that sends its elderly off into the ocean on icebergs.
And the list could go on.
Conclusions
Yoga Journal was founded by yoga teachers in California, and purports to be a well-rounded health and fitness publication. Don’t be fooled. Even more interesting than the stereotypes that Yoga Journal foments are the statistics around yoga demographics in the United States. It inspires me to probe deeper into the race and class disparities that make yoga accessible to certain populations and not to others. Yoga Journal, much like yoga teacher trainings, is just another vehicle for standardizing and compartmentalizing yoga culture in a Western context. The only difference is that the models are sitting in lotus and drinking wheatgrass juice.
The Math
Total # of adults featured = 157
Gender
Women 129 = 82.2%
Male 28 = 17.8%
Gender-variant 0 = 0%
Race
White women: 114 = 72.6%
White men: 17 = 10.8%
Asian women: 5 = 3.2%
Asian men: 5 = 3.2%
Indian women: 3 = 1.9%
Indian men: 3 = 1.9%
Mixed female: 4 = 2.5%
Mixed male: 2 = 1.3%
Black women: 3 = 1.9%
Black men: 1 = .6%
Hispanic women: 0
Hispanic men: 0
Native women: 0
Native men: 0
Age
Old male: 4 = 2.5% of total (14.3% of males)
Old female: 1 = .6% of total (.88% of females)
Body Type
Male outside “ideal” body shape: 0
Female outside “ideal” body shape: 2 = 1.3% of total (1.7% of females)
Ability
Disabled: 1 = .6%
Pregnant: 0
* My research methods aren’t foolproof. I encourage you to redo this study to verify the math, and to draw your own conclusions.
About Laura L. Plummer
Laura Louise Plummer is a Boston-based freelance writer, filmmaker, and world traveler. Laura has always had an irreverent sense of humor. Though deeply spiritual, she is hyper-vigilant of the strains of hypocrisy, absurdity, and arbitrariness so often found among the “spiritual elite” and delights in sharing these observations with other sacrilegious seekers. Since 2007, Laura has employed various forms of yoga to counter the day-to-day stresses of working as a case manager for homeless and low-income populations. She views yoga as a state of mind, not merely a physical practice, and attempts to translate her yoga into daily life.
44 Comments !
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Sarah Ongiri says:
Thanks for sharing this- I have the same concerns about YJ and yoga media in general.
Amelia says:
As a fellow Yoga Journal loather and abhorer, I am so tickled by your analysis. Thanks for finally putting the facts in print! And I am also Boston-based! See you around the recycling bin!
Teresa says:
Oh, you are wrong in one sense about YJ being just another glossy. Many of those glossies (Vanity Fair comes to mind) actually produce from time to time great, hard hitting articles and interviews with something other than soft-ball questions. The ballsiest thing YJ did recently was publish Judith Lasater’s critique of naked women in ads.
I have not seen any mentioned of anything related to the John Friend or the “Geshe” Michael Roach scandal in either the pages of its magazine or on its website? (Please, correct me if I am wrong, I do not have the latest issue of YJ and a searched “John Friend” “Geshe Michael” and “scandal” separately and found an article from 2010 on Kirpalu scandal.) Maybe they don’t want to report on what they view as “gossip”, but what about an article on the overall state of Western Yoga? The guru model (something other than fluff)? What about living up to the word “journal” in a reporting sense and not a 15 year-old-girl’s diary sense and doing some research or investigative reporting?
Ok, I am done ranting now. I feel better.
whitney says:
Totes Laura, totes. I’ve been getting the magazine for the past 6 months (it was a Christmas gift) and I can’t believe how pedantic, narrow, and patronizing the content is. You’ve made an astute commentary on the racial inequality in YJ, something I (sadly) didn’t notice before, though the ageism and singular body type on their pages always pisses me off. Thanks for the great piece
linda says:
yeah, I also noticed the redundancy of White Yoga. ahem.
personally I’d like to start seeing Triumph the Insult Comic Dog (from Conan’s show, see him on YouTube) at yoga fests.
Laura Louise Plummer says:
I *love* Triumph. He is everything I aspire to be: raw, real, uncensored. I’d love to hear what he has to say about yoga in the west.
Amy says:
Why don’t you call and cancel your free subscription along with your other junk mail and save some trees?
Laura Louise Plummer says:
Done! Thanks, Amy.
Roy Hurley says:
Reminds me of my days in Boulder,CO..
Dani says:
SPOT ON! LOVE this, thank you. YJ is the ultimate yogic farce…
Bob B. says:
My first though was “Wow, what a geek and great at math too.” Then my reaction turned to shame and sadnessHowever, I would venture to guess if you go to any health related magazine or journal you will more than likely get similar results. Men’s fitness, Cycling and Running magazines all come to mind. I don’t know if I would indite YJ as much as I would indite advertising in general. After all, real hardcore yogi probably could care less about this type of publication in first place.
Laura Louise Plummer says:
I agree, Bob. And I definitely believe that YJ is not the only fitness magazine out there who is guilty of this same thing. I think YJ is unique in that yoga is not just a physical practice, but a spiritual one too. So their transgression is even more egregious: the consumerist repackaging of an entire ancient spiritual belief system so it can appeal to a Western audience. It makes me sad, frankly. But very good point that anyone who takes his yoga seriously probably doesn’t subscribe to this magazine. Which makes me want to do a study on the demographics of YJ subscribers!
Bob B. says:
I think you fail to recognize however that the editors of this publication and ones like it are out only for one thing, sell product. And that being their aim and the results of your study don’t come off as awfully surprising. Further, the people that most likely read the publication are also of the demographic you describe. This really shouldn’t be an inditement on yoga but society as a whole. Personally, the magazine other than a reference really has zero bearing on me, my practice or anything else. I get way more out of Elephant Journal, RY, Yoga Dawg et al and these are not there to sell product but get out information. A HUGE difference!
Toni says:
I wholeheartedly agree. So gross. Thanks for doing the math!
Anacostia Yogi says:
Great analysis and one that many brown and black yogis always bring up.
Truly the only color that Yoga Journal is concerned about is GREEN. We still live in America and worship the almighty dollar. Their selective cover models make appearing on the cover of Yoga Journal like you have been accepted into an exclusive club. Making consumers feel elitist and special. Very yoga-like huh?
I purchased my first Yoga Journal copy when my favorite yoga instructor, Faith Hunter, appeared as the first black woman on the cover. Then, I realized that the problem also lies with us, yogis and consumers. We still hold Yoga Journal on a very high pedestal for SOME reason. As long as we esteem this magazine as the end all and be all of yoga media, then we fall prey to the racist, sexist and fat-ist etc… exclusionary practices.
I appreciate Yoga Journal for its comprehensive exploration of western White Anglo-Saxon Yoga. This does provide a place-point along the yoga journey to examine where yogis came from, are presently located and where we plan to go.
I ended up creating a blog and a tumblr to represent colorful yogis after noticing the overt Whiteness & Yoga connection. Visit anacostiayogi.tumblr.com/
Great piece and possibly a gateway to a new era of Yoga!
-Anacostia Yogi
Wayne Diotte says:
Welcome to the “many” who abandoned commercialized,commodified yoga along with leaving the macro neurotics and macro robotics in favor of……:-) read my website
. PS fond memories of enjoying your fair city and the people who live there. To Your Great Life!
Jenifer says:
I stopped reading YJ sometime around 2000. Reason? I felt as bad and frustrated reading that as I did reading fashion magazines. I stopped reading that material around the same time as well.
But, it’s interesting really. If you read the YJ’s prior to 1990, you’re actually reading a completely different magazine — one about yoga, run by teachers, etc. Sometime in the 90s, it was purchased by a magazine publishing company and slowly started to transition away from the magazine I knew to a fashion magazine as it is now.
I miss Ascent. What a great yoga magazine that was.
Laura says:
Until reading this comment I hadn’t put 2+2 together and realized that I feel BETTER after reading women’s magazines (Glamour and Bust are the ones that come to mind) than I do after reading Yoga Journal.
Despite fitting into the young, white, female box, I often feel alienated and like I’m doing all-things-yoga all wrong when I’m done skimming through Yoga Journal. Can’t imagine how alienating the magazine feels to anyone who doesn’t line up with YJ’s “type.”
When my gift subscription to White Anglo-Saxon Yoga runs out, I won’t be renewing. But I will keep my subscription to Bust
Jenifer says:
At the time, it was really the “I’m terrible and uncool because I can’t afford to go to *real* trainings with *real* yoga teachers like my friends can.” Honestly, my friends would read YJ and drop $3-6k on these holidays, trainings, whatever, and come back going “OMG! So amazing! It will change your life! it will change how you teach!”
And I was bitter and felt more and more bitter because all of these things looked awesome, and all I had was a home practice in a modest condo in rural/suburban PA.
I realized after I went on the media fast that my home practice was awesome and liberating and I didn’t need the magazine or the sense of inadequacy that I had in response to it. And, I started to ntoice that I felt it reading People magazine and the like even.
So I was just like “Right, what magazines make me feel good?” And that came down to Ascent, Utne Reader, and Dwell. So, now I read Dwell (i kinda got bored with Utne after several years).
Laura Louise Plummer says:
I applaud your decision to go on a media fast in order to shift your perspective. I have done this consciously for several months at a time, and it is always truly liberating. When we stop comparing ourselves to others, and living according to a super-imposed layer of shoulds and expectations, we see that what we have is really enough.
Vision_Quest2 says:
Yoga Journal is about as politically correct as American Marie Claire …
It’s occurred to me that maybe that’s what it that magazine is going for …
So many better yoga magazines from across the pond … at least until they decide to copy YJ or Marie Claire …
Laura Louise Plummer says:
LOL @ Wasp Yoga Journal. Well, that is certainly telling that you feel even *worse* reading YJ than other fashion magazines. In any event, it makes me think about starting our own yoga publication, and what this would look like…
Mat Witts says:
Yup – it’s the same wherever you go in Europe: British “Yoga Is For Everyone” (Yet Mine Eyes Roll Back in Head Seizure) http://matwitts.com/blog/yoga-is-for-everyone-not/
Laura says:
YJ is an aspirational magazine that relies on advertising. As far as i am concerned it stopped being “inspirational” long time ago.
It sells an image of yoga made of expensive yoga retreats, expensive yoga gear and expensive teacher training courses with so-called “yoga stars”.
Even if YJ started featuring more Afro-American and Hispanic people, rest assured that they would still be models, they would have perfect bodies and perfect hair!
The class divide would still be there even if YJ featured 60 y/o women doing yoga. Would these 60 y/o look like any of my students who have to juggle work and family, deal with health and financial issues and have no time and money for a weekly facial, personal trainer and cosmetic surgery ? No, they would look like a post-menopausal film star on the red carpet.
Really i don’t see any reason to buy or subscribe to YJ. I follow yoga blogs, write one, practice and discuss yoga with people who have real lives and real problems and will never be able to afford a 5 star yoga retreat in Bali. That keeps it real for me.
Duff says:
Finally an article worth reading on this website. Although I dont know why people are so high on boston its the most racist city in this country.
Laura Louise Plummer says:
In review, I would like to address a phrasing error in my research. Hispanic and Native American are not races, but rather self-identified ethnicities based on origin. Belonging to one of these groups does not necessarily correspond with any “obvious” physical traits. I apologize if this oversight caused offense.
Laura Louise Plummer says:
Hypothetically, if we were to come together as “concerned citizens” to organize and publish our own yoga magazine/zine/ezine, etc.,
1. What would it look like conceptually?
2. How could we keep it from adopting the cringe-worthy aspects we disagree with in Yoga Journal?
I’m excited to hear your answers!
Julia says:
1. Conceptually, I’d have it designed by street and public artists. They’re artistically savvy while maintaining connections with and an awareness of the diversity of their surrounding communities.
2. I’d have the magazine edited/overseen by world-weary ex-war correspondents. My biggest criticism of YJ is it’s terrible writing, which comes from a lack of critical thinking and thoughtful analysis. It’d be interesting to see what someone, just back from the violence in Syria, would have to say about “how yoga helps you get a good night’s sleep”.
linda says:
you may be interested in what Anne Cushman had to say about how yoga is portrayed back in 2003. http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1575
really speaks to how the American yoga scene still is, even after 9 years of “evolution.” uh, really????
Liz says:
You purport to “attempt to translate [your] yoga into daily life.” But I’m not seeing it. That is, unless yoga = bitterness in your world.
You seem to focus on all the things/people/issues you dislike and spend hours justifying your reasons for disliking them. That’s not yoga to me. Come out of the darkness, sweetheart.
Vision_Quest2 says:
I can come out of the darkness and still not want to kiss the ass of the powers that be.
That’s just how I roll.
Judgmental, much?
Bren says:
my problem with this so called conscious (yoga) community is they are so focused on the ‘light’ and their spiritual b.s. that they have lost grip on what is true. They have strayed so far from the ancient teachings that yoga is rooted in. now a sub-culture that reflects the very culture they in some way have attempted to reject. same social isms and stratification. i would rather have good laughs and keep it real and grounded reading RY than ever spend time with these so-called enlightened phonies. ill save my money and my soul. progress is just as much the dark as it is the light.
Laura Rosswurm says:
I very much like the articles shared in YJ BUT I will not renew my subscription. The last several issues I cut out all the advertisements just to see what was left……..very little!!!!! Not only is the magazine mostly advertising BUT the advertising is antithetical to yoga i.e. people in contorted poses that are not acessible to most people practicing yoga (not to mention not necessary to benefit from yoga), gratuitous nudity for the sake of advertising and conspicuous consumption. I know a magazine’s lifeblood comes from paying advertisers but where is the line?
Louie says:
Have you done a similar demographic analysis of typical yoga classes in this country? Based on the classes I have attended, I am inclined to believe that the results would mimick your Yoga Journal data. I think YJ is just reflecting back the same demographics that engage in the practice of yoga. If there were more blacks or Hispanics doing yoga there would be a greater number reflected in the pages of YJ. I have been attending yoga classes for fifteen years and I don’t think I have ever seen a black male in any of those classes. And that’s in New York City. I’m not sure why you are blaming YJ. If 75 % of yoga practioners are white women, that’s who will be reflected in the pages of the magazine. If 75 % of people who play golf are white males, that’s who will be reflected in Golf Digest.
Joslyn Hamilton says:
You have a serious point here, Louie! I hate YJ as much as the next recovering yogi, but I also have this nagging feeling sometimes that they are just pandering to their audience. I see thin white woman buying that rag every day at the upper crust Whole Foods I frequent in Marin. Ad dollars speak, after all.
Laura says:
YJ is now a beauty, fashion and celebrities magazine. So, unless you are beautiful, fashionable and famous you are made to feel inadequate.
In yoga-speak “beauty comes from inside” (wait, you will never see “inner beauty” displayed on YJ if you look like a pot-bellied Buddha. Standards of “inner beauty” have changed since Buddha times, don’t you know? )
Fashion is wearing some branded tops and pants that you wouldn’t be allowed to wear in Indian schools of yoga because they are far too revealing, but look good in a New York studio. Celebrities are yoga teachers that have successfully played the marketing and branding game, go on world tours showing their contortionist skills to people they don’t know and will never see again. Who cares? They can afford to pay hundreds of dollars for the privilege.
Zaftig Diva says:
Thank you so much for the clarity of your post and the discussion that has ensued. I have been saying this for years. Every time I stepped before my yoga class I was challenged by the media perception of what yoga looks like. I am thankful to have had the opportunity to challenge those notions thereby supporting other bodies in doing the same.
Even the yoga training that began as “Yoga for Every Body” shifted into yoga for weight loss. They featured a plus-size video with the practitioner wearing their uniform, but they neglected to sell XL clothing or anything beyond what would cover a slender body.
I canceled my subscription to YJ and when they send me the renewals, I reply with the information presented in this post and following discussion. They send prepaid envelops. Let’s use them.
Zola says:
I just wanted to share a resource with Louie and all. http://www.chelsealovesyoga.com/
Louie and all who practice in places where there is little to no diversity…ask yourself why- and then get out of your own head and experience and listen for the answer.
As a person of color I know many many people of color who don’t practice yoga in certain places because they don’t feel welcome (for a host of reasons). When I roll into a studio or on any yoga scene, especially in a major city and don’t see diversity I question if it’s really yoga or just some exclusive elite exclusionary workout happening. I don’t accept that YJ is simply mirroring back the demographics that engage in the practice, because I know too many folks who are not skinny white women who practice yoga. I believe they consciously choose to ignore all the others and are invested in perpetuating an “image” of who does yoga and what it is. They are actively creating their own mythology of yoga. Ultimately I realize that those of us who fall outside of what’s being represented in pop yoga culture as “the norm” are responsible for telling our story, lest this mythology goes down in history as truth.
Chris Courtney says:
Laura,
Thank you so much for the gift of this article. It resonates with me deeply since I often notice the same things…but have not done the math and really compared it like you did.
This is why I promote and teach “Yoga For The Rest of Us” – because its for everybody and every body!
Blessings,
Chris
Jimm says:
I read this article with great interest, then I checked out your “who we are” tab and noticed this blog is staffed by 100% thin, attractive white women. I can no longer read this because that makes you a fashion magazine.
~Jimm
P.S. I’m just taking the piss.
Joslyn hamilton says:
Touche!
You Can’t Handle The Truth! | Yoga Potential says:
[...] be added here that I have never heard of. You won’t see these yoginis on the cover of Yoga Journal. Elephant Journal won’t be highlighting their work. They have stepped outside the cult [...]
Niema Lightseed says:
Thank you so much for sharing this information. As a yoga teacher and curvy woman of color, I have long been saddened by the popular image of Yoga in the mainstream media. I gave up on YJ when I noticed it had advertisements for cellulite creams and SUV’s, but it is still a very successful publication that continues to share a distorted construct of who and what truly makes up the world of Yoga. Knowing all this, what do we do about it? How to share a more authentic and holistic image of this practice with the world?
Jacoby Ballard says:
Thank you so much for posting this. I was just doing research for an upcoming workshop I’m teaching in Vermont called “Paying for Presence: Yoga, Class, and Capitalism”, when I found this.
I’m a queer and transgendered yoga teacher based in NYC and also find that there is little space for queers in yoga studios (so much transphobia and homophobia) and no representation of us as yogis. I started teaching Queer and Trans Yoga, for which I was recently interviewed on the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-schware/service-yoga_b_2619735.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=518514,b=facebook
Thank you!
Jacoby