ON THE COVER

I take great exception to your Aug. 29 cover, “Basically, Black.” Some of your readers have a deep reverence for the rosary. The model wears a very close facsimile draped over one shoulder and falling to her hip line. You have managed to demean and debase a revered article, and I’m more than disappointed in your lack of propriety and taste.

EDITH SKEEHAN

La Crescenta

In an era of 9-year-old anorexics, perpetual (often dangerous) dieting by 60% of the female population and media-induced self-hatred of our bodies, we now see that being merely thin is no longer good enough.

To be cover-girl perfect, one must, like “Basically, Black” model Suzanne Lanza, display a sharply boyish angle where the natural feminine curve of a hip should be, showing the world that successful women can no longer be slender but instead must be emaciated to skeletal proportions.

Only when ribs stick out, pelvis protrudes, and thighs are nonexistent can a bone-thin girl believe she has truly arrived.

ANNIE CAROLINE SCHULER

West Hollywood